Title:      Tales of the Colonies
Author:     Charles Rowcroft
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Title:      Tales of the Colonies
Author:     Charles Rowcroft



TALES OF THE COLONIES
or, THE ADVENTURES OF AN EMIGRANT
EDITED BY A LATE COLONIAL MAGISTRATE.
LONDON
SAUNDERS and OTLEY
In Three Volumes.
FIRST PUBLISHED: 1843
ROWCROFT, CHARLES (1798-1856)


INTRODUCTION.

THE increasing difficulty of maintaining a family in England, in which
the competition for mere subsistence has become so keen; and the still
greater difficulty of providing for children when their maturer years
render it imperative on the parent to seek for some profession or calling
on which they may rely for their future support, has excited among all
classes a strong attention towards the colonies of Great Britain, where
fertile and unclaimed lands, almost boundless in extent, await only the
labour of man to produce all that man requires.

It seems, indeed, that there must be some strange neglect or ignorance on
the part of VOL. I. b the government or legislature of a state when a
large portion of an active, industrious, and intelligent population,
willing to work, and capable of producing more than sufficient for their
own subsistence, and of adding immeasurably to the national wealth,
cannot make the wealth-producing power of their labour available. It is
painfully vexatious to behold in one part of the national dominions an
excess of population wanting land to work on, and in continual
apprehension for the next day's food, and in another part an excess of
land wanting a population to work it; and that in such a state of things
neither the government nor the legislature has instituted any national
measure, to supply the deficiency on the one side from the excess on the
other; a measure which, while it would add to the happiness of the
individual, would conduce to the general prosperity of the mass of the
people.

All those practically acquainted with the colonies must feel, that if
one-tenth part of the annual expenditure of the poor's-rates for some
years past had been directed to a systematic plan of national emigration,
for the conversion of the wretched, half-starved pauper into the
contented, well-fed colonist, all the irritation and ill-will which have
been caused by the concoction of the new poor law, for grinding the
labouring man down to the lowest degree above starvation point, might
have been happily avoided. Were this act of national charity and national
wisdom to be even now adopted, those huge and unsightly receptacles of
misery which the union workhouses present to the people's execration;
those engenderers of discontents; those nurseries of Chartism; those
normal schools of plots and treasons; those frowning and repulsive
prisons for the poor, proclaiming in the severity of their privations how
criminal in the sight of the rich is poverty; and practically
complaining, as they impiously do, of the improvidence of God in allowing
creatures to be born into a world which political economists have
pronounced to be already overstocked; those foul blot from a hard and
selfish system of short sighted saving, on the fair country of England,
might be levelled with the ground--amidst the shame and repentance of
society, for having, even for a time, permitted so dangerous an
experiment on the feelings and habits of the British people.

But it is not only on the class dependent on manual labour for
subsistence that the difficulty of providing for a family presses. In
this respect, all the grades of the middling classes are alike uneasy.
Those with some capital, as well as those with none, are suffering under
the constant anxiety of providing for their children with a regard to
their condition in life, their education, and their habits, in a country
in which every day the difficulty of finding suitable occupation
increases. In this search, the parent feels that it would be as painful
for his children, who have been brought up in a certain condition, to
descend from that rank, and trust to their hands instead of their heads
for support, as for the more hardy and less sensitive sons of labour to
bear the extreme state of destitution and precarious subsistence to which
their condition, in the old country, now subjects them. This drives the
educated classes to seek in the more genteel professions the power of
maintaining their position in society, and of obtaining, by the higher
remuneration of mental over mechanical employments, the means to minister
to their more refined pursuits and pleasures. For education and
refinement bring with them their own embarrassments. The animal man can
no more go back, suddenly, than any other animal, from the civilized to
the natural state, without pain and privation. Education refines and
improves the body and the mind of man; but in changing him from the
natural to the artificial state, it adds to his wants, and renders the
satisfying of them more costly and more difficult.

Every day, however, renders the attempt to compete in the occupations of
intellect more hazardous; all, comparatively, being educated, and all
being incited to push themselves forward into the educated professions,
it would seem that the time is fast approaching when there will be as
many barristers, physicians, solicitors, surgeons, and apothecaries, b 2
as of unprofessional people to practice on. This patient nation is
law-ridden enough already; and at every corner of the street stands a
surgeon with knife in hand, ready to amputate you if living, or to
dissect you if dead; while innumerable apothecaries and druggists, from
every new shop-window, thrust forward their obtrusive physic. Even the
business of the undertaker is over-done; while the nails of their
coffins, attractively resplendent to entice the passer-by to take
possession of them, shine uselessly in the window, their owners complain
of the want of trade, and eye the living customer suspiciously and
complainingly as he passes by, as if he was committing a personal
grievance on them by being still alive.

What, then, is to become of the masses of educated persons, striving,
pushing, and jostling each other on the road of life? and the numbers
still increasing! They cannot become day-labourers; they cannot go
up--the passages are blocked up; they cannot go down--that their pride
and their habits forbid. To remain as they are is to starve. What then is
to be done? Fortunately, in the colonies there is room for all, of all
grades and classes, and opportunities for all. In this country, to labour
in the field is to the educated person a degradation, because the field
belongs to another man, and that man is his master; and the condition of
an agricultural labourer, from its obvious poverty, in a country where
the greatest of crimes is to be poor, is a state of flagrant criminality
which the union workhouses have specially been erected to coerce and
punish.

But in the colonies, in a new world, and in a new life, a man may till
his own land, and work in his own fields with his own hands, and neither
feel it to be a degradation in his own eyes, nor in the eyes of those
around him. On the contrary, in resuming the occupations of the
patriarchs of old, he may be said to recover the natural dignity of man.
The very solitude of the wilderness, the boundless space, the unbroken
silence, the solemn repose of Nature seem to bring him in nearer contact
with the great Creator. In his new state, his mind, so lately bowed down
by care and anxiety, recovers its natural independence. He stands on his
own land, the source of certain subsistence, and of almost certain
wealth, for himself and for his children. Above is the light of God's
sky, of which no assessed tax debars him. He is not driven to obsequious
fawning on the rich or great for countenance or patronage. He has to pray
to no man "to give him leave to toil." On his own labour and his own
prudence depends his own success. He finds that he is become of value as
a MAN; and that where the materials to work are to be obtained, INDUSTRY
is in itself a CAPITAL.

His experience soon confirms him in the important truth, that if Nature
has prescribed labour to man, she is no niggard, in the absence of the
restraints of man, of labour's reward. His family, instead of being a
burthen, and the subject of unceasing and fearful anxiety, is a comfort,
a solace, and a help to him. Each child soon becomes an illustration of
the principle, that naturally every human being has the power of creating
more than he has a necessity for consuming. He lies down to rest without
fear of the morrow; no rent, nor taxes, nor rates, nor tithes disturb his
dreams; and he rises after his rest, not with anxiety and apprehension
for the day's employment and the day's remuneration, but with renewed
strength and with freshened hope; going forth to his cheerful labour with
the full reliance that, from the bounteous earth, he may always produce
the abundance which Nature never refuses to her industrious children.

It is with the view of describing the process of settling in a new
country; of the precautions to be taken; of the foresight to be
exercised; of the early difficulties to be overcome; and of the sure
reward which awaits the prudent and industrious colonist, that the editor
has collected the following tales; and he may add, that he can testify to
the accuracy of the descriptions which they contain from his personal
experience as a resident magistrate in the colony. The first tale which
is presented to the public is the journal of a settler, detailing, in his
own homely language, the actual progress, day by day, from the beginning,
of the establishment of a colonist's farm.

CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.



CHAPTER I.

THE SETTLER'S JOURNAL

CHAPTER II.

Mr. William Thornley, a sort of Half-Farmer in the County of Surrey,
finding that he cannot live on his small Capital, turns his thoughts to
the Colonies--Reasons for Emigration--A Wife's hearty consent an
indispensable Preliminary--Preparations--Voyage to Van Diemen's
Land--Appearance of the Country--He has an interview with the
Governor--Mode of obtaining a grant of Land.

CHAPTER III.

Resolves to lose no time in getting out of the Town and on to his
Farm--His Journey up the Country in search of good Land--His Talk with an
old Hand--He meets with a strange Person and makes a new
Acquaintance--Mode of Farming in the Colony--An Adventure.

CHAPTER IV. PAGE

How to milk a wild Cow--Picture of a Settler's Dwelling--Mutton-chops and
Dampers--A spare Bed "improvisatised"--Night Alarm--Sheep-stealing.

CHAPTER V.

Pursuit of the Sheep-stealers--Meeting with the Natives--The black Man's
instinct in Tracking--Walk over the Country--Finds Land to please
him--Returns to Hobart Town with his new Acquaintance, Crab--Proceeds
with his Family to the Clyde.

CHAPTER VI.

Journey up the Country with Family, Bullock-carts, and Crab--A steep
Hill--A Night inthe Bush--Arrives at his Land--His first chop at a
Gum-tree.

CHAPTER VII.

A Settler's daily Labours--Chopping down Gum-trees tough work--Builds a
Log-house--Buys some Sheep--Shoots a wild Animal--Black-cockatoo Pie--A
Kangaroo Steamer.

CHAPTER VIII.

AKangaroo Hunt--Description and Habits of the Animal--Crab dilates on the
Topsy-turviness of all things Animal, Vegetable, and Geographical in
Van Diemen's Land.

CHAPTER IX.

Takes Possession of his new House--Delight of Independence--Crab puts the
Plough into the Ground--The Garden and Sheep-shearing--The Settler takes
Stock and makes a Discovery.

CHAPTER X.

Expenses of Settling--Increase of Sheep and Cattle--Anecdotes of
Snakes--His Position in 1821--Increase of Sheep and Cattle in
1824--Sheep-stealing increases in the Colony--Hears some disagreeable
accounts of Bushrangers--His Prosperous State in May, 1824--His
Tranquillity is suddenly disturbed by distressing cries of Alarm from a
neighbouring Farm.

CHAPTER XI.

Hastens with a party of Friends to his Neighbour's assistance--The
dangerous passing of the River on the Trunk of a Tree--The lifeless Body
of a young Girl strangely discovered--The plundered Dwelling, and the
desolate Mother.

CHAPTER XII.

The Attack of the Bushrangers--The mysterious Fate of the lost
Husband--It is resolved to pursue the Bushrangers--Preparations for the
Expedition--The Magistrate heads the Party--Horrible discovery.

CHAPTER XIII.

The Ruins of the burnt Stock-keeper's Hut--The Murderer Musqueeto and the
Natives--The Sagacity of the Kangaroo Dogs--Native's Tomb--The Natives
begin an Attack--Skirmish with the Bushrangers.

CHAPTER XIV.

The Bushrangers Retreat--The Magistrate's Party pursue--A Bivouac--Tracks
of the Bushrangers--Crossing of the Big River--The Pursuit grows warm.


VOL. I.C.

CHAPTER XV.

Arrival at the Great Lake--Bushrangers at Bay--The Fight--Simultaneous
Attack of the Natives--Matters remain in suspense--Thornley looks out for
a Kangaroo for Supper.

CHAPTER XVI.

Hector points at unexpected Game--Thornley meets with a party of
Soldiers--His Joy thereat--His Disappointment thereon--His lamentable
Predicament--His fortunate Escape from a Pistol-bullet--His Release--A
Letter from his Wife--The Bushrangers escape to an Island in the
Lake--Melancholy News from the Clyde--Thornley resolves to return Home.


CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME

CHAPTER I.

He sets out for the Clyde, tries to make a short cut, and misses his
way--He is lost in the Bush.

CHAPTER II.

Is threatened by Eagles--His Sufferings--The Magnetic Needle--The Dogs
glve notice of the Natives--Their Attack--His Fight single-handed with
the Savages.

CHAPTER III.

Takes Refuge in a deserted Hut--The Natives besiege him, and set fire to
the Roof--His Escape--He climbs into a Tree--The Natives set fire to
it--Death seems certain--His Rescue.

CHAPTER IV.

He recovers his senses and finds himself among Friends--Account of the
Bushrangers at the Great Lake--Moss's extraordinary Escape.

VOL. II.b.

CHAPTER V.

The Governor's Proclamation--The Magistrate's Mission--The Sergeant's
Device--The Bushrangers Captured.

CHAPTER VI.

He returns to his Home--Sets about repairing his Disasters--How to Build
a House with pulverized Earth--Mr. Crab's increased importance, and how
Sheep may increase from one hundred to two thousand--The Building of a
Stone House resolved on.

CHAPTER VII.

Stone Quarries--Manner of Gardening by Yonng Ladies in New Colonies--A
Stranger--Miss Betsey suddenly becomes scientific respecting
Stone-Quarries and other matters--The large Ants resent the intrusion on
their Territories--Wild-cattle Hunting--A young Bull gets maddened, and
galloping into the Bush meets with Betsey--Thornley sees her peril and
gives her over for lost.

CHAPTER VIII.

The Stranger saves her Life--The Surgeon appears again--Thornley sets off
for Hobart Town.

CHAPTER IX.

The facetious Attorney--Colonial mode of getting rid of a Wife--Thornley
attends an Execution, which makes him sick--He returns Homewards--A chase
after Sheep--Encounter with a Bushranger.

CHAPTER X.

Awkward Predicament--The Bushranger declares himself--Unexpected appeal.

CHAPTER XI.

The Bushranger's Tale--His Crimes and his Sufferings--His Escape from
Macquarie Harbour.

CHAPTER XII.

Passage across the Country of the escaped Convicts--The Bushranger's
Confession--No man so bad but there is some good in him--His last
Request--His awful Death.

CHAPTER XIII.

The Corporal is pleased to make some Remarks on the recent Tragedy--He
searches the Pockets of the Deceased--His Discoveries--Thornley proceeds
in much State to the Magistrate's house--He is restored to his
Family--Mr. Crab indulges in some peculiar Observations on the
occasion--Red Ribands produce curious emotions in others besides mad
Bulls.

CHAPTER XIV.

A Family Breakfast in Van Diemen's Land--A new Settler--Danger of eating
Kangaroo-tail Soup--People make love much in the same way on the one side
of the Globe as on the other--The Surgeon in danger of Starving--Mr. Crab
sympathises with him cordially--Crab's Lamentations on the wretchedness
of the conutry.

CHAPTER XV.

The Convict System--Assignment of Convict Labourers to Settlers--System
of Reformation--Treatment of the Convicts.

CHAPTER XVI.

Causes of Crime--The Improvement of the Moral Condition ofthe Convict
from the amelioration of his Physical State.

CHAPTER XVII.

The effect of the Convict System on the development of the Resources of
the Colony--Management of the Convicts--Complaint of a Master, before a
Magistrate, against his assigned Servant.

CHAPTER XVIII.

The Trial.

CHAPTER XIX.

Complaint of an assigned Servant against his Master--The Servant has
redress against the ill-treatment of his Master in the same way as the
Master against the ill-conduct of his Servant.

CHAPTER XX.

The Working of the Transportation System.

CHAPTER XXI.

Complaint of a Convict against his Fellow-Servant.

CHAPTER XXII.

The Flogging System--Necessity of Coercion and Decision--in a Convict
Colony--Horrors of Transportation to Macquarie Harbour, the Penal
Settlement of the Colony--Thornley returns Home--A Letter from the
Governor.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Surveying a grant of Land-Crab becomes a Landed Proprietor against the
grain--He discourses authoritatively on practical Emigration--The
Bushranger's Daughter.

CONTENTS OF THE THIRD VOLUME.

CHAPTER I.

Crab's Contradictions--French Fashions penetrate into the Interior of Van
Diemen's Land--A Parson wanted--Smoking a Ship--A Plot discovered--A
Disguise, and a new Adventure.

CHAPTER II.

First Appearance in a new Character--The Disguise Discovered--The
Struggle--Three to One too much--An Apartment for a single Gentleman.

CHAPTER III.

Necessity the Mother of Invention--Advantage of a good Memory--An
anatomical Experiment--Courage and Perseverance overcome all
Difficulties--An unexpected Meeting--The mysterious Letter gives a Clue
to a Hiding place--Search of the Red House.

VOL. III.b.

CHAPTER IV.

The Colonial Constable--The Track in the Snow--Seven mile Beach--The
Desolate Hut--The Discovery--Baulked again.

CHAPTER V.

The Consultation--Middle-aged Gentlemen get tired of Adventures at
Last--The Track Regained--An extempore Dinner and fresh Oysters--A new
Horror.

CHAPTER VI.

Who is the Murderer and the Victim?--A Settler's Fare--An Excuse for a
Glass of Grog--Kangaroos in Miniature--The Chase.

CHAPTER VII.

The Chase--Scroggs' Pathos--Confirmation of the Fugitive--Unexpected
Information--A Sailor on Horseback--A new Arrival.

CHAPTER VIII.

The Van Diemen's Land Jockey--Swopping--The Chase Renewed--Retributive
Justice--The Natives--New Dangers.

CHAPTER IX.

Winter in Van Diemen's Land--The Pursuit of the Black Fellows--Native
Habitations--News of the Child.

CHAPTER X.

A Native Encampment--Conference with Musqueeto--A Savage has a Soul--The
lost Child recovered--How to Catch an Opossum--A Kangaroo Hunt by the
Natives--The Apparition of Spears and Waddies excites disagreeable
Suspicions.

CHAPTER XI.

AKangaroo Hunt by the Natives--They recognise an old Enemy--The
Flight--The Skirmish--The Attack Renewed--Scroggs's generous
Devotion--Return to the Clyde--Crab resolves to leave the Country.

CHAPTER XII.

How Crab sold his Sheep--The Embarrassment of Riches--Crab's
Misadventures--He resolves to leave the Colony.

CHAPTER XIII.

Reasons for Emigrating--Breeding of Sheep--Advice to Emigrants.

CHAPTER XIV.

Fourteen Years pass by--The Emigrant's Wealth--A Letter from the Gypsey's
Daughter--Death of Crab.

CHAPTER XV.

CONCLUSION




TALES OF THE COLONIES: Volume I etc.



CHAPTER I.

THE SETTLER'S JOURNAL.

I DO not pretend to be philosopher enough to analyse deeply the reasons
which induce me, after a long and active life, passed for the most part
in laborious but pleasurable occupations, to lay down the axe for the
pen, and to write an account of my life in this country. Perhaps it is
that my family being grown up, and gently pushing, as the young do, the
aged from their stools, by supplying my place in overseeing my farm, the
leisure that has come over me prompts me to employ my mind, which from
habit is disinclined to inaction, in recalling past scenes and old
recollections. Or it may be that, at sixty-two years, the garrulousness
of old age inclines me to indulge on paper in the talk which every one
around me seems too busy to attend to orally. I would fain hope that I am
actuated by a better reason than any such as these: that the desire to
present a useful history of a settler's life, and to shew by my own
instance how much may be accomplished by prudence, industry, and
perseverance--incites me to write this record of facts and feelings.
Whether these accounts may ever appear in print I do not know, although I
will confess that it is not without a secret inclination that they may,
in some shape, find their way to the perusal of the public, that I now
proceed to arrange them. Whether they appear in print or not, I have at
least the satisfaction of hoping, that when I shall repose beneath the
soil of this beautiful country, which I have learnt to love so dearly, my
children's children after me may sometimes turn to this manuscript of the
old man's recollections, not without advantage from its perusal.



CHAPTER II.

MR. WILLIAM THORNLEY, A SORT OF HALF-FARMER IN THE COUNTY OF SURREY,
FINDING THAT HE CANNOT LIVE ON HIS SMALL CAPITAL, TURNS HIS THOUGHTS TO
THE COLONIES--REASONS FOR EMIGRATION--A WIFE'S HEARTY CONSENT AN
INDISPENSABLE PRELIMINARY--PREPARATIONS--VOYAGE TO VAN DIEMEN'S
LAND--APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY--HE HAS AN INTERVIEW WITH THE
GOVERNOR--MODE OF OBTAINING A GRANT OF LAND.

IT is now twenty-two years since I left London for Van Diemen's Land.
When I got on board ship, I remember I found many of the passengers
keeping journals, so I did the same, though I can't say I found, at
first, much to put in it; however, the habit of keeping a journal stuck
to me after I landed, so that I was never easy at night unless I wrote
down what had occurred during the day. I am glad of it now, as I find
that the looking back on what I have gone through is useful to me, and
makes me the more thankful for what I have got now, and the reading of it
will, I think, be of advantage to those who come after me; so I will
first describe how it was that I came to emigrate, and then I shall copy
all my bits and scraps of journals fairly out, that those who may think
that some profit is to be got from them may easily read them.

It was in the beginning of the year 1816 that I was first in difficulties
in England; that was just after the close of the long war. There was
great distress in the country; all seemed to go wrong. So many lost
employment from the change of war to peace, that many were starving, and
there was great confusion and riots. If I recollect right, it was the
year when the "Blanketeers" came from the north to present a petition to
the king. I had carried on, for many years, a pretty good business at
Croydon, in the corn trade. I did something with coals too, the canal
being handy; (by the bye, that gave me the idea when I went abroad of the
advantage of water-carriage), and I never refused any sort of small
trading that seemed likely to turn to profit. But the corn business was
my main stay, and that brought me a good deal into communication with
farmers, and their way of farming; but I found that farming was a very
different thing here in Van Diemen's Land to what it was in Surrey. I
remember, as if it was yesterday, that one morning, when I went to the
corn-market, I found a cluster of farmers and others standing round a
neighbour of mine, reading a letter; it was from a son of his--a wild
sort of chap--who had gone out as mate of a vessel to Sydney, or Botany
Bay, as it was called then. By the bye, Botany Bay and Sydney are quite
different places; Botany Bay lies round to the east of Sydney, and there
is no town at all there; Sir Joseph Banks named it Botany Bay from the
number of new plants which he found there, but the town of Sydney was
fixed lower down, at a better spot. Well, the reading of this letter
caused a good deal of amusement, speaking of the kangaroos, and the
natives, and the bushrangers; but what surprised us most was to hear how
easily the young fellow had turned farmer; for farming was not at all in
his line, as he had scarcely looked into a farm in his life when he was
in England. The accounts contained in this letter, of the beauty of the
country, of the fertility of the soil, and of the largeness of the crops,
made a great impression on me, and gave rise to vague ideas and designs,
which dwelt in my mind, and set me about making further inquiries.
However, I said nothing about it at home at this time, waiting till I had
acquired more information, but went on with my business as usual: but my
business did not go on as usual with me. My purpose is not to describe
how a man breaks down in England, but how he gets on in the colonies, so
I shall say no more of my losses and difficulties than this; that with
one failing and another failing, and people crowding into the trade and
taking the bread out of one another's mouth, and altogether, I found that
it would not do any longer. So one evening, after a hard day's work, and
no profit but all loss, I made up my mind to put an end to it. My wife
was sitting alone in the parlour, and I said to her (for I ought to have
said before that I had been married eleven years, and had five children),
"Mary," said I, "things are going on very badly."

"They'll get better by-and-by," said she.

"They've been getting worse the last six months," said I. "I don't like
the look of it at all."

"We must work the harder," said my wife.

Said I, "I tell you what it is, Mary; I work as hard as any man can, and
we both of us spend as little as we can, but we are eating up our
capital; and work as I may, and pinch ourselves as we may, we can't go on
at this rate. You know how many have broke, and there's no chance of our
money from them; in three years we shall have nothing left, and maybe we
should break down before then, for things are getting worse and worse,
and the trade is like playing at hazard."

"Why, William," said Mary, "what would you have us do? Shall we try a
farm?"

"Not in this country," said I. "What with rent, and rates, and taxes, and
tithes, with corn falling, and all things unsettled, I'm thinking farming
never will be the business it used to be. No, Mary," said I, speaking to
her with much earnestness, "farming won't answer here; and with our five
children depending on us for bread, and for their future provision in
life, I should not like to risk the little that we have left in working
at a farm in this country. We must make up our minds to a great effort,
and since there are too many struggling with one another in England, we
must go where the people are few and the land is plenty. We must
emigrate."

"Emigrate!" said Mary; "where to?"

"Why," I replied, "perhaps I have not made up my mind which would be the
best place to go to, nor indeed could I make up my mind that we should
emigrate at all until I had consulted with you, and you had agreed to it.
But I have thought of the matter a good deal, and the more I think of it,
the more convinced I am that it would be better for us to take care of
what we have left, and turn it to account in a new country. If there was
only you and me, we could make a shift, perhaps, to rub on; but when I
consider our children who are growing up, and how to provide for them
comfortably I know no more than the dead, I do feel that to be sure of
house and home, and bread to eat, and clothes to wear, would be better
for them than to be exposed to all the chances of uncertain trading or
farming in this country."

Well, I saw that the tears had come in Mary's eyes at this talk, and her
heart was quite full; for the thought of her mother, now advanced in
years, and of her relatives and acquaintances about, of the scenes of her
early childhood and the companions of her youth, all to be quitted
perhaps for ever, was too much for her; and all the circumstances of our
own losses and difficulties crowding in upon her thoughts, her emotion
got the better of her, and she burst into tears and sobbed for some time.
My own eyes were not dry; but I felt that in these cases almost all
depends on the firmness of the head of the family, and that if he gives
way, all gives way soon after. I soothed her with all the kindness of an
affection as true and as deep as ever man had for woman; I explained to
her exactly our condition and all our circumstances, and after a long
consultation, her good sense coming to her aid, and, most of all, her
strong affection for her children mastering all other considerations, she
fell in with my views, and it was agreed, that as we had made up our
minds to this decisive step, the sooner we carried it into effect the
better.

I have been the more particular in narrating this conversation, because
it made, as may easily be supposed, a great impression on me as it
related to one of the most important acts of my life; and from the
circumstance also, that from that hour my dear wife never made a single
complaint, nor uttered a murmur at all the inconveniences and occasional
hardships which she was put to, as well during the voyage as during the
first years of our settling in the colony. This deserves the more
worthily to be noted, as I have been a witness, in Van Diemen's Land,
of the evil effects of a contrary course of conduct on the part of the
wives of emigrants. To my knowledge, more than one failure has happened
from the fancies, and fine-lady affectations, and frettings, and sulkiness
of settlers' help-mates; forgetting how much of a man's comfort and
happiness, and, in a colony, of his success, depends on the cheerful
humour, the kindly good temper, and the hearty co-operation of his wife.

Well, the great point being settled, that of my wife's consent and hearty
concurrence in the project, all the rest went on rapidly enough. She was
a little frightened at first at all there was before her to do; but she
found that the labours and difficulties which, viewed in the mass, seemed
almost insurmountable, were easily overcome as they were encountered
singly; and, as she said at the time, with her cheerful smile, "that if
we waited until we had provided against all possible and impossible
contingencies, we never should undertake the expedition at all; that what
others had done, we, with prudence and care, and energy, might do also;
and that, putting to the work all the zeal and industry that we could
bring to it, we must leave the rest to that Providence which never
deserts the willing heart and the humble mind."

I could write a great deal about all our hopes and fears, and our little
and great troubles; but I am anxious to get to my journal. I shall not
give a long account of our voyage by sea, of the sharks that we saw, and
of the flying-fish that we broiled, because all those things have been
described over and over again. All sea-voyages are much alike; there must
be some discomfort on board of a vessel, where you cannot have much room
to yourself, and the passage to New South Wales is, I dare say, often a
very tedious affair; but this I will say, that every thing is made better
by good temper, and by a cheerful and contented mind. I have observed
through life, that much of people's happiness or unhappiness proceeds
from the way in which they take things. Some fret and grieve
everlastingly at what cannot be helped, and lose the enjoyment of that
which they might otherwise derive pleasure from, because they cannot have
every thing their own way; and so they go on, miserable themselves, and
making everybody else miserable around them; while others, making up
their minds to bear the annoyances they can't escape from, contrive to
make pleasures out of very slight materials, and, by their own
good-humour and cheerfulness, to inspire the like in others. But, before
I begin our voyage, it will be well to state what our circumstances were
on leaving England and what we took out with us.

I found, after scraping together all I could get, that I could just
manage to muster up £1,150; little enough to begin the world anew with,
and with a wife, five children, and my wife's mother, to convey to the
other side of the globe. It ought to be observed, too, that my wife had
been well educated, and had always lived in a lady-like way; and although
she had always been an industrious housewife, she had never had any
practice in the hard work which, for the first year or two, falls on the
settler in a new colony. Besides this £1,150 in money, we had our beds
and bedding, and blankets and linen, and such household articles, in
plenty; and a variety of things which lie about a house, and seem of no
value, we took out with us, and found them valuable, for use or sale, in
the new country. As to the bulk of our furniture, we sold it all, as I
was told that it would be several years before we could have a suitable
place to put it in, and that I should find the money more useful; that I
must rough it for some time, and think of nothing but STOCK: that is, of
sheep and cattle. This advice was very good, as I afterwards found, and I
was as happy, for many months, sitting on the stump of a tree, with my
wife opposite me on another, as if we had reclined on the softest sofas
in London. But there was not much time for reclining, as will be seen
when I come to my journal. I took care to carry with us all the usual
tools imperatively wanted on first settling, such as saws, axes, chisels,
augurs, etc. I had the good fortune to listen to the advice of the
captain of a ship, and took out all the furnishing of a blacksmith's
forge, which I found of the greatest use to me. I shall not further
particularise here the list of articles proper for a settler to take out
with him, because all those particulars will be found detailed at full
length in two letters, one from me and one from my wife, to friends in
England, advising them as to what they should bring out with them, and
copies of which I find noted in my journal. They are too long to insert
here, but they will be found in their proper place. I will only say here,
that it is better to have too many tools than too few; for, to want a
tool in the bush, a saw or an axe, is an inconvenience that often stops
important work. I was wrong in the sort of nails that I took out; they
were good enough for the soft deals and other woods usual in England, but
too weak for the hard woods of New South Wales. I took out two pair of
cart-wheels, with their boxes and axles complete. These were very useful,
but they make them in the colony now as good, and nearly as cheap as they
can be imported; and the colonial wood, when well seasoned, stands the
summer heat better. But I see I am forestalling my journal.

Now to our voyage, which I shall make short enough. We set sail from
Gravesend on the 7th September, 1816. We touched at the Cape of Good
Hope; but I shall not stop to describe a place that has been so often
described before. I want to hasten the way to the colony. After a passage
of about five months, we arrived at Hobart Town on the 3rd February,
1817. Hobart Town is the chief town or capital of Van Diemen's Land, at
the south end of the island. The new ideas which the words "north" and
"south" conveyed in those parts confused me at first; for, contrary to
the impression which they convey in Europe, the north wind on the
opposite side of the globe is the warm one, and the south the cold one.
"These warm north winds and these cold south gales" sounded oddly, and it
was some time before I got used to the expressions. The aspect of the new
country was not encouraging, and I felt a little damped at first. All the
country up the river, from Storm Bay Passage to Hobart Town, had a
mournful, desolate appearance. The trees had a sombre look, and the grass
was a dirty brown, excepting here and there a green patch, where I was
told it had been recently burnt. It looked like the close of autumn
instead of the middle of summer, which it was, we arriving, as I said
before, on the 3rd February, and the months of winter and summer being
reversed here in this topsy-turvy place. A brown and dusky autumnal tint
seemed to pervade all nature, and the place had a quiet, sleepy
appearance, as if every thing had been standing still and was waiting for
settlers to come and improve it. Mount Wellington, as the large high
mountain, about four thousand feet high, is called, at the back of the
town to the left as you go up the river, had a little cap of snow on its
summit, which I have observed in summer several times since, but it
seldom remains more than a few hours at that season of the year. The town
had a straggling, irregular appearance; a pretty good house here and
there, and the intervening spaces either unbuilt on or occupied by mean
little dwellings, little better than rude huts. It is to be borne in mind
that I am speaking of Hobart Town as it was twenty-two years ago; since
then, great changes have taken place, as will be found noted from time to
time in my journal. One thing I can't help adverting to, and that is the
surprising number of dogs that kept us awake for some nights after we
arrived in the town with their incessant barking. At that time every one
had a kangaroo-dog who could contrive to keep one, and what with these
and others, first one set up a growl, and then another caught it up, and
he was of course answered from another part of the town, so that
presently hundreds of dogs, watch-dogs, kangaroo dogs, and mongrels of
all sorts and sizes, all would set up such a barking and tearing, that we
thought to be sure something dreadful must be the matter; that the
convicts had risen, or the natives had fired the town. We wished that all
the dogs had their tails stuffed down their throats to stop their noise.
But we soon got used to this, like the apprentice that was lost, and
found asleep in the copper that the workmen were hammering at outside;
and afterwards we found the value of the faithful and intelligent
kangaroo dogs in the wild bush, for their vigilance saved us all from
being murdered by the natives, or perhaps burned to death, as I shall
have to relate in its proper place. Well, I did not care, at this time,
for the statistics, as the term is, of the town or the colony; I was too
much taken up with my own statistics, and with arranging to settle
ourselves on our land and get out of the town, for we soon found that our
money would melt away very fast if we stayed there, and no return for it,
every thing being so dear. I paid 35s. per week for the wretched place
that we got shelter in: as to going to an inn, of which there were one or
two indifferent ones, of a public house order, that would have been ruin
indeed. Meat was 9d. and 1 0d. per lb.; bread a little cheaper than in
London; as to milk and butter, that we were obliged to go without.
Butter, for several years after, was from 5s. to 10s. 6d. a lb.; the
common Irish salt butter sold for 2s. 6d. per lb., and that rank and
oily. I was puzzled to understand how it was that there was not plenty of
milk and butter in an agricultural country; but I soon found out that
there was a reason for every thing. To get milk from the wild cows, in a
country without fences, you had to catch them first. I shall have to
describe in its place the operations to be entered on in those times for
milking a cow. It was an expedition for the whole farming establishment
to join in; but I must not anticipate.

Altogether, I did not like the look of matters; but I was assured that
the interior of the country was more inviting, and I was advised to lose
no time in getting on my land, for it had been observed, that more than
one emigrant who had lost his time in loitering over the town, gaping and
staring about, and fretting and complaining because all things did not
come easy to his hand, had soon got rid of so much of his money, as not
to have enough left to establish himself and carry him through the first
year. I must own I could not help feeling strange in a new country, where
every thing was so different from what one had been used to at home; and
the difficulty of getting a female servant, and that a convict one, to
help my wife with the children and the house, trifling as it may seem to
speak of, troubled her sadly. I felt very queer myself among the
convicts; some with yellow jackets on, and some without, but all with a
peculiar look, as it seemed to me, with here and there gangs of a dozen
or more working on the roads with chains on their legs, and making the
place look, as I must confess, not very respectable. However, I had not
expected to find plum-puddings growing on the trees ready baked, and beds
of rose-leaves ready spread to lie on, as some did, so I plucked up heart
and set to work. My first care was to see all our goods and chattels
safely landed from the ship, and properly housed in a store belonging to
a merchant in the town. This I had to pay dear enough for. I was rather
puzzled to know what to do with my money, in a land of convicts, where
every finger was a fish-hook; but the governor allowed me to deposit it
in the treasury. As it was all in dollars, the weight was pretty heavy,
more than I could carry by myself, and I said jokingly to my wife that I
had sometimes read of the embarrassment of riches, but that I had never
felt it before. After all expenses of outfit and passage paid, I found
myself in the colony with 3,600 dollars in hand, being about £780
sterling, having purchased the dollars in London at four shillings and
fourpence a-piece. With this sum I had to set about establishing myself
in the wilderness.

I had now to turn my mind to the fixing on a place to settle on. The way
of obtaining land was very different then to what it is now, and, as I
think, the alteration has not been for the better. The mode of obtaining
land twoand-twenty years ago was thus:--

Before leaving England, I applied to the office of the Secretary of State
for the Home Department, by letter, stating my intention to emigrate to
Van Diemen's Land with my family, and requesting an authority to obtain a
grant of land when I got there. In reply to this I received a sealed
letter, addressed to the lieutenant-governor, and which, I was informed
on an interview with the clerk to that department at the Home Office,
contained the necessary authority. This letter, I afterwards ascertained,
was an authority to allot to me a grant of land according to my means.
When I arrived at Hobart Town, I waited on the governor with this letter.
The governor, whom I saw himself, and who was very kind in his
information and advice, made a note of my circumstances, of the amount of
my property, of the number of my children and family, of my views in
coming to the colony, and he dwelt much on the bonâ fide nature of my
intentions to go on the land and work it. I told him that I had come with
the intention of settling as a farmer, and of residing on my land, and
cultivating it myself. At this time, in the year 1817, this class of
settlers was always specially favoured by the colonial government, as
indeed it was right and politic to do, for it was precisely the class
that was wanted in the colony to form its inhabitants of the interior, to
raise food for the colony, and to create establishments for relieving the
government of the expense of maintaining the convicts. It aided the plan,
also, of reforming the convicts, by removing them from the temptations of
the town, and of habituating them to healthy work in new positions, where
they would be removed from old habits and associations. Being one of this
desirable class, I was told by the governor that he considered me
entitled to as large a grant of land as was consistent with his general
instructions; and that he should allot to me twelve hundred acres. Well,
I thought, this was a good beginning. Twelve hundred acres of land of
one's own has a good sound and is a pleasant contemplation; but the next
thing was where to find them. There was plenty of land unappropriated in
the colony, but very much of it was bad land and in unfavourable
situations. On this point the governor said I must decide for myself;
"that there was much bad land in the colony, and that the good land near
the town, in any quantity at least, was nearly all taken up; but that if
I thought of turning my attention particularly to the breeding of sheep,
he should advise me not to be afraid of penetrating into the interior,
for that he judged, from his communications from England, that emigration
to these colonies would soon so much increase, that the difficulty of
stock-owners would be to get far enough off from the influx of new
settlers, so as to find sufficient range near their homesteads for the
feeding of their flocks and herds." And so I afterwards found it. At that
time, when land was granted, it was a free grant, or gift, from the crown
to the emigrant. This acted as a great encouragement, and I think the
various plans that have been adopted since, although well adapted to
raise the value of the land in the colony among the colonists, have had
the effect of preventing many persons of moderate means, but of practical
knowledge, from venturing to these distant regions.

As I shall have to speak of this subject hereafter, I shall not dwell on
it further in this place, but I have thought it right to say thus much,
as I was on the subject of shewing how I got possession of my own grant
of land. I got the order easily enough, as I have said, but I found I had
difficulties enough to contend against, and my first difficulty in
respect to land was where to fix on it; for I heard so many contradictory
accounts of the various parts of the country, every one praising his own
district, as fancy or interest dictated, that I was fairly bewildered,
and almost at my wit's end which way to turn my steps. But as the choice
was one that must be made, and that quickly too, I set heartily about it.
Leaving my wife and children, and her mother, who, though old, had the
excellent quality of being trustworthy, as comfortable as I could make
them in their lodgings in the town, and having arranged with a resident
family to have an eye to their safety in my absence, I put my gun over my
shoulder, and started up the country.



CHAPTER III.

RESOLVES TO LOSE NO TIME IN GETTING OUT OF THE TOWN AND ON TO HIS
FARM--HIS JOURNEY UP THE COUNTRY IN SEARCH OF GOOD LAND--HIS TALK WITH AN
OLD HAND--HE MEETS WITH A STRANGE PERSON AND MAKES A NEW
ACQUAINTANCE--MODE OF FARMING IN THE COLONY--AN ADVENTURE.

HOBART TOWN was quite still when I left it about five o'clock in the
morning, but the sun was getting up beautifully. There were only one or
two stragglers about. I fancied the air was beginning to feel warm
already, and the summer sun in Van Diemen's Land is no joke in a hay
field, though I don't remember that I was ever inconvenienced by it more
than in England. When I rose the little hill going out of the town I
stopped and turned back to take a look at the town I was leaving. I
certainly was much struck with it. It looked so like the BEGINNING of a
town, there could be no mistake about it. It was all interspersed with
the poles and scaffolding of houses being built, and it looked almost as
if a lot of people had come only the night before and had begun to set up
a city to dwell in. On my right hand, as I stood on the hill looking down
upon the town, was Mount Wellington, with thick, white fleecy clouds
hanging down from its top and concealing its head. All the space between
the town and the mountain was covered with trees and shrubs, having for
the most part a dusky green foliage. Nearly fronting me stood the
Government House, unfinished, and towards the left was the broad river
Derwent extending as far as the eye could reach to the south till it
joined the sea. Lying at anchor close in shore were two merchant vessels
and a few boats. It certainly was a magnificent sight: the noble river;
the fine harbour, allowing ships of five hundred tons burthen to anchor
within a stone's throw of the end of the jetty; the tiny patches of
cultivated land here and there, which seemed to give a hint of the
treasures lying unclaimed around, and requiring only tillage to reveal
them; and, above all, the air of sleeping enterprise which the quiet town
in the early morning seemed to be invested with formed together a
remarkable picture. I stood looking at it a good while, and wondering
what it would come to, when suddenly the bell of the convicts' barrack
yard was rung to summon the government-men to work; and it served to
summon me too, for I fancy that without being aware of it I was a little
loth to leave human habitations and plunge into the bush among the
natives. However, I was on a high road as yet, though not a very good
one, so after giving a little look at the spot where I knew my wife and
children were dwelling, I cast a glance at the priming of my
fowling-piece and marched on.

I met nothing between camp, as Hobart Town was then called, and New Town,
about three miles. I remember I felt very lonely; I had not warmed into
the work, and I felt all the hesitation which a man feels when he sets
out to take a journey without having first determined where he intends to
go. I was in fact a-seeking where to go, and looking out for some
information to guide me as to the point whither to direct my steps, with
the impression on my mind, from my experience in the town, that every one
would endeavour to deceive me as to what land was vacant, and which was
the best part to settle on. With all these anxious thoughts I continued
my way, passing one or two miserable-looking cabins by the road, till I
reached the ferry on the right, about ten miles from camp. Here the river
is still broad; about as broad as the Thames at Chelsea. At this place I
made a halt, in order to decide whether I should continue my road to New
Norfolk, about twenty one miles from camp, or cross over and take the
high road, such as it was, leading from the one side of the island to the
other, that is, to Launceston, on the banks of the river Tamar. I walked
down to the edge of the water, and talked to the ferry-men who were busy
about their boat. They all advised me to go on to New Norfolk, where
there was plenty of fine land, as they said, and a settled district. The
master of the ferry and of the inn belonging to it hard by, came up, and
I asked him what he thought. He looked at me a bit as if to measure what
I was worth, and shook his head in a very wise manner:

"You're a new settler?" said he.

"Yes," said I, "very new; and should feel much obliged if any one would
direct me a little which way I had better go to look for land."

"Much land?" said he.

"Twelve hundred acres."

"Not much for a sheep-farm, but enough to make a tidy homestead."

"I think it is; but where can I find a good bit of land?"

"Breakfasted?" said the landlord.

"Before I set out."

"Oh!--Well, I tell you what I should do if I was you; you had better take
up your quarters with me for a day or two and then I'll see what can be
done."

"And then?" said I.

"And then you can cross the ferry, and--"

"Thank ye," says I; for I saw which way the wind was blowing; the
ferry-men would have me go to New Norfolk to save themselves the trouble
of pulling me over for their master, and their master would have me spend
my money at his inn, and I doubt not advised every one, as he advised me,
to cross his ferry whether or no. So, thought I, I see I must depend on
myself; now if New Norfolk is already settled, that argues that it was
considered a good place to settle in when there was plenty of good land
to pick and choose, so I'll go and see what the place is made of.

"Good morning," said I to the landlord, who was standing looking at me,
and his ferry-men looking at him: "I shall see what sort of land they
have at New Norfolk."

"You had better wait till evening," said the landlord, "you'll find it
precious warm."

"I don't like to lose time."

"Take a glass of rum?"

"No, thank you, I never drink it." (The ferry-men grinned.)

"Or a glass of brandy?"

"No--much obliged."

"I've got some whiskey, real farantosh--: or Irish, with the true smack
of the turf in it? Or--"

"Thank you, I never drink spirits in the morning, but I should like to
have a drop of beer. Although it's early, I've had a longish walk--and a
little mild ale..."

"Beer!--mild ale!--Lord love ye, why you haven't come out here to drink
beer! and mild ale! have you? You'll find no beer up the country. Rum's
the stuff; that's our drink in this colony."

"Why, you have water, I suppose?"

"Water? Water! Oh! yes to be sure we have water; we always use it for
tea; and I can tell you, a cup of tea, with a glass of rum in it, is very
refreshing."

"I had rather have a drop of milk in my tea," said I.

"Why, maybe some would; but you see use is every thing, and it isn't so
easy to get milk in these parts, so that rum is mother's milk to us now.
Ha! ha! you'll get used to a settler's life by-and-by, rum and all."

"Well," said I, "barring the rum, I hope I soon shall;" and so I took my
leave, not over pleased with the conversation nor with the landlord of
the Ferry. However, it was his business to make people spend money at his
inn, and cross his ferry, and we are all somewhat selfish, I take it, in
our own vocations.

The sun began now to be pretty warmish, and my watch told me it was ten
o'clock. Thought I, if it is warm at ten, I shall be melted at mid-day;
but to New Norfolk I must go; so I put my best foot foremost, and strode
away manfully. In about an hour's time, however, the sun's rays became so
powerful that, not yet having recovered my habits of walking, I began to
give way; and I looked to the right and left for a likely place to rest
in. As I cast my eyes about, I spied a rough-looking man seated on the
ground at a little distance from the road, near a little rocky mount,
drinking water from a spring which oozed over the shelf of a little
platform of stone. Thought I, this is not one of your rum drinkers, as he
is soaking in the pure element with such gusto; but he's a queer-looking
chap too. It was the first of the species that I had occasion closely to
observe, so I may as well describe him.

His feet were enveloped in a pair of old mocassins made out of a sheep's
skin, with the wool outside, but much worn, it seemed, with travel. His
legs were bare. A pair of very old knee breeches, which once had buttons
and strings, but which now had none, encased his nether person. The
principal part of his dress was a frock coat of kangaroo-skin, or rather
of many skins, dried with the hair on, and presenting a curious variety
of shade from wear and dirt. On his head he wore a hat, if hat it could be
called, which once seemingly was black, but now was of no particular
colour, the crown whereof was ingeniously fastened to the body with the
fibres of the stringy bark tree, albeit that it permitted to peep forth
the ragged ends of some dry native grass, which its owner had thrust
within it (seeing that it was too large, not having been originally made
for him), to maintain it in a becoming and convenient position. A grizzly
beard, of a fortnight's growth, gave a finish to his ferocious
appearance. I surveyed this hairy individual with much curiosity, as I
advanced towards him, and with some mistrust, for there were bushrangers
abroad, and although this was not a likely place to meet with them, I was
strange to the country, and thought it best to be on my guard. I kept my
hand therefore convenient to the lock of my piece, with the muzzle before
me, careless like, but quite ready. My precaution, however, did not
escape the observation of the kangaroo man, who now turning his face to
me and looking up, said in a country-like tone:

"You needn't be afeeard o' me, Master. If you want water, come and drink.
Thank God, there is water in the country, plenty and sweet enough--except
where it's brackish. Drink, (seeing that I hesitated) well--I'll go
farther off; no wonder perhaps you're timid a bit.--If you'd a gone
through what I've gone through in this wretched country, you'd have
reason enough for it."

There was something about the man's manner and about his face too, though
the sourest-looking I ever saw, that made me feel there was no harm in
him, so I stooped down and had the most delicious draught I think I ever
tasted. I had learnt the value of water by my long voyage from England,
but I think I never, even as a schoolboy, enjoyed a drink of water so
much before. This mutual draught from the same fountain established at
once a sort of companionship between me and the man of skins, and we sat
down together by the side of the spring.

I could not help gazing at my new acquaintance with a sort of wonder, and
thinking in my own mind that he formed a queer figure in the foreground
of the arcadian scenery of the new country.

"You look at me."

"I can't help it," said I: "I don't mean any offence, but pray, do all
the people in this country dress in your style? I don't mean to say that
it is not a very proper dress, and (fearing to anger him) very becoming
and suitable to the country; but I only arrived a fortnight since, and
every thing seems strange to me."

"Not stranger than it does to me," said the man. "How do you think I came
by this dress, as you call it? Well--you needn't guess; I'll tell you,
I'm dressed by voluntary contribution."

"Voluntary contribution! How's that?"

"Why, you see, about ten days ago I was met by the bushrangers on the
other side of the island, and they stripped me of every thing."

"The devil they did," said I, and I clapped my hand on my gun.

"Oh--you needn't be afeeard--there's none on 'em here, and I hope you
won't meet any in this horrible country. Lord forgive me--I wish I was
well out of it. Fool that I was to leave my old master in Shropshire to
come out here to get land of my own. Ah--well--go farther and fare worse.
These rascals, these bushrangers, took every individual thing I had about
me, and kept me for three days to carry their baggage for them. The one
that took my coat, and a prime velveteen one it was, with plenty of
pockets, chucked his kangaroo skin jacket to me; 'here, my hearty,' says
he, 'is something to remember us by. You can't say we haven't treated you
well, for you have shared of the best with us, and we have shewn you all
the country.' These mocassins I got at a stock-keeper's hut, who let me
fit the sheep skin warm to my feet, and they were comfortable enough at
first, but now they are dry, they get unpleasant. But it's not long that
I'll wear 'em, for I'll go back home again to England, if I have to work
my passage. Heaven send that I was out of this horrible place! I do
really think it was made before the other countries were begun, and found
not to answer. There is nothing in it like anything anywhere else, and
what's worse, there's nothing in it to eat."

"Nothing to eat! that's a bad job; how do people subsist then?"

"Oh! I don't mean there's nothing to eat exactly; though I don't know
what one can get all over the country but mutton chops and dampers; but I
mean that the country furnishes nothing of itself: no animals, no fruits,
no roots. Now I thought before I came here, there must be plenty of fruit
in a warm climate; but, bless your heart, you may look a long time in the
woods for anything to eat, I can tell you. The only thing like a fruit
that I've ever seen, is a cherry wrong made, with the stone growing
outside. I did eat a lot of them one day when I was hard run, as I
observed the birds eat 'em, and a pretty curmuring they produced in my
inside; but that's neither here nor there. What I say is this: this is
the worst country, and the most dreadful place that ever man was in, and
all I wish is that I was out of it."

"I am sorry," said I, "to hear you give so bad an opinion of the country
I have come to settle in, Mr.---; you have not told me your name."

"Crab--Samuel Crab; that's my name, and that was my father's name. You
see I'm a Shropshire man, and for five-and-thirty years I was head
ploughman to Squire Dampier, at Dampier Hall. A good master he was to me,
and a fool was I for leaving him; but it all came from reading and
writing."

"From reading and writing!--how was that?"

"Why, you see, one day I was at the blacksmith's about a plough, and as I
had nothing to do, I took up a newspaper that was there (od rot the
writers on 'em) and began reading about the colony of Van Diemen's Land,
of all places in the world, what capital land was there, and what high
wages were to be got, and how much farming men were wanted, and
particularly ploughmen, and how you were sure to make your fortune there
quite out of hand like. Well, if ever I longed for anything in my life,
it was to have a bit of land of my own, but I never could get hold of it
any how, nor saw any likelihood of it. So, in short, I was seized with a
sort of fit to go to Van Diemen's Land, and go I would, spite of what
master could say. I had saved a matter o' 'bout a hundred and fifty
pound, and so go I did, and now I'll go back again."

I was a little damped to hear this talk from a real farming man, and one,
too, who had seen a good deal of the country, and I began to have
misgivings of the prudence of what I had done in leaving a rich and
settled country like England, for a new and wild region such as Van
Diemen's Land. My new acquaintance seemed rather of a dull and obstinate
nature, like most farming men in the middle counties of England, and was
likely enough to be prejudiced against the country after the mauling the
bushrangers had given him; but still I thought he could tell me what he
had seen, so as he seemed inclined to talk I went on to question him for
the sake of information.

"What system of farming," said I, "do they follow most in this country?"

"System? Bless you, you don't suppose they follow any system here. The
way they go on is quite disgusting to me; they know no more of farming
than a Londoner. They don't know how to grow anything."

"No wheat?"

"Yes, they do grow wheat--such as it is."

"Barley?"

"Yes: barley."

"Oats?"

"Not seen much oats: however, I believe they can grow."

"Potatoes?"

"Oh--plenty of potatoes."

"Vegetables? cabbages, peas, beans, and such like?"

"Yes: I can't say but they can grow'em; but they're too large to please
me, and I'm sure they grow too quick; besides, it stands to reason that
things can't grow properly with the soil just disturbed as it's done
here. A man in my country would be ashamed to call it digging. And then
to see what they call a field of wheat! I call it a field of stumps! And
where there's no stumps they don't do much better. They just put the
plough once through it, and there lies the sod turned up with the grass
growing on it; and then a weaver chap, or a London pickpocket, comes with
the seed in a bag, and oh, my eyes, how I laughed! he flings it about as
if he was feeding the chickens; and then another chap comes with a large
branch of a tree, drawn by a couple of oxen, and he sweeps the grain
about, and that they call harrowing! and when that's done they just leave
it."

"And what becomes of it?"

"Oh, first the cockatoos get a good bellyful, and then the parrots and
magpies have a peck at it. But it comes up at last."

"Well, that's something."

"Yes--maybe but it oughtn't to come up done in that slovenly way. It's a
shame to waste good seed so. And then when they do get a bit of land a
little--no not in order--but out of disorder, how they do work it, dear
me! What do you think a sort of cockney chap said to me at Pitt-water,
for I've been over there? Says I to him, 'Friend,' says I, 'how often do
you let your land lie fallow in these parts?' 'Fallow,' says he, 'what's
that?' 'You're a pretty chap to be a farmer,' said I, 'not to know what
lying fallow means. Why lying fallow means letting the land rest a bit to
recover itself for another crop.' 'Oh,' said he, 'our land in this place
never lies 'fallow' as you call it; we just put the same crop in every
year. There--that field has grown wheat for eleven years.' 'What, have
you had the cruelty,' said I, 'to put wheat on that bit of land for
eleven years?' 'To be sure I have,' said he, 'and shall grow wheat on it
for eleven years longer, if I live.' Master, you might have knocked me
down with a feather; I never before heard anything so horrid. I felt sure
at once, that no good was to be done in a country where creatures harrow
with branches of trees, and treat their land so cruelly. But it was worse
than that when I came to look more into it. I know you won't believe it;
they'll never believe it of me when I get back to Shropshire. This very
bit of land, that I've told you of, that the creature grew corn on for
eleven year without stopping, never had--no--not so much as a handful of
manure the whole eleven year. What do you think of that? Would any
Christian farmer in England treat his land so? Why, it's against nature!"

I now began to understand the sort of man I had to deal with; one of
those obstinate sons of the soil who cannot be made to understand that it
is possible to carry on farming in any other way than the way which they
have been accustomed to; and whose prejudices against innovation are so
strong, that they will not believe in the truth of what they see with
their own eyes, and wring everything from its true bearing to the backing
up of their own notions. Now that I felt at ease with my new friend, I
began to be amused with his oddity and obstinacy, and I thought perhaps,
as he had had some experience in the colony, and knew the country, he
would be a useful companion to me, though not very prepossessing in his
personal appearance.

"Well, Mr. Crab," said I,--"what do you mean to do now?"

"Oh, I shall make the best of my way on board-ship, and get out of this
miserable country as fast as I can."

"But to my certain knowledge no ship will sail for six weeks; what would
you do in the town all that time?"

"Ah--there's another horrid thing against the country; when a poor man
has been enticed over by all the lies of the captains and ship owners,
and book-writers, here he must stay till some captain gets as sick of the
country as he. What's to become of me for six weeks I'm sure I don't
know! To live in that wretched town is horrible, where all the people are
convicts, or worse than convicts, with their wickedness and extortions.
Only once did I go into a public house while I was there.

"And how did you fare there?"

"Oh! I'll tell you: 'Glass of beer,' said I.

"'Nothing under a bottle,' said the landlord.

"'How much does your bottle hold?' said I; for I knew it was necessary
to be cautious in dealing with these town chaps.

"'Just the same as in England,' said he, showing a bottle with Barclay's
bottled stout marked on the label. It's true--my heart did warm to the
beer, and quite forgetting to ask the price I said, with a sort of glee,
'Out with the cork.' It was out in a twinkling; that drink was a prime
one, I must say, if I never have another. 'Take a glass yourself,
landlord,' said I. 'With pleasure,' said he, and filling it slowly to the
brim, 'Your very good health,' said he to me. 'The same to you,' said I,
filling another. He filled his at the same time, without waiting to be
invited. 'How do you like it?' said he. 'Never drunk better in my life,'
said I. 'What's to pay?' 'Half-aguinea,' said he. 'Half-a guinea,' said
I, 'for a bottle of beer!' 'Yes,' said he, 'and cheap too; there's only
two dozen left in the colony, and you've just drunk one of them.' The
beer seemed to move in my stomach at this charge, as if it had got down
there by mistake and wanted to come up again. I said nothing; I couldn't
speak; I felt I was done. Had I paid the money in their paper shillings
and sixpences it might have taken off the edge of the mishap a bit. But I
laid down two silver dollars. The landlord took 'em up. 'Another
sixpence,' said he. I pulled out another silver dollar, he gave some bits
of dirty paper for the four-and-sixpence change, and I made a vow that if
ever I had the opportunity I'd sarve him out for it. But that's nothing
to what I've suffered in this abominable country, which is fit for
nothing but convicts and kangaroos to live in."

"Seeing how ill you've been treated in the town," said I, "and it seems
that the bushrangers have not treated you much better in the country, I
hardly know what to say to you. I'm going up the country to look for
land, but sadly in want of some intelligent person to advise me how to
proceed. It is difficult to get sincere information, I fear, from people
already settled, all being interested in advising you to take land either
near them or far from them as the case may happen to suit them. It is a
difficult matter for a stranger to know what to do."

"You're a farmer, I take it, by your look?" said Mr. Crab, inquiringly.

"I can't pretend to be a farmer like you," said I, "because I am sure
you're a thorough-bred one, but I know something about it."

"That's very properly said," replied Mr. Crab. "Well--I don't know,
master,--may I ask your name?"

"Thornley," said I; "William Thornley, late of Croydon, in Surrey: some
good farming there."

"Why, for London-farming, perhaps there may be; but you Londoners can't
be supposed to understand farming like us in Shropshire. However, master,
I'm thinking, that if you like it, I'll go with you over the country a
bit; and perhaps I shall be able to persuade you not to stay in this
villanous place, but go back to the old country, where people farm their
land like Christians. I suppose you don't mistrust me?"

"Not a bit," said I. "There's honesty in your face; so now, if you have
rested long enough, let us be moving."

"Come along then," said Mr. Crab, "and I can show you a way through the
bush, where, although rougher than the road, we shall be screened from
the rays of the sun."

One soon gets acquainted with one's fellows in the bush, where there is
not much picking and choosing of companions, and I and my grumbling
friend soon got pretty well used to each other. We strolled on leisurely
through the bush, and were within a short distance of New Norfolk, when
our ears were suddenly assailed by a confusion of sounds that startled
the quiet wilderness, and made us wonder what outbreak or disorder could
occasion such a furious outcry; presently we descried a horseman riding
with all his might through the trees beside us, now jumping over fallen
timber, then ducking his head to avoid the branches of trees, but in
spite of the dangers which he seemed ever to avoid by some special
miracle, still keeping at the top of his speed, and urging on his horse,
which seemed to be as much excited as the rider. Presently the cracking,
it seemed, of innumerable whips, making sharp reports like small
fire-arms, was heard around, and a straggling multitude began to encircle
us. We were lost in amaze at these strange proceedings but as this was my
first introduction to a curious branch of the agricultural economy of a
'Settler,' I shall defer the explanation of the disturbance which
confounded us to a new chapter.



CHAPTER IV.

HOW TO MILK A WILD COW--PICTURE OF A SETTLER'S DWELLING----MUTTON-CHOPS
AND DAMPERS--A SPARE BED "IMPROVISATISED"--NIGHT ALARM--SHEEP-STEALING.

IN the meantime the tumult increased, and the shouts of men and the
cracking of whips drawing nearer and nearer betokened a speedy
catastrophe. My kangaroo-skin friend seemed to regard with a sort of
scornful glee the burly burly around us. His sour visage became puckered
up into a knotty contexture, expressive of the most intense disdain,
coupled with a secret satisfaction. "Now," said he, "master, you'll see
how they manage some matters in this beautiful country."

"What can the matter be?" said I.

As I pronounced these words, a sudden crash of dead boughs and dry bushes
at no great distance from us excited in me apprehension of danger.
Instinctively I turned to the quarter whence the threatening sounds
proceeded, and stood ready with my fowling-piece against accidents. I saw
my friend Crab give a grim smile at this movement, as I was inclined to
do myself, had I not been, I must confess, rather frightened; for at this
moment I beheld a mad bull, as it seemed to me, making right to the spot
where we stood. The animal appeared to be in a state of the most intense
excitement, with its mouth covered with foam, its nostrils dilated, eyes
wild, and its tail twisted into that cork-screw figure indicative of a
disposition to mischief. I jumped aside as the creature made a plunge at
me, glad enough to escape.

"It's a mad cow," said I. "I suppose this climate makes cattle very
savage when they get worried?"

"Not madder than the people that are after her," said Crab; "however,
wait a bit till you see the end of it."

By this time we were in the midst of the crowd which was chasing the cow,
but I could not yet divine their particular object.

"What do you want to do with her?" said I to a tall thin man who had
ceased for a moment to crack his whip; "she seems terribly wild."

"Wild!" said he, "the brute is always wild, but she's one of the best
milkers I've got, and have her in the stock-yard I will this blessed
evening, if I raise all New Norfolk for it."

"I shall be glad to lend a hand," said I, "but I'm not used to the ways
of the country yet, and perhaps I might do harm instead of good."

But my aid was not wanted on this occasion, for at this moment a general
shout in the distance proclaimed that the victory was won. I and Crab,
with the tall thin man, the proprietor of the vivacious cow, immediately
set off at a rapid pace for the scene of triumph. There were about thirty
people assembled, among whom were one or two women. I observed that some
of the men were provided with ropes made of bullock's hide twisted
together, of great strength. I was still puzzled to know what was
intended by all these preparations. Presently, a farming man appeared,
with a tin pannikin of a half-pint measure, and a stool with one leg. The
stool with one leg looked like a design to milk the animal, but what the
tin pannikin was for was a mystery to me. Had there been a milk-pail, I
should have made out their object at once; but this piece of machinery
was as yet but little known in the colony. I continued to watch the
proceedings with great interest, when presently a man advanced with a
stoutish long stick, or small pole, with a hide rope forming a large loop
at the end of it; the other part of the rope he held in one hand in a
coil. Climbing over the rails of the stock-yard, which were formed of the
solid trunks of trees placed lengthways, about six feet high, he stood
within the space. The cow eyed him as if she was used to the game, and
without waiting to be attacked, made a dart at him ferociously. This did
not disconcert the man with the pole and loop, who, stepping aside with
the most perfect coolness and with infinite agility, let the animal knock
her head against the rails, which she did with a force that made the
massive pile tremble. This process was repeated several times, to the
great amusement of the spectators, some of whom applauded the
pole-bearer's nimbleness, while others were inclined to back the cow.

"That was a near go," said one, as the beast made a sudden plunge at her
tormentor, tearing off with her horn a portion of his jacket; "she'll pin
you presently, Jem."

"Never fear," said Jem, "a miss is as good as a mile. She is the most
cantankerous varmint I ever see'd: but I'll have her yet."

"What are you going to do," said I; "kill her?"

"Kill her!" exclaimed my tall friend; "what! kill the best, the nicest,
and sweetest-tempered creature of the whole herd: she's so tame, she'll
almost let you pat her, only she doesn't like to be milked; that always
puts her out. Now for it, Jemmy, that's the way; haul in quick, keep it
up--don't slack--hold her tight, now we've got her. Where's the foot
rope?"

Watching his opportunity, the man with the pole had succeeded in throwing
the loop over the animal's horns, and two or three men on the outside of
the yard, quickly gathering in the end of it, hauled it taut, as seamen
do a cable in getting up the anchor, round the thick stump of a tree. I
looked at Crab at this stage of the proceedings, and I admired the
expression of scornful enjoyment which his sour face exhibited. He gave
me a glance which said, without the necessity of words, "This is the way
they milk a cow in this country." The cow, however, was not milked yet;
to arrive at that conclusion, some further steps were necessary. The
animal was now standing with its legs firmly planted before it, its neck
elongated, its tongue hanging out of its mouth, and kicking with its hind
legs continuously. These refractory members were now secured by a loop,
into which they were dexterously insinuated, and half a dozen men
catching up the end, hauled it out, and kept it on the stretch, to
prevent her from plunging about. The creature, it seems, was now in a
correct posture to be milked. Crab gave me another look.

The man with the one-legged stool and pannikin now advanced, speaking
soothingly to the animal to be operated on, and using much ceremony and
caution in his approach. Seizing a favourable opportunity, he contrived
to squeeze a few drops of milk into his pannikin; but the sensitive cow,
outraged, it seemed, at this indignity on her person, gave a sudden
plunge, which upset the heel-rope holders, and, recovering her legs, she
kicked man, stool, and pannikin over and over. Shouts of laughter
proclaimed the amusement of the bystanders, and numerous were the gibes
and jeers lavished on the occasion. And now, the pride of the stockmen
being roused, and their honour piqued by the presence, besides, of two
strangers the witnesses of their manoeuvres, they set to again to manacle
the almost spent animal; and he of the pannikin, discarding the stool as
a womanly encumbrance, boldly kneeling down, with the determination of a
hero, and undaunted by the moanings and writhings of his victim,
contrived to exude from her about half a pint of milk. This triumph
achieved, the cow was set at liberty, the poles of the gateway were
withdrawn, and the animal bounded into the bush.

"Well, master," said Crab, "did you ever see a cow milked that way
before?"

"Surely," said I, "they might manage better than this."

"Ah!" said Crab, "this would be a tale to tell in Shropshire. It's worth
while to go back only to tell this much. But you'll see more curiosities,
master, as you go on."

"Come with me," said the proprietor of the cow, "and see my house, and my
farm, and my wife and children. I see you're a stranger (addressing me);
as to you," looking at Crab, doubtfully, "you seem to have settled down
into the habits of the place, to judge by your dress, though it is a
little queerish even for the bush. Where are you come from?"

"I am come from camp," said I, "to look for land, and this--(gentleman,
I would have said, but as I looked at my companion the word stuck in my
throat)--this settler--"

"Don't call me a settler," said Crab, "I arn't going to settle, as you
call it; the bushrangers and the convicts and the thieves of people have
settled me.

"Well," I said, "I met my companion by the way, and he has had the
kindness to offer to show me the country."

"You've come to the wrong place," said the New Norfolk man, "to look for
land; there's none to be had here. The land hereabouts is but poorish,
after all, and we settled on it more for the sake of the water-carriage
than for the quality of the land. But there's my house, just on the other
side of the water; cross over with me, and at any rate you shall have a
hearty welcome."

The river Derwent is but narrow at New Norfolk, but deep just below the
town, and very rapid. Its navigation ceases at New Norfolk, as through
the town and above it there is a succession of falls, and the country
becomes very mountainous. This settlement had been formed by the
immigration of about a hundred and fifty settlers in a body, from Norfolk
Island, which experience proved to be inconvenient for a colony, from the
difficulty of approach and of landing. The Government, in consequence,
had effected the removal of the colonists, and had granted to them
proportionate allotments of land on the banks of the Derwent, where the
emigrants had rounded the incipient town of New Norfolk. It was to one of
the farms thus called into existence that I was now introduced.

I cannot easily describe the feelings of interest and curiosity with
which I approached the place. I regarded it as a mirror into which I was
about to look for the reflection of the condition which in a little time
I was myself to assume. The golden visions in which I had indulged on
ship board had already begun to vanish before the rough realities of
settling in a new country, and it was not without a tincture of sadness
that I prepared myself for a view of a settler's farm. I will endeavour
to describe it as it existed twenty years ago, and as it may still be
found, in its material resemblance, in some parts of the colony.

I beheld before me a low building, which I afterwards ascertained was
built of the logs of the stringy-bark tree, split in half, and set on
end. The building was about thirty feet long, and whitewashed. Its roof
was composed of shingles; that is, of slips of wood about nine inches
long, four inches broad, and a quarter of an inch thick. These shingles
had acquired a bluish cast, from exposure to the atmosphere, and had a
slatish appearance. At one end of the house was a rough-looking piece of
stone-work, formed of irregular pieces of stone procured near the spot,
and forming the end wall and chimney. At the back of the building was a
tolerably large stack of wheat, enclosed with trunks of trees, forming an
occasional small stock-yard. At one side was a garden, paled in with
palings of the stringy-bark tree split into irregular rough boards or
pales. I could see in this garden the aspect of the most luxuriant
vegetation. In front of the house a small tree was left standing, from
one of the boughs of which was suspended a sheep newly killed.

At the sight of our approach, it seems, an attack was instantly made on
the carcase, as a man was busily employed in cutting it up. At the same
time, a sun-burnt, but very pretty face became visible at the door of the
house, and instantly disappearing, a hissing sound was immediately heard
within, proclaiming that some culinary preparation was put in progress.
At a little distance was heard the bleating of a small flock of sheep,
for evening was now set in; and from another quarter a team of bullocks,
urged on by a strange-looking driver, with an immense cracking of his
whip, and a prodigious deal of expostulation, slowly drew near with a
huge load of wood for fuel. We were in the act of entering the house,
when our passage was impeded by a tiny swarm of little children, the
eldest about seven--the youngest of the six being held up by the eldest
to greet its father. Each was provided with a thick lump of "damper,"
which had been served out to amuse them until the more substantial repast
should be prepared. The clothing of these urchins was of the lightest
possible description consistent with decency, and mocassins seemed to be
the prevailing fashion. They were clean, however, and cheerful, but
inclined to have a lanky appearance, like little weeds running to seed.
This, I ascertained afterwards, was the general appearance of the
children born in the colony.

"Any milk, father?" said a little lisping girl.

"Just a drop, my dear, for your mother and the baby. Where's your
brother?"

As he spoke, a slender lad, of about ten years of age, made his
appearance, with a grave and tired air. He came up to greet his father.
"Sheep all right, Ned?"

"Yes, father; we should have left them on the Green-hill all night, but
Dick saw two men watching the flock in the early morning, and he came
upon them again in the afternoon. He doesn't half like their looks. But
the sheep are safe enough now in the little yard."

"Now, Sir," said the New Norfolk man, "if you're inclined for supper,
come along."

We entered the habitation, which consisted of one spacious apartment,
opening into the air. At the end opposite the chimney a space was divided
off into two small bedrooms. Opposite to the entrance of the house a door
led to a skillion, which served for a kitchen; and it was from that spot
that the hissing sounds, now become more violent, proceeded. In the
middle of the principal apartment was a rough table of boards, on which
were disposed sundry tin pannikins, a few plates, with some odd knives
and forks. A gigantic green bottle, containing rum, graced one corner of
the table, and in the centre was set, as a place of honour, the pannikin
of milk which had been obtained by the united efforts of the
establishments within reach.

And now the hostess emerged from the back recess, bearing in her hands an
enormous dish of mutton-chops, which was quickly followed by another
dish, in which appeared a sort of doughy cake.

"I thought," said the lady of the house, "you would like a cake in the
pan better than a damper; so here it is. Edward, help the gentlemen; they
have had a long walk, and must be hungry."

This hospitable intimation was responded to by her husband, who forthwith
thrust out of the large dish three or four of the chops into a plate, and
handed them to me. "Help yourself," said he to my companion; "you're used
to the ways of the place. Where's the salt? No mustard?"

"The mustard's out; we must have some more from camp. And the salt! Well,
that is unlucky. I declare there's not an atom left. Well, you must do
without it, or we can send to Conolly's farm, not three miles off. I know
they've got salt there, for they were to salt down a bullock to-day."

"Don't trouble yourself," said Crab; "I've got some salt in my pocket--in
this kangaroo jacket, which the bushrangers gave me for mine. I dare say
they've missed the salt before now, confound them." With this he inserted
his fingers into a recess of his hairy garment, and produced a small
quantity of a blackish and gritty substance.

"Ah!" said our hostess, "that's come from Saltpan Plains. Well, any is
better than none. And so, friend, the bushrangers have had hold of you;
did they treat you ill?"

"They just stripped me of every thing I had got--luckily, my money was
left in camp--and made me carry their baggage for three days. No joke
that in the sun, I can tell you. But I saw a good bit of the country with
them. It's a dreadful country; all up hill and down dale. Scarcely a good
bit of land to be seen anywhere. I do believe that there isn't any twelve
acres in the country that would feed a single sheep for the whole year."

"You don't seem to like the country," said mine host, addressing Crab.

"Like it! How can any one like it? Who would live in it that could get
out of it? There isn't one single thing to stay for. Poor land; where
it's better, it's covered with trees, and they must be cut down before
you can get at the soil to do anything with it. And then the stumps!
Impossible to drive a plough in a straight line. And then, suppose you
have stock; if you have cattle, they start away into the bush, and catch
'em again when you can! And if you have sheep, they're driven away by the
thieves, and find 'em again if you can; let alone being shot at when
you're looking after them. As to the bushrangers, it's very pleasant,
isn't it, to have your house broken open in the middle of the night, and
every thing cleaned out of it, while you have the satisfaction of looking
on with your hands tied behind your back, and a blackguard pointing a
cocked musket at you head? Oh--the fools that come here deserve to be
robbed, and starved, and murdered. I say, serve 'em right for being such
fools as to come, and bigger fools to stay!"

The pile of mutton-chops was now discussed, and the ponderous cake in the
pan had nearly disappeared under the vigorous attacks of the party. Mine
host now turned to the bottle of rum.

"If we only had a lemon here, we would cook up a bowl of punch. But,
never mind, we must make the best of what we have got."

With this philosophic remark, he poured into his pannikin about a quarter
of a pint of rum, qualifying it with what seemed to me an exceedingly
small modicum of water out of a pail that stood by, and invited me and my
companion to do the same. Not being used to the liquor, I declined, much
to the astonishment of the New Norfolk man; but Crab, without any
hesitation, poured out for himself a stiff portion of the stuff, evincing
that in this particular he had condescended to conform with the customs
of the colony. I must not omit to mention that while our banquet of
mutton-chops was being enjoyed by the elder portion of the company, the
good dame of the house served out tea to the juveniles from an iron
tripod boiling on the hearth. A handful of tea was thrown into this
receptacle, and set to boil. The tin pannikin of each was then
successively inserted in the decoction, to which was added some very
dark-looking brown sugar. The unusual luxury of milk added an especial
zest to this refection, the imbibing of which was interspersed with
frequent and unceremonious attacks on the pyramid of mutton-chops, not
forgetting the cake in the pan and the eternal damper, the never-failing
accompaniment in those times of a farmer's meal.

Symptoms of drowsiness now began to appear. The young fry had long since
been stowed away in their various dormitories, and our worthy hostess
bestirred herself to contrive some place of rest for myself and my
companion. With this intent, her husband was dislodged from a sort of
wooden sofa or bench, and Dick was called in to assist in the
preparations.

"Have those kangaroo skins been sent into camp?"

"No, missis--they're in the hut--and they'll make a capital bed for the
gentlemen. I'll get 'em in a minute."

A heap of crackling skins was presently produced, which Dick, acting as
chambermaid, proceeded to arrange for my accommodation. A contribution of
blankets and rugs was levied on the premises to make up our beds, my
friend Crab being accommodated with a heap of sacks spread on the floor.
In this manner, after the usual compliments, we prepared to take our
rest. Crab, I observed, flung himself on the sacks without the ceremony
of taking off his clothes, and presenting the appearance of a huge hairy
animal of a nondescript character, soon gave indications of being sound
asleep. As for myself, fatigued as I was, the novelty of the scene, and
the excitement of the day's journey, kept me awake for some time. I
pondered on my first day's experience of a settler's life; the rudeness
of the cottage; the roughness of the materials about it; the coarseness
of the food, in the manner of serving it, as well as in its substance;
the slovenliness and uncouthness of the farming establishment, so far as
I had been able to inspect it; and a feeling of disappointment and of
insecurity which I could not shake off, all tended to sadden me. Every
thing was quiet within and without; the very dogs, watchful as they are
in this country, seemed to be buried in sleep. Gradually my thoughts grew
more and more confused as weariness overpowered me, and I fell asleep.

My rest, however, was not destined to be of long duration. About three
o'clock in the morning, I was dreaming that I was in Hobart Town with my
wife and children, and that we were exclaiming against the annoyance of
the ceaseless barking of the dogs. The barking grew louder and louder,
and my children, it seemed to me, began to cry, frightened at the
fierceness of the uproar. I started up to still them, and in so doing,
awoke. The dream, however, had been suggested by a present reality. My
host's dogs were barking violently outside, and the children were joining
in chorus in aid of the general out cry. The door of the house was now
vehemently assailed by Dick, the shepherd, and my host, roused from his
slumbers, was quickly on the alert.

"Master!" cried out Dick, "the sheep are out of the yard--there's
mischief abroad. You had better look to yourselves inside. The stranger
gentleman has got a gun with him--is he waked up?"

"All ready," said I, jumping up in the dusk, "gun and all; but what's the
matter; have the bushrangers attacked us?"

"Of course they have," said Crab, who had risen from his couch of sacks;
"of course! what else could you expect? Bushrangers, ah, to be sure! this
is a pleasant place to live in. But I suppose you won't give in, master,"
speaking to our host, "without a bit ofscrimmage?"

"Hope not," said the farmer, "it's bad fighting with the bushrangers when
you have a wife and children to defend. But I don't think it's them; it's
only some chaps after the sheep; but they must be cautiously dealt with,
for they don't mind giving you a shot when they're close run."

"What's o'clock?"

"It's a quarter past three."

"Ah--then it's not far from daylight. Rouse up the men, Dick, and call
the dogs in. It's not much use to follow till there's light enough to see
the tracks. Keep close, my dear (to his wife, who had huddled on her
clothes), while I'm away, and don't let the children stray about. This is
no bushranger's affair, but it's an audacious trick to drive away a man's
sheep under his very nose, I must say. I and Dick will follow the track.
Give me my musket. Where are the cartridges? That's right; I'll take that
half damper with me; we may want it before we come back. Dick, we'll take
Hector and Fly with us; let the other dogs be kept back. I wish the mare
had not run off to the bush just at this time. Well, perhaps we are
better on foot, as it's sheep we are after. Now, Sirs, I must wish you
good bye."

"Good bye!" said Crab; "not a bit of it. You don't suppose I'm going to
eat your meat and drink your rum, and desert you in this strait
No--no--I'll lend you a hand. Just give me a good thick stick, that's
what I'm best used to, and I'll stand by you. And you, master," speaking
to me, "you'll come too, won't you? Your barrel may be of use to us."

"I'll go with you with pleasure," said I. "I know nothing of the bush
yet, but I'll do what I can to help."

"Thank you both," said our host; "we shall be four men with two barrels,
and three men left behind to take care of the farm. We may have a long
journey before us, so prepare yourselves for it. Wife, get out a bottle
of rum; Dick, you'll have no objection to carry it, I'm sure; but play
fair, my man."

"Better take a couple of pannikins with us," said Dick.

"Right," said our host. "And, Dick, take a light tether rope with you--we
may want it. And now let no one speak; and don't let it be known, if we
can help it, how many have left the farm."

"I think it would be the best way," said the practised shepherd, "for two
to go to the right and two to the left, and meet at the Green Hill, so
that we shall be sure to cross the track; no doubt there will be plenty
of tracks; that's the trick of the rascals, but we must try to get on the
main one."

"Take the man with the kangaroo-skin jacket with you, then," said the
farmer, "and go to the left, and I and the gentleman will take the right.
And here, take the musket, that there may be a barrel with each party. We
must make the best use of our time, or we shall have no chance of coming
up with the rogues."

The day now began to dawn, and there was light enough to see where to set
the foot. Each party proceeded to its destination without further delay,
and I soon found myself with the farmer at a considerable distance from
the homestead. We kept near the banks of the river for about half a mile,
and then, turning to the left, the farmer began diligently to search for
the tracks of the stolen flock. I assisted him in his search as well as I
could, and we were both so absorbed in our examination that we did not
perceive, till we came suddenly upon them, on turning round an eminence,
a mob of natives, seated by a fire. They started up at our approach, and
the farmer laying his hand on my arm, paused, with some signs of alarm,
to reconnoitre them.



CHAPTER V.

PURSUIT OF THE SHEEP-STEALERS--MEETING WITH THE NATIVES--THE BLACK MAN'S
INSTINCT IN TRACKING--WALK OVER THE COUNTRY--FINDS LAND TO PLEASE
HIM--RETURNS TO HOBART TOWN WITH HIS NEW ACQUAINTANCE, CRAB--PROCEEDS
WITH HIS FAMILY TO THE CLYDE.

"THERE'S no harm in them," said the New Norfolk man, after having
examined the natives for a little time; "this is a town mob; you see they
have got blankets among them; but it is always well to be on one's guard,
for they're treacherous devils. Don't let your gun out of your hand, and
don't show any fear of them. Now we'll go among them; if I could make 'em
understand that I am looking after strayed sheep, they could be of use to
me I don't doubt."

While he was speaking, we advanced towards the fire, the natives standing
near us here and there, and gazing at us with a sort of cold, lazy,
idiotic look. Near the fire was the log of a tree, and my New Norfolk
friend motioned to me to sit down.

"Sit opposite to me--there--face to face, so that each may see what is
going on at the other's back, without seeming to take particular notice.
I'll try if I can make anything out of these fellows."

Three or four of the natives, meanwhile, re seated themselves at the fire
and resumed the meal which, it seems, our approach had interrupted.

I was a little curious to observe how these grave-looking black
personages were pleased to conduct the ceremony of their morning's
repast, and my curiosity was presently gratified. Being satisfied, I
presume, that we had no hostile intentions, they continued their culinary
preparations. A tall and slender young lady, with a ragged blanket
gracefully festooned about her person, appeared with a net slung round
her neck, in which was a large lump of gum. She handed this lump of gum,
about the size of a small cocoa-nut, to one of the men. Another lady
produced an opossum, which looked to me something between a dead cat and
a squirrel. The gum and the opossum were thrown on the fire, the hair on
the outside of the latter and whatever it had in its inside helping to
its relish. After the gum and the opossum had fizzed and crackled and
smoked a little time, one of the party snatched out the opossum from the
fire, and plunging his face into its entrails, enjoyed himself with the
delicacy for a brief space, and then threw back the remains on the fire;
another of the party snatched it up, and tearing the limbs asunder and
picking off the choicest bits, chucked the half-picked bones to the
ladies of the community, who stood behind them, and who received these
testimonials of affection with much submissiveness and respect, and with
considerable gratification.

"They don't seem to have much respect for the ladies," said I to my New
Norfolk friend. "These black fellows take the lion's share of the
breakfast."

"Oh, that's the way they always treat their gins."

"Their gins! what are they?"

"Oh, they call their wives 'gins'. You see, a native will have three, or
four, or five, or perhaps more wives, according to accident--sometimes
more, sometimes less; I rather think it's according as they can find
food. They make their gins work for them, and collect the little bits of
gum from the trees, such as you saw in that one's net just now. And
they're capital hands to catch opossums! I've seen a black gin get up a
stringy-bark tree after a 'possum as well as any one of the men could.
But they seem to have done breakfast. I must try now to get them to help
me after the sheep."

It is to be observed that the repast which I have slightly described
passed in utter silence, the natives eating voraciously of the singed
opossum and the hot lumps of gum without speaking or noticing us. On the
principle that it is ill to come between a fasting man and his meat, the
farmer had refrained from asking any questions or making any proposals
about his lost sheep, until the natives were free to attend to him. He
looked out, therefore, for the chief of the party, and the following
colloquy took place:--

"Much kangaroo?"

"Kangaroo gone."

"Opossum good?"

"Good."

The correctness with which these few words were pronounced by the black
man surprised me.

"Do they speak English?" said I to my companion.

"Only a word or two; but they are capital mimics; they catch hold of a
word and repeat it very correctly, even when they don't understand it."

"Sheep many?" continued my companion to the chief.

"Sheep many."

"Sheep gone," said my friend, pointing to a hill in the distance. The
black man shook his head.

"Find sheep?" said the farmer, accompanying the words with the action of
a man searching for tracks on the ground.

The black man turned to his companions, and said something to them which
we could not understand. The group gathered nearer to us, and chattered
together doubtfully.

"They have not seen the sheep driven away," said the farmer to me; indeed
they could not, as the job was done before it was light, and the natives
never move about in the dark; "but I think they understand what I mean,
and are considering about it in their way. See, the black chief with the
red cotton handkerchief round his neck is going to speak. I suppose it's
about the terms."

"Sheep gone?" said the black man.

"Gone!" said my friend; "can't find;" and he repeated the gestures of
looking for tracks on the ground.

"What give?" said the native.

"Now what shall I offer the rascals?" said my friend. "They are too
knowing by half; I don't know which are the worst, the wild or the tame
ones. It's astonishing how soon savages learn our Christian ways of doing
nothing for nothing. By the look of that black villain's face, he's
determined to make a bargain of it."

"I've some dollars in my pocket," said I; "I'm sure they are much at your
service."

"It's not dollars they want; they don't understand the meaning of money
yet; but they want what's as good as money."

"What give!" said he to the black functionary; "give bottle of rum."

The words "bottle of rum" seemed to be perfectly well understood by the
black creatures, but they looked to their chief; their chief looked at
them, and seemed to consider in his mind how much, after sharing the
contents of the bottle among his tail--to the number of about
twenty--would remain for himself.

He shook his head.

"One bottle," pointing to the group, "little."

"The old rascal," exclaimed my companion; "he's as hard to deal with as a
camp storekeeper; but he can do what I want if he likes, I'm sure; I'll
try him with another bottle."

"Two (holding up two fingers), two bottles of rum."

"Two," repeated the chief to his gang, pronouncing the words very
correctly. The natives looked irresolute; but the chief decided. "Two
bottles--little."

"We had better make a pretence of going," said the farmer; "then,
perhaps, they'll agree."

"Two bottles much. Good bye."

"Good bye," said all the natives together.

"Why they seem all to talk English," said I.

"They've all caught that word up. But we must have that old fellow to
help us. Confound him! But, however, I can water the rum, that's
something."

Turning round, we observed the natives still looking at us, as if waiting
for a last bid.

"Three bottles," said the New Norfolk man, holding up three fingers.
"Three big bottles of rum."

We were turning round to continue our way, when the black negotiator,
concluding that he had now arrived at the limit of the reward, called
out--

"Tree bottle--good!"

We stood still upon this; and presently four or five of the men joined
us. A consultation now took place between them, and after some
considering, the chief pushed forward a young slim native. "Good," said
he; "find sheep."

The farmer not approving of this substitution, shook his head.
"Pickaninny not good to find sheep. You," pointing to the chief, "you go."

"No go--gins!"

"Ah," said my friend; "he says he can't leave his gins. Well, I suppose
we must take the young one. Come."

The young native immediately stepped forward. He was completely naked.
The weather, to be sure, was very warm. His hair was woolly and frizzled;
his limbs clean and straight; but his whole body was very slender, with
the exception of that portion of his person which served as a receptacle
for the opossums and gum-balls with which he had recently regaled
himself. I could not help remarking on its extraordinary protuberance.

"These chaps are made to carry a good lot of provender," said I.

"They do eat enormously," said my companion. "Perhaps it is, that, as
their food is very precarious, they think it prudent to lay in a good
stock when they can get it; and so it swells 'em out a bit. But which way
is the fellow taking us? Why, he's going back again. Ah! I see he's going
back for the first track. Well, he knows what he's about; that's some
encouragement. Look--he's going to speak. No; he can't do that. But I
understand him; he wants to know where the sheep were driven from. Let me
see--where are we? Oh! there lies the farm, over that little hill.
There," said he, speaking to the native--"sheep there"--and, throwing his
arm away from it--"gone?"

The native considered a few moments, and then, without any attempt to
make his intention understood, led the way over a low hill that was to
our left.

"This will bring us near the place where we appointed to meet the
shepherd and your friend," said the New Norfolk man; "they will be
wondering what has become of us."

While he was speaking, we heard a distant sound, as of some one
hallooing, but with a cadence that was strange to me. The peculiar mode
of the country--whether hit on by accident or scientifically designed, I
know not--of throwing the voice to a distance in the bush, was new to me;
but I could make out the sounds easily enough. "Coo-oo-ee!"

"That's Dick and your friend," said the farmer; "they think we have
missed them, and they are trying the chance of our hearing them coo-ee.
I'll answer them."

With that he put his hands to his mouth, and replied with a loud and
shrill "Coo-ee!" His cry was answered, and, standing still, the native
seeming perfectly to understand the reason of the proceeding, presently
two dogs came bounding towards us through the trees; and in a little time
the bulky form of my kangaroo-skin friend Crab and the blue jacket of the
shepherd were visible to us in the distance. They soon joined us. "What
luck?" said the farmer.

"I think I've found the tracks," said the shepherd; "but I suppose we
shall be sure now, as I see you've got one of the natives to guide you. I
saw a smoke over the hills, and thought it was likely there was a mob of
'em about. Well, master, we had better put the black fellow on the track
that I've found, and then he can go right ahead."

The black man, however, refused to proceed in any other than his own way,
and continued to lead us straight to some spot that he seemed to have
fixed on as a favourable starting point.

"I suppose we have nothing to do but to follow him?" said the shepherd.

"Follow him!" said Crab, who had hitherto continued silent. "Follow him!
Now, isn't it a pretty thing to see us following a black fellow, to find
a whole flock of sheep that's been driven off in the night? Here's a
country to live in! A man lies down in his bed with a flock of sheep in
his yard, and when he gets up the next morning he finds all his sheep
driven off, the Lord knows where! And then he must get a black fellow to
find them for him! Well, if this won't make a man sick of the country, I
don't know what will. What do you think of it, master?" turning to me;
"you came out to look for land, and now you are looking for sheep; and
you'll find about as much of one as the other, I'm thinking."

It was very odd--but I must confess the truth, the excitement that had
taken possession of me had put out of my head my own particular business,
that of looking for a piece of land to settle on; and I found myself
embarked in an expedition with the New Norfolk settler after his lost
sheep, with as much keenness and eagerness as if it was an affair of my
own; so apt are we all to be acted on more by the pressing and immediate
circumstance than by the distant consideration. But I felt I was in for
it, for better or worse, and that I was bound in honour to go through
with it. I could not help, however, letting the thoughts that came across
me break out in words to my New Norfolk acquaintance.

"Well," said I, "I did not contemplate this sort of fun when I came to
New Norfolk; I came to look for land, and now it seems I'm turned
sheep-hunter or sheep-finder; but I suppose this is a part of the usual
adventurous life of a settler?"

"I'll tell you what, my friend," said the farmer; "I am much obliged to
you for your company and assistance in this matter, and the more so,
because it was done readily and good naturedly; but if you want to see
the country, you could not have a better opportunity than this; for you
are very certain to be led a pretty dance before we have done, and that
over parts of the country that neither you nor I perhaps would think of
penetrating into, unless compelled by the necessity of following the
track. So don't suppose you are losing time; rather you are gaining time,
for you are seeing, if you will make use of your eyes, more of the
country than most strangers do."

"Well," said I, "I was told before I set out, that a settler's life was
one of adventure; and this is a pretty good beginning."

We had now arrived at the margin of a little rivulet, of which there are
many in this country, a foot or two broad, and of the depth of a few
inches only. The native paused here, and seemed to ponder for a while.
Not being used to the bush, I had no notion where we were, and I felt,
for the first time, how easily those unaccustomed to the bush get
bewildered. There was the sun to go by, to be sure, and we could see
it--and feel it too. But wandering in the bush, and becoming lost in it,
seems to produce some specific emotion of the mind, by which the
faculties become actually stupefied and the wits lost. But I sha'll have
to speak of this in another place. The black fellow soon made up his
mind; pointing backwards and shaking his head, to signify that the sheep
were not in that direction, he continued his way to the left, keeping
near the little rivulet, and searching, as I observed by his eye, for the
tracks of the sheep. We continued to this line for some miles, till we
began to feel tired. Crab called a halt.

"This seems to be rather a wild-goose chase. Here we have followed this
black rascal for I don't know how many miles, and not the tail of a sheep
have we seen--and in my opinion never shall; for I'm quite sure he's only
leading us to a proper place for a mob of these devils to set on us, and
devour us,--the Lord help us! To think that this should be the end of my
mother's son! To be eaten up by those black villains--just chucked on the
fire, and before we're half done, to have them set their teeth in us.
Well, to be sure! master, what do you think of it? I'm for going back
again before it comes to worse."

"Go back!" said the shepherd; "never think of it. We must come on the
tracks some time. Why! you would never go back without the sheep! Three
hundred and fifty sheep must leave their marks behind them."

"But they don't," said Crab.

"Come on," said the farmer, motioning to the native to move forward. "It
would be a pretty joke to go back without any of the flock. Ah! the black
fellow has got scent of them--see, he is pointing to something on the
ground."

We now hastily followed the native, who, after rapidly continuing on the
track, suddenly stopped, and seemed to require some information, which he
did not know how to ask for.

"Go to him, Dick," said the farmer, "you know their ways better than we
do. Try to make out what he wants."

The shepherd approached the native. The native pointed to the tracks.
"Sheep," said he.

"Sheep, sure enough," said the shepherd; "but he means something that I
can't make out."

The native now, throwing his arms about so as to describe a large space
of land, said in an inquiring tone, "Sheep? sheep? sheep?"

"Ah!" said Dick, "I see what he's at now; he wants to know if there were
many sheep; he has come upon fresh tracks, but only of a few, and he
fears being led away after the wrong lot."

"Many," said he to the native; "little," pointing to the present tracks,
and shaking his head. The native, it seems, understood him, for he
immediately turned off at an angle to his left, and in about a couple of
miles we crossed the track of a number of sheep, which we now found had
been driven parallel to the river for some distance; the sheep-stealers
then turned sharply to the left, and crossed a part of the river where it
was easily fordable. On the other side of the river the tracks were plain
and fresh, and we proceeded at a rapid pace in pursuit. We continued our
course for several miles, when the tracks suddenly assumed the appearance
of a fork, part towards the right and part towards the left.

In this dilemma it was resolved that the farmer, with the shepherd and
the native, should proceed to the left, and that I and Crab should follow
the track to the right, and act according to circumstances. To this
arrangement Crab made no objection, as there was "as good a chance," he
said, "of finding them one way as another, although he had no doubt they
had been driven away by this time where nobody would find them; and if
they were found, so that nobody could know them, as they would be all
fresh marked and firebranded." And so we parted on our respective
expeditions.

I afterwards learned that the New Norfolk man recovered nearly all his
sheep, but I shall not stop here to relate the particulars. I want to
show how I got on my farm, and by what means a settler arrives through
difficulties and dangers to independence and fortune.

"Well, master," said Crab, "you have seen something of the country now;
what do you think of it?"

"It's a beautiful country to look at," said I; "but beauty of scenery is
one thing and goodness of land is another. A settler can't live on a fine
prospect; he must get his living out of the fatness of the soil under his
foot; but just at this moment, Master Crab," continued I, "I would rather
look on a good breakfast than any thing else."

"In that case," said Crab, stopping and speaking softly, "you have a
chance of something--look there, just over that log of a tree--don't you
see his head? it's a brush kangaroo. There, he's hopping off; now you've
a good shot at him."

I fired, and the animal gave a bound forward. "You've hit him," said
Crab; and, tired as we were, we set off at a run after the wounded
kangaroo.

The animal, however, hopped away at an amazing rate, and it continued its
course for more than a mile before it fell. Crab quickly cut it up, and
lighting a fire of the dead wood which lay in plenty about, we made a
bush breakfast and dinner all in one. The water of a spring close by
supplied drink; and Crab armed himself with the tail of the defunct, as a
supply, as he said, against accidents.

The chase of the kangaroo caused us to lose the track of the sheep, and
Crab proposed that we should cross over the country till we came to the
high road uniting the two extremities of the island. I assented to this
scheme, and after a toilsome march of thirty hours, we found ourselves on
the main road. A settler's bullock cart fortunately was proceeding to
Norfolk Plains, on the northern side of the island. We availed ourselves
of its convenience; and partly riding and partly walking, we arrived at
the large tract of level land known by that name. From thence we
proceeded to Launceston, and returning by the high road, we arrived at a
place called "Green Ponds," in the district of Murray. Here, at a little
public-house, newly set up, I heard of a tract of country lying westward,
on the banks of the Clyde, particularly suitable for cattle and sheep
feeding, which was the line I had a mind to follow. I crossed over, with
the persevering Crab, and lighted on a spot, which pleased me at once,
from the back run for sheep and cattle which it afforded.

Having fixed on my land, I hastened back to Hobart Town, that I might be
the first to apply for it. I had been away seventeen days, and it was
with not a little delight that I saw my wife and children again, for I
seemed to have been absent a much longer time. The very next day I got an
order from the governor to take possession; and I was informed the land
would be regularly surveyed and marked out for me by the government
surveyor, as soon as his engagements would permit, and that in the
meantime I might take possession and erect my buildings. My next care was
to provide myself with two bullock-carts, and two teams of four bullocks
each, to carry up such utensils and things as were absolutely necessary.

On consulting with my wife, I found that she preferred going on the land
with me at once, with the children, to staying in the town until I had
got some accommodation for her. Fortunately we had brought out with us
two good tents, one a pretty large one; these served us in good stead. We
were in a pretty bustle, it may be supposed, packing up and getting ready
for our journey. It was about fifty miles from the town to the spot I had
chosen. All our goods and traps being ready--and having had assigned to
me two government men, a bullock-driver and a farming-man--my wife, her
children, and her mother, occupying one cart, with the woman servant, and
all sorts of articles for bedding and use; and the other cart being
filled with utensils and tools, and provisions, we commenced our journey
on the 26th February, 1817, with anxious thoughts, but full of spirits
and of hope, for the river Clyde.



CHAPTER VI.

JOURNEY UP THE COUNTRY WITH FAMILY, BULLOCK-CARTS, AND CRAB--A STEEP
HILL--A NIGHT IN THE BUSH--ARRIVES AT HIS LAND--HIS FIRST CHOP AT A GUM
TREE.

IT is more than twenty-one years since I set out on this memorable
journey, but the whole scene is present to me as if it was an affair of
yesterday; and I remember well my sensations at the sight of my wife
perched on the top of a feather bed in a bullock-cart, with her old
mother sitting beside her, and the children higgledy piggledy about her,
enjoying the novelty and the fun of being dragged by bullocks in a cart.
There was something so droll in the set-out, and at the same time the
occasion was so serious, that my poor wife did not know whether to laugh
or to cry; but the tumblings that the roughness of the road gave the
children soon made them merry enough, and their joyous mirth set the rest
of the party a-laughing, so that the journey was a merry one in the
beginning at least. The old lady sat very quietly in her place, a little
frightened, but resigned to her fate. She owned, afterwards, that she
never expected to get to the end of the journey alive by such an
outlandish sort of conveyance, and she was like to be right in her
forebodings at one time.

We got on very well till we arrived at the ferry, for many years known as
Stocker's Ferry, about nine miles from camp. The bullocks behaved
admirably. These were all fine animals. I gave forty pounds a pair for
two pair. The other two pair I got for thirty-five pounds a pair; but one
of the bullocks was rather old and weak, but a steady worker, and a prime
fellow to break in the young ones; it seemed to me he took a pleasure in
it. Bob, who lived with me for many years afterwards, had the honour of
conducting the principal team, the first cart being committed to the care
of my other servant. I walked, helping the one or the other, as the
occasion happened, with Will, my eldest boy, now nearly ten years old,
for my companion. We had not gone more than a mile from the town when we
heard some one calling after us, and who should it be but Crab, who
joined us, terribly out of breath, and with an uncertain expression of
countenance which represented an odd appearance of habitual sourness and
present concern, which induced me to stop the whole cavalcade for a
moment, wondering what could be the matter.

"Well, Mr. Crab," said I, "nothing wrong, I hope?"

"Nothing wrong yet that I see," said Crab; "but I'm thinking, master,"
said he hesitatingly, "you're rather short-handed for what you're about.
You see, when one of the bullock-carts turns over, you'll hardly be
strong enough to set it on its legs again..."

"Oh, gracious! Mr. Crab," said my wife, "don't make things worse than
they are; you will always look on the worst side so."

"Why, ma'am," said Crab, trying to look gracious, "I don't like to
frighten the ladies; but it's always best to be prepared for what's to
happen, then when it comes it isn't so bad. So I thought I might be able
to help you a bit, as I'm used to the ways of the country, and see you
safe on your land; and I don't doubt that when you get there, you'll be
glad enough to get back again; and then it would be a consolation to me
to see you safe in the town again, and aboard ship, so that you may go
away home from this horrible place, which it's a shame to entice people
to,--poor, deceived, wretched, miserable creatures! Besides, I've taken a
sort of liking to your good man here, and the long and the short of it
is, if you like, I'll go along with you to your land, and lend you a
help, for you'll want it bad enough. What do you say to it, master?"

There was a real good and honest feeling in the man, which, in spite of
the rough husk that covered it, had given me a liking for him, and I
readily agreed to his proposal; telling him that I was heartily glad of
such a valuable addition to our company. He gave a nod, to intimate that
he considered the social compact as concluded, and then eagerly relapsed
into his accustomed sourness and sarcasm. He immediately began to
complain of the state of the roads, of their ruts and unevenness.

"Did ever mortal man," said he, "conceive the stupidity of these
road-makers? Here they take you right over the hill, when it would have
been no further, and much easier, to go round it. But no--the road must
be carried in a straight line, and so the poor cattle must be murdered in
dragging their loads over it. And then look at the stumps of trees left
in the middle of the road. A nice place, isn't it, for a gentleman to
travel in?"

"But you can't expect," said I, "to find things in a new country all
ready made to your hand; there must be a beginning to every thing."

"Then why do you come to a new country? Why can't you wait till it's an
old one, and fit for Christians to live in? Not that this place will ever
be fit for anything to live in but a convict or a kangaroo."

By this time we had arrived at Stocker's Ferry.

"What do you intend to do now?" said Crab.

"Cross the ferry."

"How?"

"How! why, in the ferry boat, to be sure."

"You'll be capsized--bullocks, carts, and all."

"We must take our chance of that."

After a good deal of trouble, we crossed over safe.

"Well, Crab, that job's done well," said I.

"Better the other way, and so saved worse," said Crab; "but, however, as
we are on this side, Heaven help us! we had better get on to where there
is water for the bullocks, for they begin to be distressed in the heat of
the day. They'll never be able to get these loads to the end of the
journey; that's my opinion."

With these pleasing prognostications as an accompaniment to our toil, we
reached Brighton Plains, where we made a halt, in a sheltered spot, by
the side of a little stream, and let loose the bullocks to graze. Crab
assured us that we might make up our minds to stay where we were for some
weeks, or days at least, as the bullocks would be sure to stray away into
the bush.

We laughed at his talk; and the children, glad to be released from the
confinement of the cart, made the little valley ring with their shrieks
and their merriment. My wife was as merry as any of them; and the old
lady was pleased to have proceeded so far, and to have accomplished the
much dreaded crossing of the river without accident. I thought even the
furrows of Crab's rugged features once or twice nearly relaxed into a
smile, as he witnessed the frolicsome mirth of the children, but he shook
his head with much gravity "Ah," said he, "poor things! let them enjoy
themselves; they little know what's in store for 'em."

We now called a council of war, and it was determined to wait till the
cool of the evening, and then make a vigorous push for the Green Ponds,
where a little public-house had been recently established. We arrived
there just at dark; and as the house was small, and the night fine and
warm, we preferred passing the night under our tents, which were quickly
set up. We secured the bullocks in a small stock-yard, close by the
little inn; and, with the exception of Crab, the whole party was soon
fast asleep. That indefatigable individual insisted that we should be
attacked by the bushrangers; and he remained therefore on watch, to give
the alarm.

Nothing occurred, however; and, by four o'clock in the morning, we were
all a-foot, and ready to start. We proceeded in due order for about four
miles on the high road. We had then to turn to the left, westward, on our
way to the place of our destination. Crossing the narrow river Jordan at
an awkward ford, which would have been of difficult accomplishment at any
other than the summer season, we continued our way with much precaution,
as there was no marked road, and the track was not always very plain.

After a few miles' progress, we arrived at the foot of the Den Hill--part
of a ridge of mountainous hills, extending to the left. On the right
was a smiling valley, watered by a little stream. The appearance of the
ascent before us was very formidable; it is not very much better now; but
at that time the country was little known, and an untravelled road always
appears, the first time, longer and worse than it is. Here we made
another halt, to gather up courage to face the ascent, and to recruit the
strength of the cattle and their drivers. Crab looked at the hill covered
with a thick mass of trees, and without any visible opening, and then at
the carts and bullocks, with a very long face. I confess I had some
misgivings myself. I had gone over the hill before, when I went to look
at the land at the Clyde; but going over such a hill on foot and
surmounting it with laden carts are two very different things.

As we discussed some bread and meat on the grass, we were all very
serious, even the children regarding the black dense mass of trees rising
one above another before us with fearfulness and perplexity. We turned to
Crab instinctively, expecting to hear from him some of his usual evil
prognostications. But he preserved a rigid silence, stuffing huge pieces
of damper into his mouth, with a diligence and perseverance that seemed
to imply he was doubtful when he might have the chance of doing so again,
and enjoying maliciously, I was inclined to think, the novel
disappointment of his unusual taciturnity.

At last, seeing that the thing must be done, I shook off the lethargic
feeling which fatigue, the heat, and apparently insurmountable
difficulties before us had cast over me, and I braced myself up for the
effort. We got on pretty well for about a quarter of a mile, but the
steepness of the way and the impediments of the dead timber, lying on all
sides about, brought us to a stand still. Putting pieces of wood behind
the wheels of the carts, to prevent their rolling backwards, we looked
inquiringly at one another. It seemed a hopeless task. Crab said nothing.
The men looked at the bullocks despairingly.

"It's more than mortal cattle can do," said Bob, who had shown himself a
civil and diligent fellow; "you might as well attempt to climb up the
walls of a house."

I thought so too, but I took care to keep my thoughts to myself. I was
puzzled to know what to do; and the evening was drawing in, and the clear
light failing us, though at that time of the year the nights are never
quite dark in Van Diemen's Land. In this difficulty my wife came to our
aid.

"If four bullocks cannot draw one cart up the hill, why not put the whole
eight on, and draw one cart up at a time?"

It was like Columbus's egg; nothing more easy when it was done. In a
trice we unharnessed the provision cart, Crab lending himself with
alacrity and energy to the movement; and with prodigious labour, and the
exhaustion of the whole party, we succeeded, after two hours' work, in
dragging the cart, with my wife and children, to the summit of this
terrible hill. It was now nearly dark, and we had left the provision-cart
about a mile behind us, and the animals were too much exhausted to render
further attempts possible. Under these circumstances, we were obliged to
pass the night, as it were, under arms, with the bullocks yoked and
chained, for we were afraid to let them wander to feed, not knowing the
country. Crab volunteered to mount guard over the cart below, and to keep
up a good fire to point out his whereabouts. We did the same; and in this
way we passed the night, not very commodiously; but the genial warmth of
the season, and the brilliant fineness of the night, reconciled us to our
rough lodgement, and as we had plenty of covering for the children, they
slept soundly, and all passed off well.

At the first sign of light we were stirring. We had to pursue the same
process to get up our provision-cart, when we made a hearty breakfast,
and not the less so from having gone without our supper. Our way was now
all downhill by a gentle inclination; and sometimes following the faint
track, and sometimes guided by the notched trees, and making our way over
the dead timber and through the bushes as well as we could, we arrived in
about a couple of hours at the site of my future farm.

It was now noon. The sun was intensely hot, and we very tired, bullocks
and all; but we had arrived safe, and we felt in spirits. And here we
were, our little party, alone in the wilderness. To the west there was no
human habitation between us and the sea; and the nearest settler's
residence was not less than eighteen miles. There was pasturage for sheep
and cattle for scores and scores of miles, and no one to interfere with
them. But I had not yet a single sheep, nor a single head of cattle,
except my eight working bullocks. We turned them out to graze on the
plain before us, through which ran the Clyde, then better known by the
name of the Fat Doe River; we had no fear of their straying, for they
were tired enough with their journey. The two men then set up the tents,
without bidding.

I remember I sat on a fallen tree, with my wife and children and her
mother stretched on the ground in the shade, for some time absorbed in
thoughts of mingled pain and pleasure. Crab had strolled into the bush.
It was a brilliant day. There was a solemn stillness around that was
imposing; the sun shining gloriously in the heavens, and the prospect
around most calm and beautiful. I felt melancholy. Thoughts crowded thick
upon me. I had undertaken a vast task, to establish a home in the
wilderness. The first stage of my enterprise I had accomplished; through
toil, and labour, and difficulty, and danger; but I had accomplished it.
The first object was gained. I had reached the land of promise. I had
taken possession of my land, and a noble domain it was. But what were the
risks and difficulties that remained? I felt fearful at the work before
me. No help near in case of danger; no medical assistance; no neighbour.
I looked at my wife and children lying listlessly on the dry and parched
grass; I looked around me, and tried to penetrate into the obscurity of
the future, and guess the end. Worn out with thought, and weary with
travel, I insensibly gave way to the feeling of lassitude which possessed
us all, and fell asleep on the grass. My wife would not have me wakened,
but taking on herself, without hesitation and without delay, the duties
of a settler's wife, she silently gave directions for unloading the
carts, and preparing our canvass house. The smaller tent she made the
temporary storehouse for our multifarious goods; the larger one was
converted into a general bedchamber for herself, her mother, and the
children. The store tent was destined for me to sleep in. Two boxes
formed a table on the outside, and fitting logs of wood formed
appropriate seats. A fire was kindled near the spot, and dinner got
ready. It was quite an early settler's meal; boiled salt pork and damper
with tea and brown sugar, and rice for the children. All this was
prepared while I slept. I was awakened by Crab, who had been absent about
a couple of hours on his exploring expedition.

"Holloa!" said he; "here's a pretty settler, to go to sleep while his
wife works for him. Look here, I've got something for you."

I awoke at this, and felt quite refreshed and ready for action. Crab
displayed a brace of wild ducks, which produced a general curiosity among
the party. Without stopping to ask questions, Crab prepared them for the
spit after his way. But spit we had none, so we contented ourselves with
throwing them on the hot embers, native fashion, and hooking them out
with the ramrod of one of our muskets. We distributed them among young
and old in equitable proportions. I had brought up with me a five-gallon
cask of rum, rather in compliance with the customs of the colony than
with my own inclination; but on this occasion, and to do honour to the
splendour of our repast of game, I served out a moderate ration of it,
much to the satisfaction of the two men, who were well pleased at the
unexpected libation. We soon got very merry, and at last felt so
reconciled to our new position, that I caught myself proposing
three-times-three to the success of the FIRST FARM on the Fat Doe River.

And now, having rested and refreshed, we all began to bestir ourselves in
earnest to our work. My eldest boy, Will, was set to watch the bullocks,
to prevent their straying too far. The men busied themselves in erecting
a sod hut for themselves about a hundred yards from the tents. Crab got
out the grindstone, fixed it on a convenient stump of a fallen tree and
prepared the axes. My first care was to put our fire-arms in order and
handy for use. I had two muskets with bayonets, a fowling-piece and two
pair of pistols, one a large pair of horse-pistols: I had besides a
yeomanry broadsword and a hanger, so that we were tolerably well armed.
Crab looked grim at my warlike preparations.

"Ah!" said he, "a pretty way of taking possession of a farm, with guns
and blunderbusses, instead of ploughs and harrows. Well, to be sure! the
madness of the people to come to such a place as this to fight with the
natives and the bushrangers. However, as you are here, I suppose
something must be done to get a roof over your heads. I have found some
capital timber not a quarter of a mile off, that would do to build a
log-house. You'll find that the best thing you can do, is to house
yourself comfortably;--comfortably! yes, pretty comfort there is in the
bush! we look very comfortable, don't we? all alone in the wilderness,
without a soul near us to help us, and not a drop of beer to be had for
love or money. Well, as you have made your bed, you must lie on it. You
are in for it for a while, and so I suppose you must make the best of
it."

With these appropriate and gratifying observations, the cross-grained,
but diligent Crab, furnished himself with the heaviest axe of the lot,
and we went together to the verge of the forest; our encampment having
been formed on a piece of ground nearly clear of timber. We eyed some
hard-looking gum trees for a little time, pausing to select those most
fit for our purpose.

"Now," said Crab, "who is to strike the first stroke?"

"That will I do," said I, and, fetching a blow at a gum-tree before me,
stuck my axe in the bark.

"Well done for a beginning," said Crab; "here goes for another."

At this he struck a sturdy stroke on the other side of the tree, but
without producing much impression.

"Hard stuff this," said Crab. "I'm thinking we have harder work before us
than we thought for! I wonder how long it will take you and me to cut
down this tree? but let us at him again."

We chopped, and chopped, and sweated, and worked, till we were fairly
exhausted; we made a pretty decent gap on both sides, but the tree gave
no intimation of coming down "This will never do," said I; "there must be
something wrong here; we must not be all day cutting down one tree."

Casting my eye on the axes that lay on the ground, it occurred to me that
the fault was in the tools. We had made use of heavy, broad axes, which
after experience taught us were quite unfit for felling timber.

"There's something wrong with these axes," said I; "let's try the axes
which I bought in camp."

They were much longer from heel to edge, and much narrower, presenting
not more than half the breadth of edge to the wood. The first cut showed
their superiority.

"This is the article," said Crab; and with that he gave a flourish with
his axe in the air, and shivered off a prodigious slice of the obstinate
gum-tree. We went at it merrily, and presently the tree began to shiver,
and suddenly it fell down with a prodigious crash to the ground.

"That's number one," said Crab, "and precious hard work it is, I must
say. And this is what we have come to t'other side of the earth for! to
cut down gum-trees! A nice employment for middle-aged gentlemen, I must
say. I'm thinking we might have had enough of this pleasure at home,
without coming so far for it. However, every one to his mind. And now for
the next, master. Here is a good-looking chap; let's have a chop at him."

"Let us try the saw," said I; "it's ready set, perhaps that will do it
easier."

"Any way," said Crab, "so long as we are amused. I take it, in about six
months, at this rate, we shall be able to get timber enough for a hut.
But here's a nice breeze got up. Oh, this is what they call the
sea-breeze that comes in the afternoon; but sure we are too far from the
sea to feel it."

"Well, never mind where it comes from; it's too pleasant to be asked
questions about. Upon my word I thought it was rather warmish."

The wind now rose so as to bend the branches of the trees, and its
grateful coolness was unspeakably refreshing, after the sultry heat of
the day. I saw the tents agitated by it, and the loose things on the
grass dancing about, and the children merrily chasing them. But I found
the breeze more than pleasing; it was a useful help in felling the trees,
and we quickly took advantage of it. Cutting the side of the tree next to
the breeze, we found that the force of the wind saved us half our labour,
for the branches being full and thick in leaf, they presented such a hold
to the wind, that a slight notching of them brought them down. In this
way we felled eight trees, and gave the appearance of a little clearing
to that spot.

In the meantime the evening was drawing in, and the shades of night soon
fell on us. The men had raised the walls of their sod hut, and covering
it over with branches of trees, they were content for the night. The
bullocks shewed no disposition to stray; so, after seeing all things put
in order as well as the circumstances permitted, we disposed ourselves
for rest. Crab insisted on keeping watch with musket and fixed bayonet;
and with a cartouch-box slung behind him, he made a most formidable
figure.

All was still; the stars were bright in the heavens, and I could
distinguish the faint outlines of the distant hills. It was long before I
could compose myself to sleep. I was full of thought and anxiety. I had
every thing to do: mine was really a beginning. The soil around me had
not been disturbed by civilized man since its creation. The vast
wilderness seemed to have received us into its ample bosom, and to have
closed around us, shutting ting us out from all communication with
humanity. We formed but a little speck on the vast space of the
uninhabited country. I endeavoured to picture to myself the future farms
that might arise around us, and the coming of neighhours to cheer and
strengthen us. But the reality was too present and too strong to admit of
the consolations of the imagination. I felt committed to an act of doubt
and difficulty. I revolved my past life in England, and wondered how any
state of misfortune could have been urgent enough to induce me to embark
in so fearful an undertaking as that of a settler's life in the
wilderness. But the very peril of my position served at last to nerve me
up to the encounter. I felt the deep responsibility of my position as the
father of a young family and the husband of an affectionate wife, who by
my act had been conveyed from home, from relations, and from early
friends, to brave the risks and adventures of a settler's life.

With the serious thoughts with which this contemplation inspired me, I
lay down to rest, not without returning my grateful thanks to the Great
Disposer of all events, for having arrived thus far with my family in
health and safety; and entreating the Divine protection and help in my
solitary encampment, with such prayer I addressed myself to sleep to
gather strength for the morrow.



CHAPTER VII.

A SETTLER'S DAILY LABOURS--CHOPPING DOWN GUM-TREES TOUGH WORK--BUILDS A
LOG-HOUSE--BUYS SOME SHEEP--SHOOTS A WILD ANIMAL--BLACK-COCKATOO PIE--A
KANGAROO STEAMER.

Thursday, February 28th, 1817.--Up at day light. Set the men to work to
cross-cut the trees that we felled yesterday. Crab helped, and they sawed
and felled alternately. Crab said it was regular nigger work; when they
were tired of chopping down the gum-trees, they had to set to to saw
'em--to rest themselves!

* * *

Walked over my land; guessing, as well as I could, the extent of twelve
hundred acres, at the rate of one-third frontage to the river. Fixed on
the line where the measurement of my lot should begin. After a good deal
of consideration and examination of the parts about, I settled on the
spot for building our log-house. I thought that the time might come when
I should be able to erect a better house, so I marked the place for our
temporary habitation close to the spot for the future building, and so as
to form a part of the general plan. Marked out in my mind a garden and
entrance. After this I set to work to help Crab and the men in preparing
split logs for the hut. My wife says that she doesn't like me to call it
a "hut;" so, mem., "to call it a COTTAGE." Got twelve more trees down
to-day. My eldest boy, Will, who had been watching the working bullocks
within sight of the tents, told us at dinner that he had seen a kangaroo,
with a young one in her pouch, grazing not far from him. I must get dogs,
not only for hunting occasionally, but for safety, to give the alarm at
night and in the day-time too. The weather beautiful. We live in the open
air, and it seems to me it would not harm us to sleep in the open air;
but we have our tents. No one came near us all day.

Friday, March 1.--At work all day with Crab and the men, sawing the
fallen timber into lengths and splitting it to set up. Crab has been
splitting shingles to serve instead of tiles for the roof. Bob said that
many huts are thatched with a sort of grass, abundant in all marshy
places, and which serves the purpose of straw pretty well; but I don't
like the idea of having a combustible roof where you are exposed to fire
as well from the natives as from the accidental firing of the dry grass
in the summer season; so although it is more labour and more expense, I
have decided against thatch. Had the shingles split ten inches long and
four broad. Only cut four more trees. Saw no one all day.

Saturday, March 2.--More chopping. We were all at it all day. Got down
twenty-eight trees, making in all fifty-two. My wife says we must get
some fowls to make a poultry-yard. Will complains that the bullocks want
to stray off the ground. Weather beautiful. Saw no creature but ourselves
all day.

Sunday, March 3.--Could not make up my mind at first what to do, whether
to go on with our cottage, which was a pressing want, or to keep the
Sunday as a day of rest. Consulted with my wife. She thought it was
proper to keep up the distinction of the Sunday for the sake of
preserving the good habits of the children. Pondered over the matter a
good deal. As to there being any harm in working on a Sunday on such
matters as we were engaged on, I did not think there was; but as the
weather was fine, I thought it best not to disturb Sunday habits. So
after we had read prayers to the children, we passed the day talking, and
planning, and strolling among the trees, but not far from the house. And
I don't think there was any time lost, after all; for our day's rest made
us the fresher and stronger for Monday's work. As I am upon this subject,
I may say here, that in my experience I never knew any harm come to a
man's constitution from working the six days of the week as hard as he
might, if he rested on the seventh. But I have observed that when a man
in his eagerness has worked every day without taking his rest on the
seventh, it has worn him out, and that he has become used up much sooner
than the man who rested one day in the week. And this remark holds good,
as I have had occasion to know, with those who work with their heads as
well as with those who work with their hands. Saw no one all day. No
Sunday visitors here.

Monday, March 4.--Chopping and sawing.

Tuesday, March 5.--Sawing and chopping.

Wednesday, March 6.--Chop, chop, chop, saw, saw, saw.

Thursday, March 7.--Crab wants to know if I am going to build a town. He
says it's a pity to take so much trouble about a thing which I may leave,
perhaps, next day. My thoughts are very different.

Friday, March 8.--Began setting up the logs to form the walls of the
house. House to be sixty feet long and sixteen broad, and the logs nine
feet out of the ground; to be divided into one large room, twenty feet
long; a passage ten feet wide; and on the other side of the passage four
rooms, one to be a store-room. At the end of the passage, facing the
entrance, a closet for all sorts of things. At the back of the long room
of twenty feet, a skillion, to serve as a kitchen, etc.

When I shewed the plan to Crab, he said "I should never live to finish
it; however, I might go on building it till I left, and he would not balk
my humour if I had a fancy for it."

Saturday.--More chopping and sawing.

Sunday.--Passed as before.

Monday, March 11.--Hard at work at the house, and all the week; put the
logs in the ground two feet deep; got all the shingles split for the
roof.

Tuesday, March 19.--The cottage presents a respectable appearance.
Shingled it over as far as the long room, then stopped for want of
shingle nails. We had not had fresh meat since we got on the land, and my
wife thought the children were not thriving. Arranged to send the
bullock-cart to camp for a fresh supply of nails and flour, and to bring
up as much as it could carry of our goods from the merchant's store--Crab
to go, with one man.

Wednesday.--Saw the cart off. We all felt very lonely. We did not lose
time, however, but finished odd things about that wanted attending to.

Thursday, March 21.--Took my gun, to see if I could bring down some
ducks, to make a fresh meal for the children; for we had been living on
the salt pork we had brought up with us. Tried to keep the tents and new
building in sight, but was led further than I intended. Came up to a lot
of ducks swimming leisurely about at a part of the river that was very
deep, with the current not so rapid as in the shallow parts. I was going
to have a shot at about twenty of them, when suddenly a gun was fired in
the midst of them, close to me. I was in a terrible fright--the
suddenness of the report and its unexpectedness filling me at the moment
with all sorts of fears. My first impulse was to run home to my wife and
children; and then the thought occurred that I should be exposed, and
defenceless that way, to be shot at, if there was any one of a mind to do
it.

All these thoughts passed through my head in an instant; and in the
meanwhile the man who had fired the shot advanced rapidly through the
shrubs after his game. As he came on, his eyes lighted on me with my gun
cocked and pointed towards him. I saw at once by his manner that he was
as much frightened at me as I was at him. The Fat Doe River at this place
is about forty feet across: he was on the other side. There we stood for
a little while, he stopping and gaping, and I standing with my piece in
the position to fire. How long we should have remained in these
positions, each in fear of the other, I can't pretend to say; but the
suspense was ended by a flock of ducks that came flying between us, just
over our heads. The ducks were so close, they looked so plump as I stood
under them, and I wanted them so much, that I could not resist the
temptation. By a sort of instinct, for I was always fond of sporting, I
raised up my piece, and forgetting my usual caution, I let fly at them.
Down came three.

"Well done!" cried out the stranger; "I see there's no harm in you, or
you would not have flung away your fire that way; but you'll lose your
ducks, if you don't mind; there are two in the water sailing down the
stream."

I soon found a long rod, with which I secured my birds; and the stranger,
going further down the stream, recovered the four which he had shot
before me.

"I suppose you took me for a bushranger?" bawled I, speaking to him as he
was standing and holding his wet ducks by the legs, on the other side of
the narrow stream.

"I did not like the looks of you, as you stood with your gun pointed at
me as you did; that's just the way of' em. I suppose you're looking for
land?"

"I have found my land, and I'm on it, not a quarter of a mile from here.
What are you doing?"

"I have got charge of a stock-yard, about fifteen miles off, and I'm
going my rounds to see how the cattle lie."

"Cattle! I wish I had known there were cattle hereabouts; I should have
been glad of some of the fresh meat. I've seen none near us. But, to be
sure, I have never left my tents before to-day, to go as far as this
even. But we can talk as we go home; they are waiting for me, and glad
enough will they be at what I am bringing them."

With this we proceeded homewards, till we came to the part of the stream
where a tree had fallen across, which served as a bridge for the
stock-keeper to come over to me. When we got to the tents, he went, as a
matter of course, to the men's sod-hut, where Bob did the honours; this
relieved me from a little embarrassment, for I did not know on what
footing to treat the stock keeper. After awhile Bob appeared with the
stranger's four ducks, saying that he would be glad of salt pork instead,
as it would be a treat to him.

Friday, March 22.--The stock-keeper slept in Bob's hut. I found that he
had two kangaroo dogs for sale, a dog and bitch--asked twelve dollars
each for them. Thought it a large sum, but after some explanation agreed
to give it. To bring the dogs on Tuesday.

Saturday, March 23.--Tried my hand with Bob at making a table. Took some
of the cleanest of the split logs, and splitting them again, contrived by
smoothing them with the axe and planing them where possible, to produce a
tolerably even surface. It was six feet long, and four wide. My wife
praised my ingenuity, and her mother declared it was a splendid piece of
furniture. The children were very merry at it, and Betsy, my eldest girl,
who was christened after her grandmother, covered it with an old green
cloth, that had served to pack things in, which gave it quite a genteel
look.

We were all abed and asleep, when we were awakened by a prodigious
cracking of whips and sounds of voices in the distance. We were agreeably
surprised by the arrival of the bullock-cart, with Crab and the man,
bearing fresh supplies and additions to our stores, for we did not expect
him till next day.

Sunday, 24.--Passed as usual. Crab says he has seen a fine lot of
sheep--one hundred and eighty ewes with their lambs, and forty wethers,
to be had cheap for money, near the Green Ponds. Thought of the sheep all
night, but could not plan how to keep them without another servant.

Monday, 25.--Found that John Bond, one of my government men, had been
used to sheep in England. Determined to have a look at the sheep next
day, but very reluctant to leave home.

Tuesday, 26.--Crab and Bob set to work to complete the shingling of the
cottage. Seeing the importance of beginning to get stock about me, and of
taking advantage of cheap sales, I started off at daylight with John Bond
to the Green Ponds. Arrived there at mid-day; examined the sheep, bought
the whole lot at 10s. 6d. a head, that is, reckoning the ewe and lamb as
one. The lambs are about five months old. This comes to four hundred and
sixty-two dollars, dollars passing for five shillings, which cost me four
shillings and fourpence in London.

They were large-carcased sheep, partaking more of the Leicestershire
breed than any other; their wool far from fine, but not positively
coarse. These one hundred and eighty ewes formed the basis of my future
flocks, of the rise of which I shall have to speak in the proper place. I
paid for the sheep by an order for so much money in camp. When I had
bought them, the next thing was how to get them home. I and my man drove
them to the foot of the Den Hill that evening, and then letting them feed
in the valley, they rested quietly where they were when the day closed.

We kept watch and watch all night. About the middle of the night the
sheep became very restless, and I wondered what was the matter, and was
easily alarmed, being in constant apprehension of bushrangers and
natives. I had my gun ready, and listened attentively; I could hear
nothing but my man snoring. Presently I thought I heard a sort of
snuffing, as of some animal, and peering through the dark, I thought I
saw an outline different from that of a sheep, and standing by itself. I
knew there were no wild animals in the country that would attack man, but
I felt a little queerish at the appearance of the shadowy form of a
creature which I took to be the native dog, as I had heard it called in
camp. I was curious to know what it was, and, prompted by that feeling of
using the gun which grows with one in the bush, I fired. The whole flock
roused up at this, and my man awoke directly. I told him what I had done,
and when we had settled the sheep down again, we went to the spot, and
found an animal killed and warm.

When the daylight came I found I had killed a sort of animal peculiar to
the country, as all animals are in Van Diemen's Land. It was more like a
large wild dog or jackal than anything else; about the size of a
Newfoundland dog, but not so thick and heavy; of a brownish colour, and
was partly striped and partly spotted like a leopard. It was a female,
and possessed the peculiarity attached only to the animals of New South
Wales, of the false belly or pouch for containing the young one. I was
not naturalist enough to make out to what description of animal the
creature belonged, but my friend Mr. Moss, who settled near me some years
after, has told me since, that the animal is of the canine genus, and of
a species before unknown. My man skinned it for me, and when we got home
Betsy covered the stump of a gum-tree with it, and being elegantly
stuffed with dry grass, it formed a seat of honour for my wife.

We lost no time in getting the sheep over the long hill, and then,
letting them travel leisurely, we reached home with them before noon.

There was a fine stir about the tents when the sheep came in sight. We
were welcomed by my wife, and her mother, and the children in a body.
Even Crab seemed pleased.

"Well," said he, "here's more company, at any rate. You must look sharp
after them, or not a tail will you see to-morrow morning. The sheep in
this country are dreadful creatures to stray. And no wonder, poor things!
they naturally try to find some grass fit to eat, which they never do,
and that makes 'em eternally wandering about. We shall have a pretty job
to brand 'em. Where do you mean to mark 'em?"

"Why," said I, "I must do as well as I can, for I have no marking-irons."

"No marking-irons! Here's a mess! We must make another journey to town.
Only think of travelling fifty or sixty miles, and the same back, after
marking-irons or any little thing that may be wanted. Why, there isn't a
blacksmith nearer than camp! Well, I suppose we must make another trip?"

"And no great harm in that," said I; "I don't see the use of putting the
plough in the ground yet; it's too late and too early; so we had better
take advantage of the leisure, and cart every thing up that must be
carted."

"Why, you never mean to drag all your goods up here, when you're sure to
have to drag them all back again?" said Crab; "for as to staying here,
that's out of all question. You'll soon have a visit from the bushrangers
when they smell out there is something to be got; or else the natives
will call on you in a friendly way, and make a bonfire of your new house;
or else--you'll make a bonfire of it yourself, when you come to be sick
of the whole affair, as you soon will."

"We shall see," said I. And so it was settled that the cart should go
down next day with Crab and Bob, as we should want the other man to mind
the sheep. We turned our little flock into the meadow, where we could see
for a mile before us, with only trees enough to make the place look
pleasing, like a gentleman's park in England.

The stock-keeper came this afternoon with the two kangaroo dogs, Hector
and Fly; I found they were the very same dogs I had met with at New
Norfolk. They soon got used to us.

Wednesday, March 27.--Crab went to camp with Bob and one of the carts and
four bullocks. The stock-keeper staid with us to-day to lend a hand to
finish the shingling; but my boy was mad to take the dogs out after a
kangaroo, and the stock-keeper promised to go with him and shew him the
sport next morning.

Got on well with the shingling to-day.

Thursday, March 28.--Finished the shingling to-day all but the skillion.
And now I was puzzled about the chimney, which I had planned to be at one
end. Searched about near the house, for I did not like to go far, after
lime, but could not see any thing that looked like it. Found a nice bit
of clay that I thought would do for plastering. Got John Bond to help me
a bit, while the sheep were in sight, to saw some trees into blocks for
seats; contrived to cut six; but this sawing is hard work. The sheep seem
to take kindly to the place, but the feed is beginning to be scanty. The
flat, I am inclined to think, is overflown some time in the year, by the
look of some water-furrows. Came on a capital stone quarry about a
quarter of a mile from the tents, with some monstrous black ants crawling
about. Saw a snake to-day for the first time on my land; I had seen many
in my walks over the country, but I had not seen one before at the Fat
Doe River. It was quite black, about four feet long, and was an
ugly-looking thing; it glided away very quickly through the long sedgy
grass, and seemed to be as much afraid of me as I was of it. I did not
think to shoot it till it was out of sight.

Coming home I spied four black cockatoos chattering in a bush hard by. I
fired and killed one. It was curious to see how the others wondered and
fluttered about the dead bird as if they could not make out what harm had
come to it. I fired again and killed two, and then shot the remaining
one, which had not shewn any inclination to fly away.

I have thought since that there was something like cruelty in what I did;
it was like slaughtering them in cold blood, in their ignorance and
innocence, they never having heard the report of a gun before, and being
unresisting, and not knowing the necessity of fleeing from man and his
engines of destruction. However, these thoughts did not trouble me at the
moment. I took the birds home and gave them to my wife to make a pie of.
The children laughed at the idea of black cockatoo-pie, and they all said
it was a pity to kill such pretty birds; but we ate the pie nevertheless
with a good deal of relish, and I thought it a very prime one Killed a
wether in the evening; it weighed forty-eight pounds, sinking the offal;
it was about twenty months old.

Just after dark Will came home with his new friend, the stock-keeper,
tired enough, and he soon made an end of the remains of the cockatoo-pie.
He brought with him the tail of an immense kangaroo as a trophy, while
the stock-keeper bore on his shoulders the hind-quarters of another,
holding the two hind-legs before him, while the tail was hanging down his
back nearly to the ground. I asked what they had done with the kangaroo
that Will's tail belonged to, and they said they had left the
fore-quarters on the ground, and that they had hoisted up the
hind-quarters and the skins on a tree, some six or seven miles from the
tents. I thought this a sad waste, but it was the general custom in those
times. The women then busied themselves in cooking part of the venison
for supper, under the instructions of the stock-keeper, who was an
experienced epicure in kangaroo cookery. The tenderest parts, and those
most free from the tendons and fibres with which the flesh of the
kangaroo abounds, were carefully cut out, and chopped up fine; some
slices of salt pork were added to this, and the whole put to steam slowly
over the fire.

This national dish of the Van Diemen's Land bush is called a "STEAMER." I
think I never ate anything so delicious; we all had a hearty stuff, and
the old lady insisted on having the rum introduced, to celebrate, as she
said, Will's first exploit of hunting. The tail was left on the fire in a
Papin's digester, to make soup for the next day. The soup was better even
than the steamer; but I must not anticipate. As we sat round the fire on
our logs of wood, enjoying ourselves after the bush fashion, I sitting,
as my custom was at that time, with my gun over my arm, for fear of
surprises, but feeling more safe since the arrival of the dogs, which in
this country act not only as hounds for hunting, but as capital
watch-dogs, the ladies were curious to know how Will had contrived to
catch the kangaroos, and what sort of sport it was. Will was very tired,
but the cockatoo-pie and the steamer had refreshed him, and he soon fired
up at the recollection of the sport, and told us what had happened to
him. As this was my boy's first expedition, I noted down his description
in my journal, thinking it might interest him in after-times; and to do
it the greater honour, I have made it the subject of a separate chapter.



CHAPTER VIII.

AKANGAROO HUNT--DESCRIPTION AND HABITS OF THE ANIMAL--CRAB DILATES ON THE
TOPSYTURVINESS OF ALL THINGS ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, AND GEOGRAPHICAL IN VAN
DIEMEN'S LAND.

IT was just light when the stock-keeper called me, and I wasn't long
dressing. I took one of the large pistols that father said I might have,
and the stock-keeper had a musket, and we had half a damper and a paper
of salt, and I had my big hack-knife, and so off we went. I do think
Hector knew he was going to have some kangaroo, for he seemed so glad,
and licked his chops, and Fly wagged her tail, and the morning was so
beautiful, and what do you think, father? the bird that mother likes to
hear so much is a magpie! it is indeed, for I saw it, and it's just like
an English magpie, only it sings so beautifully. We walked over the plain
till we came to the hills; the dogs kept quiet behind us. The
stock-keeper said I might see they had been well trained; they kept their
heads low and their tails hanging down behind them, as if they had no
life in them; but you should have seen them when they got sight of a
kangaroo, didn't they pluck up! We went on till we got about four or five
miles from the tents, and then we did not talk, for the kangaroos are
startled at the least noise; they are just like hares for that. Then the
stock-keeper stood still. He said to the dogs "Go find," and then the
dogs cantered about round us, going farther and farther off, till Hector
began to smell about very earnestly.

"He has got scent," said the stock-keeper; and so he had, for he galloped
off with his nose to the ground, straight ahead. Fly saw him, and she
galloped after.

"I think it's a big one," said the stock-keeper, "the dogs seem so warm
at it."

I was running after them as fast as I could, when the stock-keeper called
after me to stop.

"Stop," said he; "it's of no use for you to run, you could not keep up
with them."

"Why, what are we to do?" said I; "if they kill a kangaroo, how can we
find it?"

"Wait a bit," said he; "all in good time. If the dogs kill a kangaroo, we
shall find him, I'll warrant."

So we waited and waited till I was quite tired; and a good while after,
Hector came back quite slowly, as if he was tired, with Fly following
after. The stock-keeper looked at his mouth. "What's that for?" said I.

"To see if he has killed," said he; "look here, his mouth is bloody, and
that's come by killing a kangaroo, you may be sure of it."

Then the stock-keeper stood up and said to Hector, "Show;" and then
Hector trotted off, not fast, but pretty fast, so that I was obliged to
trot too to keep up with him; and he trotted on and on till I was rather
tired, I dare say for three miles from where we were at first; and on he
went, and we following him, till he brought us to a dead kangaroo, close
to a little pool of water. It was a monstrous big one, with such a claw
on each of his hind-legs; a claw that would rip up a dog in a moment, or
a man too, if he got at him.

"Good dog!" said the stock-keeper, and Hector wagged his tail, and seemed
to like to be praised. Then the stock-keeper gave me his gun to hold, and
he cut open the kangaroo and gave the inside to the dogs. Then he skinned
the upper part down to the loins, and cut the kangaroo in half, and hung
it up in a tree, noting the place; the other half he left on the ground;
that is, when he went away from the place, for he would not let the dogs
have more than a taste of the blood, lest it should spoil their hunting.

"What's to be done now?" said I.

"We'll kill another," said the stock-keeper, "if you are not tired."

I said I was not tired a bit; so after we had rested a little while, we
went on again, the dogs following us as at first. We saw plenty of brush
kangaroos, but we would not touch them. After we had got a mile or two,
the stock-keeper, who had been examining the ground all the way along,
said, "I think there are some big ones hereabouts, by the look of the
marks;" so he said to the dogs, "Go, find," as he had said before. Almost
directly, we saw such a large fellow--I'm sure he was six feet high--he
looked at us and at the dogs for a moment, and then off he went. My
gracious! what hops he did give! he hopped with his two hind-legs, with
his fore-legs in the air, and his tail straight out behind him,--and
wasn't it a tail!--it was as thick as a bed-post! and this great tail
went wag, wag, up and down, as he jumped, and seemed to balance him
behind. But Hector and Fly were after him. This time the stock-keeper ran
too, for the ground was level and clear of fallen timber, and you could
see a good way before you. I had begun to feel a little tired, but I
didn't feel tired then. Hop, hop went the kangaroo, and the dogs after
him, and we after the dogs; and we scampered on till I was quite out of
breath; and the kangaroo was a good bit before the dogs, when he turned
up a hill.

"Now we shall have him," said the stock keeper; "the dogs will beat him
up-hill."

I wanted my breath, but I kept up, and we scrambled up the hill, and I
thought the dogs would get him; but the kangaroo got to the top of the
hill first, and when we got a sight of him, he was bounding down the
hill, making such prodigious leaps at every jump, over every thing, that
you couldn't believe it, if you didn't see it. The dogs had no chance
with him down-hill.

"It's of no use," said the stock-keeper, "for us to try to keep up with
him; we may as well stay here. He'll lead the dogs a pretty chace, will
that fellow; he's a Boomah, and one of the biggest rascals I ever saw."

So we sat down at the top of the hill, under a gum-tree, and there we sat
a long time, I don't know how long, until we saw Hector coming up. The
stock-keeper looked at his mouth.

"He has killed," said he; "but he has got a little scratched in the
tussle, and so has Fly. That big chap was almost too much for two dogs."
Then he said, "Go, show!" and Hector and Fly trotted along straight to
where the kangaroo lay, without turning to the right or left, but going
over every thing, just as if they knew the road quite well. We came to a
hollow, and there we saw the kangaroo lying dead. Just as the
stock-keeper was going to cut him open, I saw another kangaroo not a
hundred yards off.

"There's another," said I; and the dogs, although they had had a hard
battle with the kangaroo lying dead, started off directly. Close by us
was a large pond of water, like a little lake. The kangaroo was between
the dogs and the lake. Not knowing how to get past, I suppose, he hopped
right into the lake, and the dogs went after him. He hopped further into
the lake, where the water got deeper, and then the dogs were obliged to
swim, but they were game, and would not leave their work. When the
kangaroo found himself getting pretty deep in the water, he stopped, and
turned on the dogs; but he could not use his terrible hind claws, so when
one of the dogs made a rise at his throat (they always try to get hold of
the throat), he took hold of him with his fore-legs, and ducked him under
the water. Then the other dog made a spring at him, and the kangaroo
ducked him in the same way.

"Well," said the stock-keeper, "I never saw the like of that before; this
is a new game."

And all the while the dogs kept springing at the kangaroo's throat, and
the kangaroo kept ducking them under the water. But it was plain the dogs
were getting exhausted, for they were obliged to swim and be ducked too,
while the kangaroo stood with his head and fore-legs out of the water.

"This will never do," said the stock-keeper; "he'll drown the dogs soon
at this rate." So he took his gun from me and put a ball in it.

"Now," said he, "for a good shot; I must take care not to hit the dogs."

He put his gun over the branch of a dead tree, and watching his time, he
fired, and hit the kangaroo in the neck, and down it came in the water.
He then called off the dogs, and they swam back to us.

"He is such a prime one," said he, "it would be a pity to lose his skin;"
so he waded in after him, and dragged him out. "It's a pity," said he,
"to lose so much meat, but his hind-quarters would be a bigger load than
I should like to carry home; but I must have his skin, and I'll tell you
what, young fellow, you shall have his tail, though I'm thinking it's
rather more than you can carry home."

This roused me a bit, to think I couldn't carry a kangaroo's tail; so I
determined to take it home, if I dropped, though I must say it was so
heavy that I was obliged to rest now and then, and the stock-keeper
carried it a good part of the way for me.

"What shall we do with the meat?" said I.

"What shall we do with it!" said he; "are you hungry?"

"I believe you," said I.

"Then we'll make a dinner off him," said the stock-keeper.

With that we got together some dry sticks, and made a fire, and the
stock-keeper took the ramrod of his musket, and first he cut a slice of
the lean off the loins, which he said was the tenderest part, and put the
ramrod through it, and then he cut out a bit of fat, and slid it on after
the lean, and so on a bit of fat and a bit of lean, till he had put on
lots of slices, and so he roasted them over the fire. He gave me the
ramrod to hold, and cutting a long slice of bark out of a gum-tree, made
two plates; capital plates, he said, for a bush dinner. I told you we had
got some salt and some damper, and I was pretty hungry, as you may
suppose, and I thought it the most delicious dinner I ever ate. When I
had done, I laid down on the grass, and Hector and Fly came and laid
themselves down beside me, and somehow, I don't know how it was, I fell
asleep, I was so tired. I slept a good while, for the stock-keeper said
it would have been a sin to wake me, I was in such a sweet sleep. I woke
up, however, after a good nap, and felt as if I could eat a bit more
kangaroo. But it was getting late, and so we made the best of our way
home. We passed by the place where we had killed the first kangaroo; so
the stock-keeper brought home the hind-quarters and the three skins, and
I brought home a tail; and really I don't know which is best, kangaroo
steaks or kangaroo steamer.

"Or cockatoo pie," said his mother; "and now to bed; I dare say we shall
dream all night of your 'Tale of a Kangaroo.'"

Will's account of his sport amused us very much; and it was a correct
description of the way of hunting the animal. I may remark here on the
amazing quantity of grass that a kangaroo eats; it eats nothing else in
its wild state, but the quantity found in it has often astonished me,
When caught very young, and tamed, it will eat all sorts of vegetables;
but of all things I ever tried it with, it is fondest of brown sugar; it
will follow you about for brown sugar, just as sheep will follow the
shepherd to get a lick of a lump of salt. It is a timid, fearful animal;
very pretty in appearance when its head and neck only are visible over
the bushes, but an ungainly creature in its whole aspect. The feature of
its false belly or pouch, into which the young one creeps to sleep or to
avoid danger, is peculiar to the females of all the native animals of
this country.

Crab says that every thing is wrong on this side of the globe, and that
he is sure Nature first tried her hand at creation in Van Diemen's Land,
and found that she was making mistakes, so she went right over to the
other side and mended matters. "For," says he, "look at the trees,
instead of shedding their leaves in winter, they shed their bark; and
there it hangs, in rags and tatters, till it drops off. Would any decent,
respectable tree in England behave in such a manner? And then look at
what they call rivers! Why, the river Jordan (it's a shame to give it
such a Scripture name) isn't so broad as the New River at home! As to the
Clyde, I don't know what to make of it; it runs up hill in some places.
The river Derwent is a biggish river, to be sure, but you can never
depend on it; it never knows its own mind, sometimes it's high and
sometimes it's low, and there's no trusting to its tides, at least so
they tell me in camp. And the grass! it isn't green, like honest,
wholesome grass at home, but brown, and as coarse as wire-grass in a
swamp. If you want to make the grass green in Van Diemen's Land, you must
set fire to a patch, and then what comes up after is green for awhile,
but there's little of it. There's not a natural flower in the whole
country; nor a root, nor a plant, nor a fruit fit for man's eating. The
cherry-tree, as they call it, is a funny thing indeed! a sour, squashy
thing, with the stone forgotten in the middle, and so it was stuck
outside, for the look's sake, I suppose. Then every thing is contrary;
you never know which is north and south, and it's winter in June and
summer in January! I tell you what it is, Master, it's all a mistake, and
the best thing we can do is to go back to a country fit for a Christian
to live in--to Old England, where a man knows what he's about, and can
get a pint of beer if he wants it, and get his plough and his cart
dragged by horses, and not by bullocks in this outlandish fashion."



CHAPTER IX.

TAKES POSSESSION OF HIS NEW HOUSE--DELIGHT OF INDEPENDENCE--CRAB PUTS THE
PLOUGH INTO THE GROUND--THE GARDEN, AND SHEEP-SHEARING--THE SETTLER TAKES
STOCK AND MAKES A DISCOVERY.

March 29.--The nights begin to get cold; the children felt the change
last night. Puzzled to contrive doors and shutters for the cottage.

March 30.--Crab returned with the bullock cart about mid-day. Told me
there was a lot of sawed stuff just below the Green Ponds, which I might
have if I liked at the cost price. This is just what I want for the doors
and shutters of the house. Set Bob to work at the stone chimney; the
whole end of the house and the chimney to be built of stone.

March 31.--Went down myself with Bob to the Green Ponds, with both carts
and the eight bullocks. Drove one cart myself, and Bob the other. Find
I'm a capital bullock-driver; no man knows what he can do till he tries.
Bought the stuff, and brought it back the same day. The nights begin to
get cold.

April 1.--Took possession of our new house, and worked hard at the doors
and window-shutters. Frost at night.

April 2.--All hands at the stone chimney. Made a rough job of it, but got
on pretty well. The stone is easy to work, it easily breaks into flakes
handy for working; as for mortar, we use some sandy loam mixed with clay
from the river, and it seems to make cement good enough for our purpose.

April 3 and 4.--Finished the stone chimney, and lighted a blazing fire,
for the nights are cold now; and with our large table in the middle of
the room, with Betsy's green cloth on it, and seated on our logs of wood,
we formed a cheerful party at supper.

April 5.--Rose early, according to my custom, and surveyed my new
dwelling with a particular sort of satisfaction. "No rent to pay for
you," said I; "no taxes, that's pleasant; no poor-rates, that's a
comfort; and no one can give me warning to quit, and that's another
comfort; and it's my own, thank God, and that's the greatest comfort of
all." I cast my eyes on the plain before me, and saw my flock of sheep
studding the plain, with my working bullocks at a little distance. My
dogs came up and licked my hands. Presently my children came out into the
fresh morning air, which was rather bracing, as the weather was getting
colder every day in the morning and evening, but still warm in the middle
of the day, and we had a romp with the dogs. As we sat at breakfast that
morning in our rude cottage, with the bare walls of logs of trees and the
shingle roof above us, all rough enough, but spacious, and a little too
airy, I began to have a foretaste of that feeling of independence and
security of home and subsistence which I have so many years enjoyed in a
higher degree than I then looked for; but I must not anticipate.

* * * * *

Finished all the doors and shutters, and put on good fastenings of bolts
and locks which I had brought from England.

April 6.--Considered in my mind whether it would not be well to turn up
some ground to sweeten ready for spring sowing in September. The winter
frosts, should there be any, of June, July, and August, would pulverize
the clods a bit. I can't help smiling while I write this of June, July,
and August, being the winter months; it shows how topsy-turvy things are
here. Consulted Crab about it, for he understands farming well. Crab says
there must be something wrong about it; he cannot understand how I can
pretend to have a SPRING sowing in SEPTEMBER! "It's against reason," he
says, "and against nature, and he can't encourage such nonsense."

April 7.--Thought I'd try a bit of land about a quarter of a mile from
the house, and that lay handy for fencing--about twelve acres. Stuck the
plough into it this morning, and it turned up rarely. Crab came to laugh
at us. I saw he eyed the furrows wistfully, and cast a longing look at
the plough. At last he grew very fidgetty, and taking occasion to find
fault with the furrows for not being straight, he seized hold of the
shafts, shoving me aside without much ceremony, saying, "Heaven be good
to us! do you call that ploughing? Here, give us hold." His grim visage
seemed actually to change and light up when he felt the wood in his
hands, and giving the word, Bob smacked on the bullocks, and Crab, in the
exuberance of his joy, began to sing some extraordinary Shropshire song,
which made the woods ring again, and the work went on merrily. From that
hour Crab would allow no one to touch the plough but himself, and he
really seemed to enjoy his work with all the relish of an unexpected
restoration to an old and loved occupation.

The ground was quite clear of trees, and with out many stones, and in
little more than a fortnight the whole was turned up. Then we set to, to
cut down the light timber in the vicinity to make a bush fence, which
employed us for some time. After that, we worked hard to fence in a bit
of ground for a garden. We had to go rather farther from home after some
stringy-bark trees best for splitting laths, and contrived to enclose
about an acre. Then we had a stock-yard to build, and pens for the sheep,
and to fence it with bush fences. Building the stock-yard was hard work,
as we had to form it of the solid trunks of trees, about nine inches to a
foot in diameter, and from twenty to thirty feet long; these we had to
drag by bullock-chains and four bullocks, from a spot about a mile and a
half from the house: heavy work, and hard labour to set them up. I
determined to do every thing well, and in such a way as to fall in with
my plan of the future farm and buildings. All this work, and the sending
of the cart three times to Camp to bring up various articles, occupied
the whole of the winter months, of June, July, and August.

In the spring, that is, in September, I sowed the whole of my twelve
acres, after giving them another ploughing, with the best seed wheat I
could get, casting it pretty thickly, and allowing two bushels and a
quarter to the acre, which Crab thought too much. This seed cost me
twelve shillings a bushel. I might have waited, I found afterwards, till
October or November, but I thought it best to sow too early rather than
too late.

At the latter end of this month, taking advantage of the dry days, seeing
that the weather was mild, I sowed the various seeds in the garden which
it is usual to sow in the spring in England.

I ought to say here, that I found the winter very mild. The snow lay on
the ground once for three days, about two inches thick, and there was ice
strong enough to bear in one or two places, in a deep hollow about three
miles from the cottage, which the rays of the sun did not reach. The
mornings and evenings were cold, particularly just before daylight, when
the cold was sharpest, but the middle of the day was like a bright
October day in England. There is very little rain in the autumn in Van
Diemen's Land, that is, from the beginning of March to the end of May;
and not much rain during the winter months of June, July, and August. The
rainy season is for about six weeks or two months in the spring, that is,
in September and October.

November 1.--My one hundred and eighty ewes, which I bought last March,
have produced me two hundred and twenty lambs, many having dropped two
lambs a-piece. I trust the wool will be improved, as I had taken care to
choose the best rams I could find shortly after I bought them. This makes
my flock look respectable.

This month I bought six cows heavy with calf, for four pounds each. They
are fine cows, but rather wild. Applied for another servant from the
government, and had assigned to me a tolerably good one, but he knows
nothing of farming. We find now that we have plenty to do. My poor wife
works hard, for the female servants are generally idle, troublesome
things. Her mother, however, helps her with the children.

* * * * *

Got the windows of the cottage glazed, and covered the floor all over
with boards, and put boards over our heads for a ceiling. The shepherd
found some whitish earth, like whiting, about six miles from the cottage.
I had long since plastered it inside and out with sand and river clay,
and now I gave it a coat of this whitewash outside, which gave it a very
smart appearance. For the inside, I mixed with the white earth some of
the red ochre which is abundant in many parts of the country: this
produced something of a salmon colour, and the plaster being smooth, the
ochre gave it the appearance of stucco, and it looked very well and
seemly.

We begin to think something of ourselves, and should assume airs of
importance, only there is no one near us to show them to.

December.--Month for sheep-shearing. Rather light-handed for this work.
Washed the sheep in a bend of the river close by. The wool turns out
pretty well, but far from fine. The wool of the lambs, now fourteen
months old, the best part. I calculate the whole of the fleeces together
weigh about nine hundred and twenty pounds: that is, two pounds and a
half to the fleece of the one hundred and eighty ewes, one hundred and
eighty lambs, fourteen months old, and eight of the forty wethers which I
bought in March last. In England, I think this wool would sell for about
fourteen-pence per pound.

We are now getting to the end of December, and summer is coming on. The
wheat looks well, which Crab attributes to his peculiar method of
ploughing, which he has endeavoured to explain to me; but I cannot
understand it, although I agree with him, of course. He says he shall
wait to see how the wheat comes up, and then he shall bid me good-by and
go home.

The garden comes on beautifully. Peas want sticking. Cabbages and
cauliflowers transplanted last month doing well. The six cows dropped
their calves this month. This will make them attached to the place. The
beginning of the farm looks thriving; may the end not disappoint me!

January.--Wheat up high, and the ears well formed. Crab says there will
be a good crop, but thinks I should have done better if I had turned up a
bit of the land lying lower, as the present bit seems to want more
moisture. I proposed to try it for next year.

"Next year!" said he; "you won't catch me here next year. I don't know
how I've come to stop in this strange country so long already; but
somehow there has always been something to do, and I must own I should
like to see how this bit of land will turn out that I've had the
ploughing of, and take home a handful of wheat to Shropshire, to show the
folks there what sort of stuff they grow in Van Diemen's Land. I shall be
sorry to leave you and the children, but here I won't stay, that I'm
determined on. Things have certainly seemed to turn out lucky with you as
yet; but that will only make the ruin when it does come--and come it
will--more miserable. That's my mind."

After this long speech, the grumbling and good-natured Crab proceeded
busily to begin a piece of fencing which it would take at least six
months to complete. But I shall have to say something more of him
by-and-by.

February 3.--The anniversary of my landing in Van Diemen's Land.

February 4.--Cut the wheat. Crab rejoices at the fine harvest.
"Thirty-five to the acre," says he, "if there's a bushel!" This produce
he attributes principally to his own sagacity and superior skill in
ploughing.

About half an acre of potatoes looks well, but I fear it is running too
much into top. Every thing grows here with a remarkable luxuriance; the
garden is a mass of green vegetables.

February 27.--Kept this day as a grand holiday, being the anniversary of
our arrival at the Fat Doe River. Crab can hardly believe that we have
been here a year, and that he has been so forgetful as to remain so long
in the country. Sat down with my wife to take stock. After enumerating
all our goods and chattels, sheep, bullocks, cows, etc., I was about to
conclude, when my wife stopped me.

"You have forgotten part of our stock," said she.

"What stock is that, my dear?" said I.

"The five children," my dear.

"Oh," said I, "very well; by all means let us put them in the list.
There's William to begin with, and a fine fellow he grows."

"And Betsy," said she.

"And Ned and Mary," said I.

"And Lucy."

"And that closes the account," said I.

"Not yet," said she.

"How's that?" said I.

"You had better leave a space there."

"Hulloa!" said I, "what's all this about?"

"It's the air, I suppose; but you say yourself that every thing in this
new country is topsy turvy."

"Topsy-turvy, indeed!" said I. "Why, how shall we feed them all?"

As I spoke those words, my eyes rested on my increasing flock of sheep,
with the cattle grazing on the beautiful plain before me; and, turning my
head, I admired my yellow wheat-stack, which seemed like the promise of
the future abundance which would reward patience and labour.

Many thoughts crowded on me; I began to feel the solid enjoyments of an
agricultural life. I looked at my kind and patient wife, the companion of
my toils, my helpmate and my consolation in troubles of mind and
difficulties of fortune. I rapidly compared the difficulty of providing
for children in the old country with the facility of subsistence in the
new one; and, elated with my feelings of independence, I startled my wife
with crying out joyously, "Well, there's plenty for all; land, and house,
and meat, and what not! so the more the merrier!"



CHAPTER X.

EXPENSES OF SETTLING--INCREASE OF SHEEP AND CATTLE--ANECDOTES OF
SNAKES--HIS POSITION IN 1821--INCREASE OF SHEEP AND CATTLE IN
1824--SHEEP-STEALING INCREASES IN THE COLONY--HEARS SOME DISAGREEABLE
ACCOUNTS OF BUSHRANGERS--HIS PROSPEROUS STATE IN MAY, 1824--HIS
TRANQUILLITY IS SUDDENLY DISTURBED BY DISTRESSING CRIES OF ALARM FROM A
NEIGHBOURING FARM.

March 1st, 1818.--As I had from the first formed the plan of attending
particularly to the breeding of sheep, as the easiest and most profitable
occupation that could be pursued in Van Diemen's Land, I did not
embarrass myself by attempting to bring a large quantity of land under
cultivation, and I applied myself therefore to the tillage of my farm no
more than was sufficient to supply my own consumption. I kept my
attention steadily fixed on the raising of wool, as a commodity, should
the value of the carcase fail, of easy conveyance, compared with corn,
and of certain sale as an article of export. In early settling, the
weight of the flesh of the sheep is better worth attending to than the
wool, as it is difficult, if not impossible, to regulate the breed of the
animal without separation and fencing, which during the early years of
settling cannot be done, at least without sinking a large sum of money.
My first care, therefore, was to endeavour to improve the fineness of the
wool, without lessening the weight of the carcase, and I found that the
stock which I had begun with was very fit for my purpose. In taking stock
last month the numbers of my sheep stand thus:--

180 ewes, bought in March, 1817                                   180
Their lambs, then five months old, viz. 100 ewes and 80 wethers   180
2 wethers, left out of the 40 bought in March last                  2
220 lambs, three months old, dropped in November, by the 180      220
ewes bought in March last; viz. 120 ewe lambs and 100 wethers
The 100 ewe lambs bought in March last produce me this February
lambs; namely, 64 ewes and 56 120 wethers                         120

So that at the present time, March 1st, 1818, my flock of ewes, wethers,
and lambs amounts to 702--too large for one flock. However, as the land
around me is unoccupied, I may leave them so for some time, without any
material damage to them.

I have eight working bullocks; six cows with six calves, three male and
three female; six dogs, Hector and Fly having added their share to the
general stock; and my wheat-stack containing about 420 bushels of wheat.

With respect to my money, I find a great hole in the sum of last year.

My exchequer stands thus:--

                                                          Dollars

Expenses of living in town on arrival                         100
Two pair of working bullocks, at 160 dollars each             320
Two pair do., at 140 dollars each                             280
The sheep bought in March                                     462
The six cows                                                   96
Expenses of sending carts to camp                              60
Expenses of living for one year on the farm, for self, wife,
mother, Crab, the three servants, and five children,
exclusive of the 38 wethers eaten                             900
Sawed stuff                                                    16
Dollars                                                     2,234

This leaves me 1,366 dollars in hand.

* * * * *

Determined to sow a month earlier this year, which will give me an
earlier harvest. Turned up twenty acres in the flat, and sowed in August;
and increased my twelve-acre field to sixteen, reserving four acres for
barley. Sowed all the barley in October.

December 31st, 1818.--Divided my sheep into two flocks. Their numbers
stand thus:--

In March last I find the numbers 702. Since then, lambs dropped in
October from the 180 old ewes--ewes, 118, wethers, 100 = 218 lambs. The
100 young ewes dropped in November 62 ewe lambs and 58 wethers = 120.

This makes--old flock 702

Old ewes' lambs 218

Young ewes' lambs 120

1,040 Deducting from this number 84 head consumed on the farm, my two
flocks amount to 956. My working bullocks are the same as before, namely
eight. My six cows have produced me six more calves, raising my stock of
cattle to 18, besides the working bullocks.

* * * * *

I was a little puzzled to know what to do with my wool, the expense of
carting it to town being great. An agent of one of the merchants offered
me threepence per pound to take it away at his own expense, which, after
some consideration, I thought it best to accept.

* * * * *

I worked hard this year at my fencing, which is one of the most
difficult, laborious, and expensive of a new settler's operations; but if
it can be done without encroaching too much on his funds, it amply repays
the labour and outlay; I mean the fencing in of his corn-fields,
paddocks, sheep yards, and homestead. As to fencing in sufficient land
for the grazing of his flocks and herds, that would be an undertaking not
only too expensive, but unnecessary where there is sufficient land
unoccupied for pasture at the back of his farm or around it. I had plenty
of land near me, for there were few settlers for some years between me
and the western coast. I had all the country to myself; it was rather
lonely, to be sure; but my solitariness had one advantage, there was no
one to interfere with me, and I had full range for my stock rent free.

* * * * *

In October of this year, 1818, I find by my journal that Michael Howe, a
notorious bushranger, who had rendered himself dreaded by numerous
atrocities, was killed by a party sent in pursuit of him. He had plagued
the colony terribly before my arrival, but since then he had kept himself
at a distance from any settlement, being fearful of treachery. This is a
good riddance.

* * * * *

I have not said much about the snakes to be seen all over the colony. We
have killed a great many of them, but we have never been bitten by them.
They always avoid you, and are glad to get out of your way. I have one or
two anecdotes to relate of them, which I may as well introduce here.

I was one day walking with my shepherd, and observing the sheep, when
being tired, we sat down on the grass; there was dead wood scattered
around. I had only just seated myself, when turning my head I beheld a
monstrous black snake close behind me; he was nearly six feet long, and
apparently asleep, at least he was quite motionless. I silently pointed
out the reptile to the stock-keeper, and drawing from my pocket the
pistol which I usually carried, and which was loaded with ball, I
approached cautiously within a few inches of the creature's head,
intending to blow its brains out. Drawing the trigger, the powder flashed
in the pan, but the charge having escaped, either from careless ramming
or from having long carried it about in my pocket, the remaining powder
in the barrel was only just sufficient to move the ball, which rolled
slowly out of the muzzle, and dropping on the snake's head, roused him. I
think I never was in such a terrible fright in my life; I made sure that
I should kill the snake on the instant, and there I was on one knee close
to it, and without the chance of escaping if it made a dart at me. By
some extraordinary good luck, the snake was frightened too; it raised up
its head--looked at me for a moment--and then glided away. We were both
in such a fright that we had not presence of mind to kill it with sticks,
and so it escaped, and right glad were we to escape the danger.

At another time, I was looking about at a short distance from the
cottage, in the autumn, when the rivers get very low, when I observed on
the opposite side of a deep pool of water a rustling among the long
grass, and presently the head of a snake appeared over the bank, peering
with curious eye into the pool below. I judged, from the creature's
movements, that it had been accustomed to drink out of this pool, and was
disappointed to find the water so low as to be out of its reach. It
seemed to ponder a good deal on this state of things, turning its head to
the right and left, as if to devise some means of getting at the water.
At last it turned its head towards the long wiry grass around it, and
selecting an appropriate tuft close to the edge of the bank, it twisted
the end of its tail round the grass, and so letting itself down and
hanging by the extremity of its tail, it was enabled to reach the water.
It then drank, frequently raising up its head as a fowl does when it
drinks. I was observing the motions of the gentleman all the time with
much curiosity, and with my fowling-piece ready to shoot it before it
retired; for the deadliest war is the constant proclamation of the colony
against all snakes, and no mercy is ever shown to this most dangerous and
insidious enemy. I fired and killed him. He measured nearly five feet and
a half in length.

I shall tell only one more story of snakes. I was riding on the other
side of the colony, about twenty miles from Launceston, when I suddenly
came upon a snake crossing the road; it was not a very large one, but I
was struck with the remarkable beauty and brilliancy of its colours. I
had my double-barrel fowling-piece slung at my back, as was usual with
me, and in my hand I had one of the little straight horsewhips used on
horseback. The snake crossed just before me, and I stopped immediately
and alighted with the intention of killing it, urged by that instinct to
kill a snake wherever seen, which becomes added, I think, to our other
natural instincts, after a residence in the colony. The creature moved
away with great rapidity towards some trees at the distance of about a
hundred and fifty yards, on a path which I directly saw was a
snake-track. I had great difficulty in making my horse follow me in this
chase. When I came up to the reptile, I reached out my arm and gave him a
slash on his tail with my horsewhip. This made him stop and turn his head
and hiss, with a threat to dart at me. Then I kept back, and the snake
made another start, till I brought him to a stand still by another cut of
my whip. I could see no broken bough near me to smash him with, and I did
not like to dirty my fowling-piece by discharging it.

This running fight lasted for some score of yards, till at last the
snake, getting exasperated, turned, and stood at bay. I relate this
anecdote principally, because of the attitude which the snake now
assumed, which I had often seen in pictures, but never before in nature.
The snake coiled itself up into a close coil, so as to form a good
foundation, it seemed, for a spring. It reminded me, in this attitude, of
the picture of the snake in an old edition of Milton's "Paradise Lost,"
where the serpent is represented tempting Eve. This resemblance occurred
to me while I was fighting it.

We now had a grand battle. I let go the rein of my horse, and fought the
snake with my horsewhip, I slashing him occasionally round the neck and
body, and he darting out at me, and hissing furiously, with its eyes as
bright as diamonds. It was rather rash of me, I confess, but I was
excited at the time, and did not think of the risk that I ran. I could
not master it, however, with my slight weapon, so I retired, when it
immediately made off again, as much as to say, "Let me alone, and I'll
let you alone." I followed it till I came to some broken boughs, when I
easily killed it by a blow on the body.

* * * * *

On looking over my journal, I do not find any thing deserving of
particular mention up to 1821. I ploughed, and I sowed, and I reaped in
due order, and my flocks and herds increased without much attention on my
part, except to keep them together. I attended carefully to the garden.
My children had suffered no illness since I had arrived in the colony. In
1821 some new settlers took land in this district, and the place began to
assume the appearance of becoming more inhabited.

A surgeon, a gentleman-like and clever man, settled near us; but there
was nothing for him to do except attending to an occasional accident. A
blacksmith, at the close of this year, established himself on the banks
of the Clyde, and this was a great convenience to us. During this year I
planned out a cut from the river, where a natural bend afforded the
facility, for the purpose of erecting a flour-mill which was much wanted,
as there was no mill nearer than Camp, fifty miles off; and we had to
cart our wheat down to the town, and return with the flour--a tedious and
expensive process. I had to manage with a handmill for my own use, but
the time consumed in grinding corn this way was very great, and the
labour of it was distasteful to the servants, so that it was frequently
out of order. In the course of the following year I erected a small
flour-mill, with an undershot wheel, which answered very well, and its
cost was soon repaid by its convenience to myself, and by the toll which
was paid to me by my neighbours as the inhabitants increased.

In 1821, a careful census was taken of the statistics of the colony,
which I find in my journal to stand thus:--

Number of inhabitants, 7,185; acres in cultivation, 14,940; sheep,
170,000; cattle, 35,000; horses, 350. During 1822 two magistrates were
appointed for this district. May, 1824.--Matters remained much as usual
up to May, 1824. This completes my seventh year in the colony. During
these seven years the colony had assumed a very different appearance.
Numerous emigrants had arrived, and the country had become more settled.
The value of sheep had risen in 1821, and good ewes sold currently for
20s. a-head, and if with lambs by their side, from 20s. to 30s. This
state of things put the old settlers who had attended to their stock in
fine spirits, for the influx of settlers kept up the price of stock for
some years. I did very well by the sale of mine, and had the good fortune
not to neglect taking advantage of the opportunity. I realised
considerable sums by the sales which I made, and my sheep sold well, as
the wool was fine enough to command a ready sale at the same time that
the carcase was heavy enough to suit the new settlers, who wanted sheep
as meat for consumption. I find, on referring to my journal, that in May,
1824, my stock stood as follows:--

Sheep--Ewes, 3,650; wethers, 290. Total, 3,940. Cattle--75. Working
bullocks--14.

This year I bought three horses, two mares heavy with foal for £50 and
£60, and a gelding, for which I gave £65, for my own riding, as my
circuits began to be too heavy to be performed on foot. I was in Hobart
Town at the close of the autumn of 1821, at which time there was more
than one excellent hotel, when, in walking about, I came upon a bit of
land, about half an acre (within the town, I may say), and covered with
rubbish and stagnant water here and there, and looking wretched and
neglected; the run of new buildings had taken a turn in another
direction, and this piece of waste had been overlooked.

Living at a distance, I could not help being struck with the rapidity
with which the town was increasing; a sightly church had been built; a
new court-house in progress of completion; the government-house completed
in its improved state; there was a talk of the establishment of a bank;
and the colony was thriving and improving rapidly. I took all these
things into consideration, and was surprised to find this plot of ground
neglected; but so it was, and nobody seemed to care for it. Having spare
money which I did not at the moment well know how to dispose of, I made
inquiries about the owner and price, and found that I might have the lot
for a hundred pounds. So I bought the bit of waste land; but other
matters distracting my attention from it, I did nothing with it for some
years after. What was done with it I shall have to relate in its proper
place.

* * * * *

Sheep-stealing had been rife for the last two or three years, the value
of the animal making it a great temptation, and the facilities for
driving off and concealing sheep being considered, it is not to be
wondered at. One or two bushrangers have also been abroad; I was on
business in town this year (1824), and heard the information of a party
who had been attacked by bushrangers. It made a very disagreeable
impression on me, and I felt very uneasy as I listened to it, from
thinking that my own family was exposed at that moment to the same
disaster. I got a copy of the information from the clerk, and took it
home to my inn, and pondered over it till I became very restless. I find
this copy preserved among the papers of my journal. Here it is:--

Pitt Water, May 19th, 1824. The information of William Stark, Esq.:--

"At my farm at Kangaroo Valley, yesterday evening, about dusk, I went out
to see my sheep folded, while my son went to bring in the cattle, the
herdsman having been that day otherwise employed. When the sheep were
yarded, my shepherd returned from the hut, and I waited at the well for
my son, who was bringing up the cattle to drink.

"During this interval, I was talking to a shepherd in the service of Mr.
Lorton, who has lately taken possession of Mr. Duckett's land at Stringy
Bark Plains. When my cattle arrived, a bullock was missing, and Mr.
Lorton's shepherd told my son that he had seen it go out of the field
towards the hills. My son immediately went in search of it, while I
remained with my cattle at the well.

"My son not returning so soon as I expected, and as it was then nearly
dark, I drove the cattle home. When I arrived within about twenty yards
of my men's hut, I called out to one of my men to come and put the cattle
up. At this moment I was accosted by a man whom I had not seen before,
although he was close to me; he was armed with a double-barrel gun and a
brace of pistols. He said to me, 'I have your house completely surrounded
by a banditti, and your men are all tied, therefore resistance would be
unavailing: surrender immediately.'

"I said that I would not surrender. He said, 'If you stir a step, I'll
blow your brains out.'

"I said, 'Fire away, I don't regard a shot.'

"He instantly levelled his piece at me, and drew the trigger. Fortunately,
his piece missed fire. I then retired in the direction of the shepherd and
my son, whom I knew to be in the rear at some distance.

"I was pursued by this man. I called out loudly for assistance to
Lorton's shepherd, whom I left at the well. I received no assistance from
him. As this man, who afterwards told me that he was Collier, was fast
coming up to me, and I receiving no assistance from Lorton's shepherd, I
stopped, as Collier assured me that all he wanted was a little tea and
sugar.

"I then walked with Collier to my men's hut, where he bound my hands, and
where I found all, namely six, of my men tied together with three men,
who I afterwards learnt were brought from Mr. Fullarton's, where Collier
and his party, I was informed by Collier, had stopped the preceding day.
I then went into my house with Collier. He searched my house. He took
away a small quantity, about two or three pounds, of tea, and two or
three pounds of sugar, which was almost all there was in the house, and
about eighteen pounds of tobacco. Another man, calling himself McGuire,
took one pair of blankets, a shawl, and two necklaces, nine silk
handkerchiefs and one cotton handkerchief, and two guns. The blankets,
the shawl, and the handkerchiefs were all marked 'Stark'.

"My son, when I called out for assistance, heard me, although more than
half a mile off. He came running back. Mrs. Stark, his mother, met him at
the door, told him that I was bound together with all my men, and told
him that the best thing he could do would be to alarm the neighbourhood.
My son returned in about an hour, with Hammond, the constable, and
another man, armed, my son and another man being without arms. On his
return, he found that the bushrangers had left the house about three
quarters of an hour.

"The bushranger who stood sentry at the door of my men's hut was
recognized by one of my men to be Sturt, lately one of Mr. Franks's
servants.

"When Collier left my house, he took away with him the three men whom he
had brought from Mr. Fullarton's.

"Signed) WILLIAM STARK."

I could not sleep all night after hearing this news of bushrangers being
out. Hitherto we had not been molested at the Clyde, but it occurred to
me that the arrival there of fresh emigrants likely to have money and
valuables about them, and new to the country, and thereby more easy to be
attacked, might tempt the convicts to go up there. These thoughts kept
possession of me all night, and I could not resist the desire of
returning home. At dawn of day, therefore, I set out, and my horse being
fresh, I had no difficulty in reaching the Clyde before two o'clock the
same day. I may remark here that the horses in Van Diemen's Land are
capable of enduring great fatigue; they are small, but strong and hardy;
sure footed, and capable of supporting their work on the natural grass of
the country on their journeys. * * * I was glad to find all safe at home,
but I made my wife rather uneasy by my report of the marauding of the
bushrangers at Pitt Water.

I went the same evening to one of the resident magistrates at the Clyde,
to report about the bushrangers, when I found him hearing a complaint of
the sheep of a neighbour of his having been stolen. This made me think of
my own. I find the following copy of this complaint among my papers:--


"District of Murray.

"Mr. Philip Bushel, being first duly sworn, saith:--

"That he is manager of Captain Flood's agricultural affairs; that some
months ago, about one hundred and thirty sheep belonging to Captain Flood
were lost; that this deponent, after diligent search and inquiry, has
reason to believe that some of the said lost sheep are in the flock of
one MacShane at the Shannon River, in this district; that he has examined
part of the said MacShane's flock, and that he can positively swear to
one sheep that it is one of the sheep lost some months ago; and that he
verily believes there are more of the said Captain Flood's sheep in the
said flock of the said MacShane. He prays, therefore, that a warrant may
be granted to search the said flock of the said MacShane.

"PHILIP BUSHEL.

"Sworn before me, May 21, 1821."

This information about the sheep-stealing coming upon the news of the
bushrangers at Pitt Water, made me uncomfortable and restless. But the
sight of my family and my home soon restored me to my usual cheerfulness.

* * * * *

Extract from my Journal of May, 1824:--

"Kept a sharper look-out after my own flocks. Certainly I have been very
lucky hitherto; things have thrived with me most prosperously. I am now
in possession of a numerous flock of sheep; of a tolerable herd of
cattle; I have forty-five acres of land under tillage; the building of my
new stone house proceeds favourably; I have a fair portion of land fenced
in; my garden has succeeded admirably; I have all sorts of English
vegetables in abundance; strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries,
currants, young apple and pear trees, vigorous and growing fast.

"My family, now increased to seven, begin to be companions to me; and
their education, even in this out-of-the-way place, has not been
neglected. The place is becoming settled around me, which, although it
curtails the run for my sheep and cattle, increases the feeling of
security, and affords some society.

"My eldest boy, now seventeen years of age, is a valuable assistant to
me, and affords the promise of becoming a healthy, intelligent, and
honourable man. My daughter Betsy grows a fine, handsome girl; and my
other children are healthy, happy, and improving. I have the pleasurable
feeling of caring little whether my consumption of meat and flour is a
little less or a little more. Abundance reigns around me. The feeling of
anxiety with which I used to be haunted in England in respect to how my
children could be made certain of lodging, food, and clothes, has
departed from me. There is plenty for all; and the dominant desire now is
changed to that of becoming wealthy! To be sure, we still live rather in
the rough, but usage has made it familiar to us. We use no fine
furniture, wear no fine clothes, and our establishment still bears the
impress of a settler's early life. But I am rich (for independence is
riches) in sheep and cattle, and house and land. My large room has become
furnished with an ample supply of books, and I find recreation and
advantage in their perusal.

"The climate, on experience, we find healthy, though very changeable,
and subject to extreme variations of heat and cold. I find by the
register of my thermometer that the temperature has varied thirty-two
degrees between night and noon; being below freezing-point in the night,
and above sixty-three at twelve and one o'clock. These variations,
however, do not affect the health of any of us; we feel the cold, that is
all.

"This year we have added fish to our table. We threw a net across a
narrow part of the river, about half a mile from the house, and we now
obtain a plentiful supply of eels at most times. We catch also a small
fish of the nature of the gudgeon, but larger, which we call the fresh
water smelt. But the rivers in this colony, at least the inland portions
of them, are not prolific of fish; nor do the large lakes, the sources of
several of them, supply much. Scarcely a fish, indeed, is to be found in
the lakes of the colony. There is plenty of wild fowl at the lakes; I
have seen flocks literally of thousands of wild ducks on one of them."

But to return to my Journal.

Thus, in May, 1824, all things prospered with me. But now, the uniform
life which I had led for some years experienced a great change. Just
before the winter, that is, in the beginning of May, 1824, we were
sitting round our cheerful fire, and the servant had with difficulty
borne in a huge log to replenish it; it was about nine o'clock, and quite
dark, when the barking of the dogs announced the arrival of a stranger;
he was on horseback, as we could hear from the sound of the horse's hoofs
on the hard ground. He was quickly shown into the house, and according to
the custom of the colony, food and drink were placed before him ere he
was troubled with any questions. But he was eager to communicate the
tidings with which he was charged.

Information had been received by the government of the escape of a body
of convicts from Macquarie Harbour, who were spreading consternation over
the district of Pitt Water, where they had plundered and ill-used many
settlers, and where they had been joined by further bands of convict
servants. Our guest was in haste to communicate the intelligence to the
resident magistrates, as it was thought likely that the band of
bushrangers would turn their steps to this district, as being
unprotected, and abounding to the west in places of concealment.

We were still in earnest conversation on this alarming news, and I was
hastily revolving in my mind the best means of guarding against an
attack, when loud cries, seemingly for help, from the opposite side of
the river, on which a new settler had lately fixed himself, caused us
suddenly to break up our party. I lost no time in preparing our arms,
which from habit were always kept in a state of efficiency, and calling
in two of my men on whom I could entirely depend, I entrusted them with a
musket apiece, and made such preparations for our own defence as the
circumstances afforded.

Crab, who had now become part of the family, undertook to defend the
house; and after a hasty consultation, we agreed that it would not be
kind or manly to abandon our neighbours in their distress and difficulty.
I was perplexed to contrive how to render them the requisite assistance,
and to leave a sufficient defence at home, when a fresh and violent
barking of the dogs caused us a further alarm. The night was quite dark,
but the stars shone brightly. The dogs barked furiously, and it was plain
to us, who were acquainted with the language of their warnings, that they
were excited by the approach of some unusual object, and of more than a
single individual.

Seeing the necessity of prompt and decisive action, I advanced from the
door of the cottage, being protected in the rear by one of the men. A
voice amidst the tumult called out to me to call off the dogs, who were
furious. I thought I recognized the voice of the speaker, and it proved
to be a neighbour who had settled about four miles off. He had been going
his rounds to look after his sheep, marauders being abroad, when,
approaching within half a mile of my cottage, his attention had been
attracted by the cries which had alarmed us. He was well armed, and
accompanied by two friends, also well armed.

Cheered by this reinforcement, I lost no time in acquainting them with
the news of the escape of the convicts from Macquarie Harbour, and of my
fears that our new neighbour was in the hands of the bushrangers. They at
once agreed to lend him their help; and as I was well acquainted with the
point where the river could be best crossed, and my home being now secure
from any sudden attack, we advanced without delay to the scene of danger.
But as this forms one of the epochs of my life, I must reserve the
account of the adventures and disasters which now came thick upon me to
another chapter.



CHAPTER XI.

HASTENS WITH A PARTY OF FRIENDS TO HIS NEIGHBOUR'S ASSISTANCE--THE
DANGEROUS PASSING OF THE RIVER ON THE TRUNK OF A TREE--THE LIFELESS BODY
OF A YOUNG GIRL STRANGELY DISCOVERED--THE PLUNDERED DWELLING, AND THE
DESOLATE MOTHER.

THE family which we were hastening to help had not arrived on their land
more than three weeks, and consisted of a Mr. Moss, his wife, a daughter
about seventeen, and two young boys of seven and six years of age. They
had been well off at one time, but a succession of misfortunes had
reduced their means to an income too small for a bare subsistence in
England, but amply sufficient for a prosperous establishment in Van
Diemen's Land. Mrs. Moss had been highly educated, and her daughter was
possessed of more than the usual accomplishments of her age, and of their
former station. The arrival of this young lady at our settlement seemed,
as a young friend of mine expressed himself, "like the springing up of a
beautiful flower in the wilderness." We all felt a strong interest in
these new settlers, and we were ready to risk much to serve them.

While my friends put themselves in fighting order, I buckled my old
cavalry broad-sword round me so as not to interfere with my movements,
for having served in the yeomanry in Surrey, I had ever after a liking
for the weapon, to which I felt I could trust in case of close
conflict;--and with my double-barrel fowling-piece slung over my back,
and my large horse-pistols in the pockets of my shooting-jacket, I led
the way across the river. My companions followed cautiously and silently
in Indian file. It was quite dark, with the exception of such glimmering
light as the brilliancy of the stars afforded. It was my plan to cross
the river by the trunk of a tree, which had fallen over from the opposite
bank, and formed a natural bridge, a rough one, and not easily to be
passed by day; and in the dark the passage over it was rather a dangerous
experiment. There was a dead silence around, which seemed more terrible
than the cries by which we had recently been alarmed, and filled us with
ominous fears for the fate of our neighbours.

We quickly reached the crossing-place, and in a low whisper I warned my
companions of the dangerous points of the bridge. My young neighbour
Beresford was particularly anxious on this occasion. I did not remark it
at the time, as we were all active and excited; but subsequent events
made me remember it. The river at this spot is narrow, and flows with the
rapidity of a mountain torrent. I observed in the gloom that Beresford's
two companions hesitated at the sight of this difficulty.

"I wish we had light for this work," said one; "I can see the foam of the
water, and I think I can see something which I suppose is the tree lying
across it; but it's an awkward job this."

"Speak low," said I; "you don't know what ears may be listening to you."

"Speak low!--why, the roaring of this water is enough to drown all the
noise that we shall make on this side. The river seems to be angry
to-night. I hope you are sure of your tree bridge. I should not like to
find myself in that boiling gulph below; if I did, I'm inclined to think
no one else would find me."

"It's an ugly sight," said the first speaker; "but if Thornley is sure of
the passage, I'll venture it; and don't let us lose any time, for if we
are to do any good, we must be quick about it."

"Well, we are in for it; we can't go back; who leads the way?"

"I'll lead the way," said Beresford; "I'm the youngest of the party; now,
follow me."

"No," said I, "that's my business; I know the passage best."

"Perhaps not better than I do," said Beresford; "come on."

"How can that be?" said I; "you have not occasion to cross the river so
often as I have."

Beresford said something which the noise of the waters prevented me from
hearing. I led the way, and began to crawl over on my hands and knees.

I must confess that it was not without a momentary tremor that I beheld
the white foam of the torrent dashing furiously past beneath me. A single
false movement was death; and the disagreeable feeling came over me, that
if an enemy should have had the foresight to guard this point, I and my
companions in our defenceless position were exposed to sure destruction.

With these thoughts agitating me, and the darkness of the night, the
incessant rushing of the water, and the danger of our expedition, all
tending to inspire doubt and fear, it is impossible to describe my
sensations, when, stretching forward my arm to feel the way before me, my
hand encountered what seemed to be a human head of hair. I was clinging
to the trunk of the tree, in a position disabling me from the use of my
weapons, nor indeed did the necessity of holding fast allow me to have
more than one hand momentarily disengaged in my creeping posture. All
sorts of fears were instantly conjured up in my horror and bewilderment.

My first thought was that the bushrangers, suspecting our intention, were
lying in ambush, and every instant I expected to receive a volley from
the opposite bank. Then visions of the natives arose, and I actually
crouched myself up, the better to defend myself against the shower of
spears which I knew would be the beginning of their attack. My companions
behind me, embarrassed by my stoppage, and not knowing the cause, urged
me to proceed, as the swift running of the white waters beneath their
eyes was beginning to produce giddiness. For nearly a minute I was
totally at a loss what to do. At last the mist with which the sudden
alarm had enveloped my brain began to disperse; I reasoned with myself
rapidly and decisively.

I knew that to go back over our perilous bridge was, in the dark, and
encumbered as we were with our arms, impossible. Go on we must. As I
formed this resolution, it suddenly occurred to me that the form before
me must be in the same embarrassment as to advancing or retreating as
myself; and that at any rate the chances were equal in the event of a
struggle for mastery. Emboldened by this thought, I stretched out my hand
again, and met with the same object. It seemed certainly a human head! It
was motionless, and had remained, as well as I could judge, in the
precise position in which my hand lighted on it before. But the second
time, the hair struck me as being softer, and the sensation flashed
across me that it was not a man's hair that I was feeling. My wonder
increased by this new discovery, and my fears yielding to my excitement,
I extended my arm and traced the long ringlets of a woman! My alarm was
now changed to wonderment and horror. Laying my hand on her face, I found
it deadly cold; her arms were encircled round the trunk of the tree, but
they hung lifeless, and I at once guessed that the female, whoever she
might be, in attempting to cross the river by this dangerous place,
rendered more dangerous and frightful by the darkness, had been terrified
by the roar of the raging waters, and had fainted.

What to do in this unexpected dilemma, I was at a loss to imagine. My
companions began to be alarmed, and the infection of superstitious fear
was beginning to unnerve them. In these perplexing and dangerous
circumstances I felt the necessity of coming to some prompt decision. The
female before me had evidently either fainted, or perhaps overcome by
fear and exhausting excitement was dead! But her lifeless body formed an
obstacle to our further progress, and I considered that, at that very
moment, while I was deliberating, the work of death might be going on
among our neighbours whom we were endeavouring to succour, and that our
assistance was prevented by an impediment to whom all help perhaps now
was vain.

With this feeling that four lives were at stake on the trunk of the tree,
trusting to my guidance, and that other lives were jeopardised by the
delay of our assistance, the exquisitely painful thought came over me,
that stern necessity justified the sacrifice of the one for the many, and
that we must risk the dislodging of the body of the woman for the purpose
of completing our passage across the river. The form lay motionless, and
on the balance on the slippery trunk of the tree; the slightest motion
was sufficient to overturn it into the boiling and roaring gulph below!
My companions urged me to proceed. I explained to them in few words the
cause of my stoppage; but they still continued to press me to go forward,
their fear of the present peril overcoming their apprehension of the
remoter hazard, should the bushrangers be in ambush on the other side,
and waiting for us to rise up to get the surer aim; they vehemently and
angrily complained that they could no longer keep their hold, and that
they could neither recede nor advance.

Impelled by the imminency of the danger, my senses benumbed by the cold,
and my mind confused by the unceasing roaring and foaming of the furious
waters, my presence of mind almost forsook me. I stretched out my hand
again: the form was still motionless--but I traced the outline of the
small and delicate features of that cold face, and quick as lightning the
thought of my own daughter flashed across me. That thought restored my
wandering senses. I became instantly calm and collected; and with a sort
of desperate energy I raised myself to a sitting posture across the tree,
and propelling myself with my hands towards the object before me, I took
firm hold of her long tresses to prevent the body from slipping from its
dangerous resting-place. All continued to be still around, except the
noise of the river. I now raised my voice to overtop the roaring of the
waters, and turning my head towards my wondering companions, I
communicated to them my intention to preserve the body, dead or alive.

"It is the form," said I, "of a young girl."

"A young girl!" exclaimed Beresford. "Then--"

"In the name of heaven," said the man behind him, "do not stay talking.
Man or woman, young or old, we must pass now to the other side. Necessity
has no law. Move on quickly, for I shall not be able to hold on half a
minute longer."

"Yes," cried out the hindermost, "move on--move on--I dare not attempt to
move backwards. As it is, the cold has so benumbed me, and I am so giddy
with the roaring of these waters under me, that every moment I expect to
slip off. Move on, I say; this is no time for fine feelings; our own
lives are at stake. We are lying here to be murdered if there are really
bushrangers abroad--and this affair looks like it. Move on, I say, or by
--I shall be tempted to make a way for myself."

"Stop," said Beresford; "stop--for God's sake, stop. I have a horrible
presentiment of who this poor girl must be. We must make an effort to
save her. Let me try to pass you (speaking to me); or stay--I think I see
a branch below that the water is rushing against; I will make the attempt
to save her if I perish."

With that my young friend, passing his fowling-piece to me to hold for
him, threw himself by a bold and active movement under the tree; and
clinging by the broken boughs, by a succession of desperate struggles
succeeded in gaining a position on the other side of the female, where
the thick part of the trunk afforded a surer footing. He then gradually
drew the motionless form towards him, and taking it in his arms, bore it
to a small distance from the river, and laid it on the grass, glistening
with the white frost. In the meantime we had all succeeded in crossing
the bridge safely; and the men finding themselves on firm ground, soon
recovered their presence of mind and courage, and were ready for action.
There was no time to be lost. The spot which we had to reach was less
than a quarter of a mile distant, and we were all eager to move forward.
But what was to be done with the lifeless female? Young Beresford had
been endeavouring to restore warmth by chafing the hands of the inanimate
body, but without success. It seemed as dangerous to leave it on the cold
ground, should life be not quite extinct, as to bear it with us. But
decision was necessary; and yielding to the entreaties of Beresford,
whose interest in the inanimate form seemed overpowering, we hastily
agreed that he should bear the body with us, while I advanced before,
being best acquainted with the locality, his two friends following close
after me. In this order we approached the spot where our new neighbour
had raised his homely dwelling.

As I neared the place, my foot lighted on a soft substance, which induced
me to stoop down to examine it. It was a dead kangaroo dog. I felt it,
and found that its brains had been dashed out by some heavy instrument.
This occurrence foreboded danger, and we proceeded rapidly and silently,
but with increased caution. The outline of the hut now loomed through the
dark; all was silent. We were perplexed how to proceed; we could see no
enemy, and feared some plot to entrap us. We continued our advance,
however, to the door of the hut in a line, young Beresford bearing the
body in the rear. I held his fowling-piece in my hand, with my own slung
behind me. We reached the door; it was fastened, but we thought we could
distinguish stifled breathing within. We knocked; no answer. We were
impressed with the conviction that the enemy, whoever it might be, was
there.

I directed Beresford, in a whisper, to take the body to the side of the
hut, that it might be out of the line of fire from the windows and door.
Then, with one dash of my foot, I burst the door from its hinges, and we
three rushed in. A scream, so deep, so piercing, so full of mortal fear
and agony, that it even now thrills through me as I recall it, arrested
our steps. But I guessed on the instant the real state of the case. On
the hearth the embers were still red. Snatching a handful of thatch from
the roof, I made a blaze. That light revealed to me the form of a woman,
crouched in a corner, bound, with two young children beside her. The
transient blaze of the lighted grass ceased, and we were again in
darkness.

"Oh God!" cried the woman, "are you come again? I have never spoken--not
one word--indeed I have not--and the children have scarcely breathed--but
if you are determined--"

"We are friends," said I, "come to assist you; we heard your cries--"

"Oh, why did you not come sooner?--my husband--my child--my daughter,
where is she?--she ran out to get help--is she drowned?--what have they
done with her?--my God! my God! shall I ever recover the horrors of this
dreadful night?"

While she spoke these words, which pierced our very souls, and filled us
with the most fearful forebodings, one of my neighbour's friends had
again lighted up some thatch on the hearth, which threw a glare around,
and enabled us to see about us; fortunately a candle which had been
extinguished was found close at hand; this afforded us a dim and dismal
light.

Beresford, who heard the scream, had caught the words of the mother, and
while I stationed one of our party at the door of the hut, and another at
the back, he hastily brought in the body of the apparently lifeless girl.
The mother, whom I had unbound, did not speak;--she gazed on the body of
her child in speechless agony.

"She is dead!" at last she muttered--"she is dead!--they have killed
her!--better so, perhaps, than worse! What may have happened?--Am I
awake, or is it a dream? Oh, no--it is all real--cold and dead--cold and
dead!"

A passionate burst of tears followed these words, uttered in all the
calmness of despair, and the children, now recovered from their stupor,
mingled their cries with the bursting sobs of the mother.

But my young friend was not inactive during this painful scene. With
wonderful coolness and presence of mind, he took all the steps that were
likely to restore consciousness, if life remained, and the energies of
the mother beginning to revive, she presently added her assistance. He
had placed the body of the poor girl on a rough wooden couch, with her
feet close to the fire, which was now blazing up briskly. The mother
rubbed her feet, and my friend chafed her hands; but life seemed to have
departed. The mother said nothing, but worked on silently, the two
children looking on in trembling expectation. I stood by, racking my
brain to remember all the means that I had read or heard of to restore
suspended animation. There was no apparent injury, her mother assured us,
to cause death, and our hopes revived even at the faint prospect of
restoration which this intelligence afforded us. All that I have related,
since we began to cross the river, took place in less than twenty
minutes, so that the possibility of life being not yet quite extinct
still remained; but the hope became every moment less and less.

While we were thus employed and thus agitated with our various fears
--the mother for her child, the young man for the beautiful girl before
us--and I, as a parent, entering into the bitter sorrows of their
weeping mother, we heard loud shouts proceeding from the direction of the
place where we had recently crossed the river, and presently, at a rapid
pace, a party of friends joined us.

The news of "bushrangers abroad" had quickly spread from neighbour to
neighbour, and the present party having assembled, they learnt at my
house our expedition and its object, and immediately started to support
us. They had crossed at a point of the river higher up, but affording an
easier and a safer passage. Fortunately the gentleman who had settled
among us as a surgeon was among the party, and his attention was
immediately directed to the apparently lifeless form of the beautiful
young girl.

It was a moment of most painful expectation. He felt her pulse long and
anxiously. I saw his countenance change. He held before her lips a small
pocket looking-glass, which he first, with professional coolness,
carefully wiped. He inspected it once--twice!

"Place her," said he, "on her side." It was done.

Again he applied the glass to her lips. It was untarnished.

"Throw more wood on the fire," said the surgeon. "Light wood--quick
--make it blaze up."

He applied the glass again.

Gradually his countenance changed from the expression of hopelessness
which had saddened it, and suddenly it lighted up as the brightness of
the glass became obscured. We were breathless.

"Hush!" said he. "Be calm," addressing her mother. "All will depend on
your coolness and presence of mind. If you can command your feelings, I
may do much. She is not dead!"

Here an hysteric sob seemed to choke the mother, but she stifled it; and
with hands clenched, and eyes streaming with silent floods of tears, she
sunk on her knees, with her eyes dimly gazing at him who seemed to be her
guardian angel.

"She is not dead," repeated the surgeon, in a low tone. "Life--I think--I
am sure--still remains; but the slightest shock would instantly destroy
it. Beware of exciting her by questions or by disastrous news, should I
succeed in restoring her to consciousness. Nothing but silence and
soothing will save her from death or insanity. Has any one some brandy
with him?"

Fortunately one of the party--the most drunken fellow in the
settlement--had a travelling flask of rum, which, indeed, he was never
without. It was quickly produced, and after its owner had taken a sip of
it, "to see," as he said, that "it was the right stuff," he handed it to
the surgeon. I am inclined to think that that flask of rum saved the
young lady's life, but it cost its proprietor his own sooner than in the
ordinary course of things, for from that moment he was never without his
flask, always emptied, and ever refilled, "in case," as he used to say,
"any other unfortunate person might chance to want some of it;" and so,
on the strength of the life that he boasted it had saved, he hastened the
end of his own.

"And now, gentlemen," said the surgeon, "be pleased to retire from the
hut, and leave me alone with this lady. There seems to be more work for
you to do before this family can be set to rights."

We silently obeyed. I was the last who quitted the room, and as I was
going out at the door, the poor mother laid her hand convulsively on my
arm, and with a sort of desperate calmness whispered, "My husband--have
they murdered him?"

"Surely not;" I said, "hope for the best--you see we are strong enough to
take active measures for his safety. Depend on us that we will neglect
nothing to find him and to restore him to you."

"I am sure you will. See, the surgeon is trying to pour some spirit down
my poor child's throat. Now leave us."

All this time Beresford had not spoken a word. I found him as I passed
stationed close to the door. There was light outside the hut now, as some
of the party had kindled a fire in front of it, which threw its glare
around for a considerable distance. All our party now assembled together,
and it was agreed that we should keep watch round the place during the
night, and that at daybreak we should go in search of our neighbour. We
made a diligent examination of the parts about, as we conjectured that
the bushrangers might have bound and gagged him, and left him at a
distance from the hut; but we could find no traces of him or of them.
With one accord I was chosen the leader of the present expedition, as
being the oldest settler, and the one best acquainted with the bush. I
had mustered my party with the view of allotting to them their different
stations, when a cry from the hut arrested our attention, and young
Beresford came running to us and crying out, "She is saved! She is saved!
She is alive! She is breathing! And now," said he, "for her father;
that's the next thing to attend to. It's the first inquiry she will make
when she recovers her senses, and if she should suspect the worst, the
consequences in her present state I am sure would be instantly fatal."

"That is our object;" said I; "we must find the poor fellow. And now let
us make our arrangements. There are twelve of us; I dare say we are
strong enough to cope with the other party; for we have the right on our
side and that is a tower of strength. I propose that at break of day we
should remove this family to my cottage. In the meantime it is necessary
that we should prepare ourselves for bushing it, for some days perhaps.
Let four men go to my cottage and procure all the necessaries that we
shall want, and don't forget the kangaroo rugs, for the nights are cold,
and we shall need them."

"Don't forget some brandy," said one.

"Nor the tea and sugar," said another; "there's nothing like a cup of tea
in the bush; it's more refreshing than all the spirits in the world."

"Bring plenty of pannikins," said a third; "one a-piece will not be in
the way."

"Take care to bring plenty of rice," said I; "it lies in a small compass,
and is more handy for the bush than flour; but tell them at home to make
as many small dampers as we can carry; and bring away all the baked bread
in the house. My men will help you to carry the things."

"How are your powder-horns?" said young Beresford.

"Plenty of powder, but little shot."

"Ask for the bag of slugs and the little bag of balls that hang by my
bed's head," said I; "and bring a dozen or two of spare flints with you,
and--anything else that you think will be useful."

"Would it not be well," said one, "to give notice to the magistrates?"

"Right," said I; "who will volunteer to go over the plain this dark
night, and tell the one farthest off?"

"That will I do," said a spirited young fellow; "I know every inch of the
way; if I meet with anything, I will fire off my piece."

"You can tell one of my servants to apprize the other magistrate of this
night's work, as his house is in a line from my cottage. If he is at
home, he will be with us by daylight, you may depend on it; for he is
young, and has no wife nor child, and he likes these expeditions. It may
be useful, too, to have a magistrate among us to sanction our proceedings,
so ask him to come with us, and say that we should be obliged to him if he
would be our leader; and you may as well say that no one could do it so
well as himself. There's nothing like being civil, and we all like to be
flattered a bit. Who knows what it is o'clock?"

"Not eleven yet."

"Then we have the whole night before us."

"And so have the bushrangers; they may get well away before morning."

"No," said another; "it is impossible to travel fast on a night so dark
as this. Let us have daylight before us and get well on their tracks, and
they can't escape us."

"Shall we try the dogs after them?"

"No; the kangaroo dogs are of no use as bloodhounds; they will track
those they are used to for any distance, but they don't understand being
set to track strangers. But we must take some dogs with us, for we shall
want to pull more than one kangaroo for our dinners before we have done,
I'm thinking."

"Here is one to begin with," said I, "as I felt a cold nose thrust into
my hand. Hector and Fly are growing old now, but here's one of their
breed, and here's another. They have found me out, you see. Now let some
one get two more, so that the four may not all belong to one party, in
case of being separated. Shall we take any horses? I have three in the
stable, and four more in the bush that are sure to come for their corn in
the morning. Perhaps they're in the open stable now, for they often come
up and get under shelter when the nights are wet or cold."

It was agreed that four of the party should be mounted, to act as scouts;
but as it was likely that the marauders would choose the most
inaccessible paths, where a horseman would be taken at great
disadvantage, it was thought best that the rest of the party should be on
foot.

"Take another horse, as a pack-horse," said one, "to carry our
provisions, and let one of your men lead him."

"A bright thought!" said I, "and now I think we shall be well prepared
for the bush; so I recommend all to sleep as much as they can till
daylight, that we may be the fresher for the work."

"Oh, never mind sleep; we are too much excited to sleep to-night; but let
us have some supper."

"Will you come to my cottage, or stay here?"

"Oh stay here will not leave the poor woman to-night; no, we'll sup here,
and make a bush night of it to begin with; but it's terribly cold.
There," said the speaker, throwing a heavy log on the fire, which made
the sparks fly up like a fire-work, "there's some food for you; and
there's another and another. By George, we'll have a jolly fire, and make
a merry night of it. I say, how's the young woman?"

Beresford required no further hint than these words; looking at me, I
gave him a nod, and he disappeared in an instant. He tapped gently at the
door of the hut, and returning to us immediately, whispered to me--

"She lives! she has not spoken; but she sleeps."

"Good," said I, "and now do you sleep too; we shall want all your
strength to-morrow."

He smiled, and shook his head--"I will never sleep," said he, "till I
have found her father."

"I do not doubt," said I, "that you will spare no exertion to recover
him; and now let us try to get some information about this sad affair. Is
the mother cool enough to tell us her story? It would be a help to us to
know something of the character and numbers of the party who attacked the
hut. We should not lose any time by it, as it would be useless to start
in pursuit of the bushrangers till daylight. See if the poor lady can
leave her daughter for a while; the surgeon can sit by her while the
mother is away; and we ought to know all the particulars as well as she
can tell them."

Beresford went to the hut, and presently returned with Mrs. Moss, from
whom we were happy to learn that her daughter still breathed and slept.
We placed the afflicted lady on a log of wood before our bush-fire, and
our sentinels being planted in suitable places, to guard against
surprise, she described the attack in the following terms.



CHAPTER XII.

THE ATTACK OF THE BUSHRANGERS--THE MYSTERIOUS FATE OF THE LOST
HUSBAND--IT IS RESOLVED TO PURSUE THE BUSHRANGERS--PREPARATIONS FOR THE
EXPEDITION--THE MAGISTRATE HEADS THE PARTY--HORRIBLE DISCOVERY.

'I HARDLY know where to begin:--I have very little to tell. It all seems
now to have passed in a moment. We were sitting round the fire, I and my
husband, and my poor Lucy and the two children. Since we came up here, my
husband always used to keep his gun in his hand, or else close by him,
ready for use, for our greatest horror was these bushrangers! and I don't
know really whether I was most frightened to see him always carrying that
eternal gun about with him, or to see him without it; though it would
have been but little protection against so many! Perhaps it's all for the
best. If he had fired, and killed one of them, it might have exasperated
them, and they might have done worse. Well; we were assembled round the
fire, as I said, and my husband was particularly cheerful; he was sitting
in the corner close to the window, with his gun leaning against the wall
close to his hand, when he got up to close the shutter on the other side,
as the wind was chilly.

It seems that we had been watched all the evening, and I suspect one of
our men (we have only one man besides the shepherd) was a spy on us, for
my husband had left the corner where his gun was, only a moment, when a
man in a kangaroo jacket rushed into the room, and got between my husband
and his weapon, which he seized hold of, and pointing his own gun at my
husband, commanded him to throw up his hands over his head, or he would
fire.

We were all in a cluster together, and my husband fearing, I dare say,
that he might be wounded or killed, held up his arms. On this the
bushranger threw his gun over his arm; but my husband in an instant
rushed at him, and clasped him round the body. In the struggle the
bushranger's gun went off. But in the meantime more bushrangers had come
in; two of them immediately seized my husband from behind, and the first
struck him over the head with the end of his gun, which I think stunned
him for a time. They then bound him tightly hand to foot, and at the same
time two of them held me and bound me also, and another man took hold of
the children. Looking round, I missed Lucy, and guessed that she had
escaped from the back window of her little bedroom. God help her! I
hardly know whether to wish she may be restored to life and consciousness
or not. But, God's will be done!

Well, gentlemen, when they had bound my husband, they asked him where he
had put his money; for being new settlers, we had been so imprudent as to
bring nearly a thousand dollars with us, besides a little plate, and our
watches, and other articles of value, of which no doubt the bushrangers
had information. My poor husband was scarcely recovered from the stunning
blow of the bushranger's gun, but he declared that we had no money; that
we were poor settlers, and had nothing with us but a few necessaries,
such as flour and tea and sugar.

The man who had first pointed his gun at him now placed it close to his
head, and swore most horribly that if he did not instantly tell him where
the money was hid he would blow out his brains. This man seemed to be the
leader.

"Money," said he, "we will have; we know you have got it, so tell us
where it is, or"--and here he swore a dreadful oath--"you shall have the
contents of this barrel through your brains."

I was held by two men, who had tied a handkerchief over my mouth, and it
was in vain that I struggled to get loose. The bushranger put his finger
on the lock of his gun, and I heard a click; I knew well what that click
meant. In another instant I expected to behold my poor husband's head
shattered to pieces. With a desperate strength, which nothing but despair
could have lent to me, I loosened one arm, and tearing the handkerchief
from my mouth, I exclaimed, "Oh! tell them, tell them! For God's sake
tell them!--life is better than money..."

"Oh--ho," said the leader, "so there is money, after all. Then I think
I'll find a way to get it. Here" he said to one of the men, "put your
musket close to this gentleman's head; that's right--now cock it--now put
your finger on the trigger, and if he offers to cry out--fire! And now
for the lady. Just put the handkerchief over her mouth again, and this
time take care she doesn't get it off again; a woman can't hold her
tongue, though her husband's brains may be blown out from her talking. In
the meantime, Ma'am," said he, with a sort of mock politeness, "I'll
trouble you to walk into the inner room. I should not like to shock a
lady's nerves, nor a gentleman's neither, with what is usual in these
cases."

"I will not move," said I, horrified at his words. "I will not move; I
will not leave my husband and my children. Kill me, if you will, but here
I will stay."

"By no means," said the mocking bushranger; "we never wish to kill
anybody if we can help it, that's not our game; but if you will not walk
you must be carried."

The two men who held me then lifted me up in an instant, and carried me
into the bedroom, where they threw me on the bed.

"Now," said the leader, "is the lady put comfortably to bed?"

"Ay, ay," said the man who held me down, "we've got her tight enough."

"You see," he said to my husband, for I could hear him speak plainly, as
the two rooms are separated only by the log partition, "you see how
things are; you had better tell at once, before we proceed to further
extremities."

Extreme terror and faintness had kept me silent till this moment, but now
fear for my husband and my children, as well as the horror of my own
condition, overcame all other feelings, and I cried out, "I'll tell, I'll
tell. Don't fire. Take up the stone before the hearth--the money is
there."

The leader immediately desired some one outside to bring a strong stake
to lift up the stone, telling him to be quick, for they had no time to
lose, as they had far to travel before morning. Then I heard them remove
the stone, and the dollars chinked as the man pulled out the bag and
threw it on the floor. The sight of the heavy bag and the sound of the
money, I fancy, put the party in good humour, for the men who held me
relaxed their hold, and one left, telling the other not to lose sight of
me.

Presently I heard the leader say--

"Where's the young girl?"

No one seemed to know.

"By----" said he, "the young hussy has escaped, and she will give the
alarm. Be quick, my men, quick--quick; leave nothing behind that you can
carry away--blankets, sheets, clothes--every thing. We shall want them
when we get to the lake. It's a pity, though, that the girl has escaped.
She will set her father free, and that may be awkward for us. Stay; we'll
take him with us, and then he can't give any information about us."

"To shoot him is the shortest way," said one.

"Hang him," said another. "Chuck him into the river, and there he'll be
snug till somebody finds him."

"Don't stand talking about it," said a third; "shooting him would give
the alarm, and throwing him into the river is unnecessary trouble. Just
lend me a bit of cord, or a silk handkerchief, and I'll warrant he'll be
quiet enough after."

I conjectured he was about to strangle my helpless husband, for I heard
the leader say--

"Stop!--no murder, if we can help it. We can do that with him at any
time, if his living is likely to harm us. For the present we will take
him with us. Loose his legs and bind his arms behind his back. And now
let us be off. But first let us make the lady safe."

I was taken accordingly into the sitting-room; and then they bound me
fast, and left me as you found me. My husband had been silent all this
time, with the object, no doubt, which he carried into effect when he was
removed outside the hut. When he found himself on the outside, where his
voice could be heard, he immediately set up a loud shout for help; that
made the woods ring; he was answered by screams near the river, which
proceeded, I do not doubt, from Lucy. My husband's cries were instantly
silenced.

"Gag him!" cried out a voice.

"Let us knock that young vixen on the head before we go," said another
voice; "she will rouse the neighbourhood, and our plan will be defeated."

"It's too late," said the leader; "the alarm is given already. It would
do us no good to put the girl out of the way now; we should only lose
time; we must be quick, and place a good distance between us, before we
can be pursued. We shall gain a march, for we cannot be tracked till
daylight; but we can travel all night, and so get well ahead."

With that they left me, threatening me and my children with instant death
if I uttered the least sound of alarm. I think I must have fainted; for I
remember nothing more, till I was aroused by the door of the hut being
burst open, which the bushrangers, I suppose, before they left, had
fastened on the outside.

"How many in number," said I, "do you think they were?"

"I cannot tell; I think there must have been eight or ten at one time in
the hut; at the same time I heard the voices of some outside. All those
whom I saw were armed with a gun of some sort. They were very
wild-looking; the leader had on a kangaroo-skin jacket, and he did not
look very ferocious, but he was very determined."

"It was your husband's and your daughter's cries," said I, "that we heard
on the other side of the river, and it is plain, from your story, that
your daughter endeavoured to cross the river for help, but was terrified
by the roar of the waters and the difficulty of the passage, and that,
overcome with exhaustion, she fell into the fit on the trunk of the tree
in which we found her. Let that fortunate escape," added I, "inspire you
with the hope that we may be successful in finding your husband
uninjured."

The lady then returned to her daughter; and our companions, who had gone
on their several missions, having returned, we passed the remainder of
the night by the fire, planning our next day's expedition, and giving and
receiving mutual information on the best course to be pursued, and the
likeliest track of the bushrangers.

The day had just begun to break, when we were cheered by the appearance
of the young magistrate on horseback, with a servant and two friends also
mounted, and two constables on foot. They were all well armed; and when
he had communicated to us the intelligence which he had received in the
night of the numbers and desperation of the bushrangers, we were not a
little glad to be joined by such an efficient reinforcement. The
magistrate immediately took on himself the conduct of the expedition; and
his activity and determination were so well known, that all the party
were happy to place themselves under his direction.

The plundered family having been first removed with the greatest care to
my house, the poor young lady shewing no other sign of life than a low
breathing, we lost no time in putting ourselves in order. The magistrate
divided our body into two parties, entrusting the command of one party to
me, and the other to young Beresford. As the four horses brought by our
last reinforcement were sufficient for the purposes of scouts, the
remainder of the party proceeded on foot, so that each of our parties,
Beresford's and mine, consisted of seven, including ourselves. VVith
these preliminary dispositions we set about searching for the track of
the bushrangers, extending ourselves in a line, the better to cover the
ground. The track was soon found, as the large body of the bushrangers,
laden with their booty, could not conceal the marks of their passage.

"Stick to the track," said our leader to the constable who acted as
guide, "and let nothing distract you from it. Gentlemen," said he,
addressing us, "I shall leave on the track all those on foot, who I trust
will be ready for action. I and one of my friends will gallop on for some
distance towards the tall tree on the high hill yonder, and try the
chance of coming up with the rascals. Two of the horsemen will scour the
country on your flanks. We are only eighteen in number, and the
bushrangers are reported to have more than thirty among them. But we are
in a better state of efficiency than they can be. Take care not to throw
away your fire. Now we will go and clear the way for you." Saying this,
he galloped off in the direction to which the track of the bushrangers
seemed to lead us.

We continued our course warily but rapidly for about ten miles, when we
found the magistrate and his three companions waiting for us at the spot
where two tracks were distinctly visible. We had scarcely exchanged a few
words when the horseman to our left galloped into view, and made silent
but expressive signs for us to come to him. He motioned us to be
cautious, and to look about us. I beckoned to the horseman on our right
to join us, and leaving him as a sentinel to mark the point of the track
from which we had been called off, we moved quickly to our left, and soon
reached the spot to which the horseman had called us. Here our eyes were
suddenly arrested by a spectacle which caused us all instinctively to
throw forward our arms and gaze anxiously around us. The sight chilled
our very blood, and was sufficient to strike the boldest among us with
consternation and horror.



CHAPTER XIII.

THE RUINS OF THE BURNT STOCK-KEEPER'S HUT--THE MURDERER MUSQUITO AND THE
NATIVES--THE SAGACITY OF THE KANGAROO-DOGS--NATIVE'S TOMB--THE NATIVES
BEGIN AN ATTACK--SKIRMISH WITH THE BUSHRANGERS.

AMIDST the ruins of a stock-keeper's hut, recently burned down, we beheld
a form which we recognized as human only from the outline of the body.
One arm was totally consumed; the other was shrivelled up. The body was
literally roasted and charred. It was in vain, after we had recovered the
first emotions which the horrid sight created, that we endeavoured to
trace the features of the disfigured head; it was a shapeless mass of
calcined bone. The clothes, which might have served to identify it, were,
of course, utterly consumed.

It must not be supposed that in making this examination we were
neglectful of our own safety. Our active magistrate immediately
despatched the two unemployed horsemen to make circuits of discovery
round the place, and while he, with one of the constables, made a close
investigation of the ruins, the remainder of our little party stood in
order with our arms prepared in readiness to meet any attack. Our first
impression was, that the hut had been visited by the bushrangers, who,
either in malice or revenge, had set fire to the hut, and burned to death
the unfortunate occupant. But the truth was presently made manifest by
one of the horsemen, who hailed us from a little distance to join him.

We proceeded towards the spot where he was standing, and we presently
came on two dead bodies, evidently stock-keepers from their clothes and
appearance. They were quite dead and cold. Their wounds at once informed
us that they had been killed by the natives. On laying bare their
clothes, we found their bodies pierced with innumerable small holes
caused by the long thin spears used by the natives in their encounters.
Their heads were battered to a jelly-like mass, from the frequent blows
of the waddies, a small and light club of hard wood, which forms the
weapon of the natives of Australia in close combat.

The sickening sight of these two bodies, coupled with the horrid form
amidst the ruins of the hut, told plainly what had happened. The stock
keepers had been attacked by the natives, who had, no doubt, intercepted
the two unfortunate men before us, and had killed them after a hard
fight, as the number of their wounds testified. The third stock-keeper,
it seemed, had been able to gain the hut, in which, perhaps, he had
defended himself for some time against the natives; and the black people
had set fire to the thatch of native grass, and so consumed it and him.
We searched again and more narrowly amongst the charcoal ruins, and found
the barrel of a musket partially melted by the fire, with the lock nearly
whole, and the piece of brass belonging to the butt of the piece. This
was confirmation of our surmise. The stock-keeper in the hut had very
likely wounded or killed one or more of the natives, and they, rendered
more savage by their wounds, had burnt him alive!

At this time a native of Australia, by name Musquito' a tall and
powerful man, had been committing many atrocities in Van Diemen's Land.
He had been sent from Sydney some years before for an offence, I think it
was a murder that he had committed, by Governor Macquarie, a proceeding
complained of at the time, but gradually forgotten, as Musquito, until
within the last year or so, had conducted himself well, and had proved
himself useful on several occasions by tracking runaway convicts, and
lost or stolen sheep. It was known that he was at the head of a mob of
natives, consisting of about thirty; but we had no idea that he was in
this part of the island; however, this looked very like some of his work,
and we were not a little troubled at the prospect of having to contend
against the treacherous natives as well as with the fierce and desperate
bushrangers. This was an addition to our difficulties and our danger on
which we had not calculated, and the magistrate called a council of war
to deliberate on the best mode of proceeding.

We took advantage of the opportunity of this halt to refresh ourselves,
as we anticipated hard work. On the hearth of the demolished hut we found
a tripod, such as was in common use then and now too, for boiling things
in, holding three or four gallons. One of the constables cleaned it out
to make tea in. There were many of the shrubs known by the name of the
tea-tree growing near, and as we wished to husband our stock, we made tea
of some of the leaves, which make a very good substitute for the China
tea. The leaf resembles the leaf of the privet, which is common in the
hedges in some parts of England. In the meanwhile some of our party
buried the two dead stock-keepers, after having first examined their
clothes narrowly, to see if we could find any paper or marks by which
they could be identified. On one we found a tin tobacco-box, which was
given in charge to one of the constables, and on the other was his pass,
from which we ascertained his name, and also that he had recently arrived
from Hobart Town.

All this time we took care to guard against surprise, for we did not know
who might be watching us, but we felt no fear from an open attack of any
body of natives that could be collected against us; but if by chance
Musquito and his mob of natives should join with the bushrangers, we felt
that such a body of sixty or more persons, with the bushrangers well
armed and desperate, might be more than we could cope with. These
considerations troubled us all not a little, and we made haste to
despatch our meal, keeping a strict look-out the while.

Our banquet was not a very merry one, I must say; we all had very long
faces, with some slight misgivings of the prudence of our expedition; not
that there was any want of courage among us, or of the spirit of
enterprise; we were bold and cool enough; but some of us had left wives
and families behind, and we felt that we were fighting against odds; that
we were risking our own lives, which were precious, against the lives of
rascals, which were worthless.

These thoughts, with the burial of the dead and disfigured men, and the
sight of the other man burnt into charcoal, cast a gloom over us which
was painful and dispiriting. Our kangaroo dogs went smelling about with
their tails down, and crouching with that expression of fear which these
hounds display when they are in the vicinity of an unusual object, and
especially when they see or smell a native. One of them poked about among
the ruins, and startled us with a howl so dismal that it almost chilled
us with a sort of superstitious fear.

"Young Hector is uneasy," said one.

"He knows there's something wrong," said another; "and he can't make out
what that charcoal body means. I don't think he has much spirit in him
just now to pull a kangaroo."

Hector, however, suddenly belied this surmise, for, ascending the little
eminence above the ruins, he assumed an attitude of lively and fixed
attention. His head became erect, his eyes keenly piercing into the bush,
and his body ready for a spring.

"Silence," said I; "Hector has got scent of something; I know his ways
well. See, he looks at me to intimate that there is something in the
wind. Go see," said I; "see, Hector, good dog, what is it?"

The intelligent animal immediately set off into the bush, stealthily and
without barking or growling. He was soon out of sight.

"It's only a kangaroo," said one of the constables.

"It's more than a kangaroo," said I; "Hector is almost equal to his old
sire, who could do everything but speak, and, indeed, I think he could
have talked, if he only knew how to begin; but I understand his signs
well. Depend upon it, there's a reason for what he does."

As I spoke these words, we observed the dog cantering back to us at a
swift pace. He came straight up to me, and whined with peculiar signs of
fear.

"He has seen a native," said I; "that I'll swear. I can't mistake him. We
had better be prepared, though I can't think they would have the temerity
to attack us."

"Let us go and face the danger," said our young leader; "it is better to
put an end to it, one way or the other; as to retreating, that is out of
the question."

"Oh," said we all,--"no retreat, no retreat!"

"Then put yourselves in order, gentlemen, and let us move on."

"Let us follow the dog," said I, "and go warily about it; these natives
hide behind the trees, and you can hear nothing of them till you find a
spear sticking in you. Keep the other dogs back, and let me and Hector go
first. Now, Hector, good dog! where is it?"

Hector licked my hand, as if to say, "take care ofyourself," and trotted
on before. I kept immediately behind, taking care not to over-run him,
and the rest of our party followed quickly after us, on the alert, and
with their arms ready. Hector continued at his trotting pace for about
two hundred and fifty yards, when he stopped, and assumed the attitude of
a dog pointing at game. I tried to pierce into the bush with my eyes, but
I could discover nothing. I looked back, and saw my party behind, all
ready for action.

"Go see!" I said to the dog.

The dog hung down his tail, sniffed, whined, and, standing up, pawed me
with his fore-legs. I patted him.

"What is it, Hector?"

But some terror hung over the hound, and he was reluctant to move
forward; but he looked towards a particular part of the bush, and uttered
the low whine expressive of unusual fear.

The magistrate now, leaving the others behind, joined me.

"What is the matter with the dog?" said he.

"I can't tell," said I; "but there is some reason for all this; I am sure
there are natives about by his manner; if they were bushrangers he would
bark or growl."

"We must put an end to this suspense," said the magistrate; "observe him
now, he is looking intensely at some object not far off. Stand here, and
hold my horse, and I will go on the line the dog points to."

He immediately advanced on foot, having first observed the bearing of an
object behind me, in order that he might keep in a line straight to the
point to which the dog's eye was directed. In the meantime the party
behind came up to where I stood, and we all held ourselves ready for an
alarm. The magistrate had not advanced far before he stopped, and looked
cautiously around him, holding his fowling-piece in a position to fire,
and, without turning his head, beckoned with his arm for us to advance.

We came up to him, and he silently pointed to a hollow and blackened
trunk of a tree, the branches of which were still standing, and covered
with the late autumn leaf. Within the trunk we saw standing up a native,
with his face turned towards us. The blackness of his colour assimilating
with the charcoal of the burned tree prevented the body from being
distinguished from the blackened trunk, until we got close to it, but the
acuteness of the hound's organs had enabled him to detect this object at
a considerable distance. The sight of this native lurking within the body
of the tree instantly filled us with the fear that there were more close
at hand, and we expected every moment to receive a volley of spears from
the hidden enemy; but none appeared, and all was silence; the dogs,
however, showed symptoms of uneasiness, which made us look about us.

"Shall I fire?" said one of the constables; "it's a sure shot."

"Stop," said the magistrate, "let us try to take him alive; we have got
him safe; he can't get through the back of the tree, and we hem him in at
the front. But it's odd that he doesn't move."

We were about thirty yards from the tree, but as the native was within
the trunk, we could not discern in the obscurity more than his dusky
body; the trees were very thick all around, forming a dense mass of
trunks as close as they could grow. It was a favourable place for the
natives to fight in, and they are so active, and so clever in hiding
themselves, that you may be in the midst of hundreds in such a place
without being able to catch sight of one of them.

"I'll put an end to this," said the magistrate; "be ready, my friends,
and don't let him escape."

Saying this, he ran towards him with his fowling-piece pointed towards
the tree.

"Why, he's dead! and we have come upon a native's grave; I have heard of
them, but never saw one before. This is one of the black fellows that the
stock-keeper shot, no doubt, before he was burnt to death in the hut."

On examining the body, we found the mark of the musket-ball that had gone
through his heart and passed out at his back. He was most likely close to
the hut when he was shot, and must have been killed instantaneously.

We were clustering round the tree, gazing at this sight, and a little off
our guard, when a whirr was heard among us, and a long thin spear passing
through the group of heads without wounding any one, stuck in the bark of
the tree. We were quickly roused by this compliment, and we turned about,
looking round on all sides; but we could see nothing.

Presently we heard the tramp of a horse's feet, and a crashing through
the bushes, and the horseman whom we had left as a sentinel came into
view. A spear was sticking in his back, and two pieces of broken spears
were sticking in the sides of the horse, which seemed maddened with
fright and pain. It was with difficulty that the rider could direct his
horse towards us, the animal being almost unmanageable.

"Look out!" he cried, "the natives are on us--I have not seen them; but
they have marked me and my horse. Depend upon it they are joined by the
bushrangers, or they would not think of attacking an armed man on
horseback. Musquito is with them, you may be sure, and he has taught them
that the danger is over when a fire-arm is discharged; I dropped mine
when this spear struck me. It came on me unawares, and in catching at the
bridle when the horse started, I dropped my piece. I am not much hurt;
but this spear makes me smart a bit."

"Oh! never mind a spear-wound," said our young magistrate; "we have got a
surgeon among us, so we are all right."

While these words were passing, we had secured the horse, and our friend
dismounted. The spear had penetrated the flesh under his right arm, and
the point was sticking out of the wound three or four inches on the other
side. It was a small spear about ten feet long. The end had been
sharpened and hardened in the fire, by scorching it, according to the
custom of the natives, and it formed an ugly weapon to be lodged in a
gentleman's person. The two constables quickly drew out the pieces of
broken spear from the horse's side; they found more than a dozen
spear-holes in the horse's body, which bled freely, but none of them
seemed to be deep except two. All this passed in less than half a minute;
and we were all the time looking out for an attack, but could not guess
from which quarter it would come. We stood in this way for several
minutes, straining our eyes to discover our enemies, but in vain.
Suddenly our young leader, who was sitting on horseback, cried out--

"Holloa, they're at me."

We turned and looked. A spear had gone through his hat sideways, and
knocked it off; but we could see no one.

"That was a good shot," said one of us. "Perhaps the next may be
better--look out!"

A shower of spears fell among us from the same quarter, hitting one of
the constables, and wounding another. As the distance, however, was
great, they did little more than penetrate the skin, and a laugh was
raised at the expense of the sufferers. The parties speared, however, did
not seem to enjoy the joke at all.

"It's of no use," said one of them, "to stand here to serve as targets
for these black rascals; let us make a rush into the bush, and come to
close quarters."

"They will not let you," said our leader; "you have no chance against
them that way; but we must do something, We must try to drive them
through this belt of wood, and get them into the plain beyond, where we
shall be able to see what we are about. But we must be very cool and very
cautious. Take three of your party," said he to me, "to the left; and do
you, Beresford, take three of yours to the right, so as to slant the
black rascals, and drive them from the trees. Take care to keep us in
sight, and don't advance too far. The rest must advance steadily straight
on; I and the two on horseback will be ready to give assistance to either
party."

We lost no time in effecting this movement, and proceeded at a brisk pace
through the wood. Beresford's party had the first shot:--the natives
moved round to the other side of the trees; then we had a shot at them;
and in front was our main body. They could not stand this long; they did
throw some spears at us, but they fell harmless. They scampered off, in
number about thirty or forty, as near as we could guess, and we after
them, till they came to the edge of the bank bounding the wood, over
which they disappeared.

We were hastening after them, when suddenly thirty or forty armed men
started up from beneath the bank, and fired a volley on us which brought
us to a stand-still. We were all in a line, separated, but not far from
each other, the chase after the natives having caused us to break our
ranks. I looked down our line when the volley was fired, and it was with
the most painful concern that I saw my young friend Beresford drop to the
ground.

It was clear that the natives had formed a junction with the bushrangers,
and our little party now stood in their presence, with fearful odds
against us, and with three of us disabled. Thus fairly brought into
action, we had nothing to trust to but our courage and discipline, and
the moral superiority which the right always has over the wrong. The
bushrangers, after their first volley, had disappeared under the bank.
Our leader instantly called out, "Reserve your fire--close together--now
follow me."



CHAPTER XIV.

THE BUSHRANGERS RETREAT--THE MAGISTRATE'S PARTY PURSUE--A BIVOUAC--TRACKS
OF THE BUSHRANGERS--CROSSING OF THE BIG RIVER--THE PURSUIT GROWS WARM.

WE immediately turned to the right to a point about fifty yards off,
where there was a clump of trees which projected from the main mass of
the forest. By this manoeuvre we turned the position of the bushrangers,
which at first was in their favour, to our own advantage, as it enabled
us to take them along their line, so that they stood in one another's
way; and while they were unprotected in the open plain, we were sheltered
by the trunks of the trees.

As I followed with my division of the party, I passed poor Beresford,
whom I had seen fall at the first volley of the bushrangers. Raising him
up, we bore him to the shelter of the wood. Our present position enabled
us now to see the movements of the bushrangers. It was not their game to
fight, only to disable and embarrass the pursuit; we were not surprised,
therefore, though I must confess I felt considerably relieved, to behold
the bushrangers in rapid retreat stealing under the bank.

Perhaps it would have been prudent in us, seeing their numbers and
determination, and assisted by a harassing body of natives, to have let
them alone, and to have suffered them to retire without molestation. But
our blood was up, and as I have often observed on other occasions, there
seems to be a fighting instinct in human nature, so that two men, or two
bodies of men, when they have got opposite each other with the intent of
fighting, do not like to separate without exchanging blows.

These thoughts occurred afterwards, for I was as hot as any of us at the
time, and as eager to continue the pursuit. The sight, too, of our
neighhour fired us. We saw him amidst his plunderers, with his hands tied
before him, and goaded on by two or three of them. We were all going
helter-skelter after them, when we were stopped by the voice of our young
leader, who was the coolest among us.

"Stop, gentlemen, said he, we must not go too fast. Remember that our
lives are precious, and it is my duty not to allow you to expose
yourselves unnecessarily. I am afraid these rascals are too strong for
us. You may observe that the natives seem to be confident in their
numbers. We are only eighteen in number, and our enemies are at least
sixty or seventy. I make no doubt that a party of soldiers which the
Governor has directed to the Clyde will follow our steps, and they can
easily track us to where we are. My advice to you is to wait here till
that help reaches us; then we shall be a match for them ."

"No waiting," cried out one bold young fellow; "let us go at them while
we are in the humour for it. Those rascals will never fight when it comes
to the scratch; let us make a rush at them, and put an end to it."

"If you will allow me to give my advice," said I, "I am of the same
opinion as our magistrate. We ought to endeavour to take these fellows
alive; it would be a dear victory if we were to buy it at the expense of
many of our own lives ."

"Oh! let us fight it out now," cried several; "why, these bushrangers
will be joined by more convicts, depend on it, as they go on. Let us
crush them at once before they get to a strength too much for us to put
down."

"Well," said the magistrate, "if you are determined to go on with this
job, I will not disappoint you; but we must use a little stratagem in our
proceedings. It is now four o'clock; in a few hours it will be dark,
when, you know, the natives will not stir, for they are afraid of the
evil spirit which they believe wanders about in the night-time. I
propose, then, that we should remain where we are for two hours, so as to
make the bushrangers think, if they watch us, that we have given up the
pursuit. Then we must track them to their resting-place for the night,
and so surprise them asleep or off their guard, for our object is to
secure them alive, and to rescue our friend from their hands, with as
little risk as possible to ourselves. Are you agreed?"

"Agreed," said we all.

"Then now let us lose no time in attending to young Beresford."

We were all glad to find, on examination, that Beresford had only been
stunned by a ball which had grazed his head; there was not much bleeding
from the wound, but as the blood had flowed down his face, which was pale
as death, it gave him a ghastly appearance. In less than half an hour he
was sufficiently recovered to sit up, but he complained of headache and
weakness of the limbs.

"Do you think you could keep up with us?" said our leader.

"I'll try," said he, "and at any rate you shall not be stopped on my
account. I would rather stay behind."

"And be speared by the natives," said I, "which you certainly would be.
No--no; if we go on, you must go with us, if we have to carry you, for
our party is too weak to be divided.

"And now, gentlemen, pray make the best use of your time. Rest
yourselves; and while you have the opportunity, put your arms in order,
and I recommend you to put new flints in your hammers. It is half the
battle to have your weapons in good order. We shall have the advantage of
the bushrangers there, for their muskets must be rusty and out of order."

We set ourselves about the work accordingly, and put our arms in good
condition, keeping a good look-out the while, but we were not molested.
At the end of two hours, one of the horsemen was despatched on the track
of the enemy, and after him another to keep the first in view, and to
communicate with the main body. The third wounded horse we feared would
be of little use, so he was turned loose in the bush, and his saddle and
bridle stowed away in the fork of a tree, and covered over with bark to
keep it dry. His rider's wound was a little stiffish, but he said he
should be all right if it came to a brush and he got warmed to the work.

Our party was divided as before. I had the direction of six men, and
Beresford of six more. The dismounted horseman made Beresford's party
amount to seven. Our leader, who was well mounted, made excursions of
observation on either side.

In this order we proceeded on the track of the bushrangers till the dusk
of the evening, when we made another halt. Planting sentinels around,
whom we relieved at stated times, we remained in this position till
midnight. We then resumed our march in Indian file, calculating that we
should reach the resting-place of the bushrangers at three or four
o'clock in the morning, at which time the slumber of sleepers is most
profound.

But we found that we had over-rated our powers of tracking; we had not
proceeded half a mile before we were brought to a stand-still; we had
lost the track, and in the obscurity of the night we found it impossible
to recover it. We remained, therefore, where we were, afraid to light a
fire lest we should reveal our position. We made cautious excursions to
the right and left, in the hope of discovering our enemies from the light
of their fire; but we could see nothing, and the night passed away in one
of the most disagreeable bivouacs I ever witnessed. We contrived the best
supper that we could in the dark, and those who could, got some sleep.

At the first dawn of light we were up and stirring, but it was a good
half-hour before we could recover the lost track. The morning was hazy
and raw, and we all felt that it was anything but a pleasurable
expedition that we were engaged in. I have often admired how much
difference a good night's rest and a good supper make on the capabilities
of a man; it is in vain that enthusiasm lends its aid to support us in
arduous undertakings; man, after all, depends much on his physical
condition, and the old proverb of an English soldier being in the best
fighting condition after a good dinner I have had frequent opportunities
to test the truth of.

On we went, with very long faces and very blue noses, for about three
miles, when we came to a brook about twenty feet wide and not very deep,
to the border of which our track led. The walk, or rather the trot, had
warmed us up a bit, and, without any hesitation, we all dashed into it.
It was nearly up to our middle, and the stream ran very strong, but we
crossed it merrily. Proceeding onwards, the track led us to the summit of
a green hill, at which point it appeared the bushrangers had taken a
sudden resolution, for the track now proceeded at a right angle from the
old one, and, after following it for a couple of miles, we found
ourselves on the bank of the Shannon River.

Here we were a little at fault, for the stream was too deep and too rapid
to be forded, and we were not sufficiently ingenious to construct an
extempore canoe from the bark of a tree, as the natives of New South
Wales are accustomed to do. On the other side of the river, which was
about sixty yards wide, was a stock-keeper's hut, which looked as if it
had been abandoned, so desolate and wretched was its appearance.

The tracks on our side of the river were quite fresh, and it was evident
that a body of men had recently crossed at the spot where we stood. Our
leader despatched the two constables to the right and left to make
discoveries; but they returned after the lapse of an hour with the report
that they could find no means of crossing the river, and that they had
discovered no track.

After similar explorations on all sides, we were compelled to come to the
conclusion that they had crossed the river at the point where we were
standing, but how they had done it was the puzzle. There was no sign of
any living creature on the opposite bank, and the stock-hut, from its
roofless condition, and the general aspect of things about it, seemed to
have been long since abandoned. It was in vain that we held a council of
war; no one could help us out of our difficulty; there was the deep river
between us and our enemy, and there we might stay for ever if we waited
till it had done flowing.

"Let us cross the river higher up," said one, "till we come to a place
that is fordable."

"Lord bless you," said one of the constables, "you will find no ford on
the Shannon. It's the most rumbustious river in the whole colony, and
always goes ramping and roaring along as if it was in the most terrible
hurry in the world to get over the ground. It's quite a spec to cross it
on horseback, unless your horse is a real good one, and in the dry
season. But what do I see there? Look! Don't you see a little sort of a
punt behind those sedges? It is a punt! Depend upon it the bushrangers
crossed by that thing."

We all gazed anxiously, and sure enough there was a something about six
feet long, and how wide we could not tell, which looked like an
outlandish washing-tub set to soak, and which might, by a vivid stretch
of the imagination, be likened to a punt.

"Well," said the magistrate, "we will not be stopped by the Shannon, or
by anything else, in doing what we have a mind to. The horse that I am on
will do anything that a horse can do, and I will make the attempt. Do
you, gentlemen, draw yourselves up so as to protect my crossing, in case
of enemies lying on the bank opposite, and I'll try what Diamond can do."

With that he was about to urge his horse into the water, when the
constable called out, "Stop, Sir, stop! You don't understand the strength
of the stream, or you would not attempt to cross straight over. You must
go up a hundred yards or so, and you will find the force of the current
will not allow you to land on the other side nearer than the point
opposite. Better say a hundred and fifty yards up, and pray take care to
keep your horse's head well up the stream, or you will be turned over
in no time."

"Thank you," said the magistrate, "for your counsel. I always listen to
the advice of old hands."

Taking the stream at about a hundred and fifty yards to the right, he
plunged in, taking a little leap from the bank. He went under water as
high as his waist, but it was only for a moment, for as he leaped his
horse against the stream, the force of the current, aided by the
exertions of the horse in an opposite direction, buoyed him up directly.
He had taken the precaution of holding his fowling-piece in his hand
above his head, so that his weapon escaped damage.

The action and struggle of the horse, guided by a practised hand, were
beautiful. The rampant stream swept on with a sort of fury, as if
ravenous for the prey upon its bosom, but our young leader, as cool as if
he was on the high road, with his fowling-pieee raised high out of the
reach of the spray of the waters, held on his course, undismayed by the
rushing waters.

It was a short course and a dangerous one, for the utmost efforts of the
noble and powerful animal whose energies were called forth to battle the
impetuous current of the famed Shannon River were barely sufficient to
enable him to reach the landing-place. But he did reach it, and our
breathless suspense was allayed by a success which, during its progress,
seemed all but impossible.

He waved his gun to us when he was safe, and we replied by a cheer,
forgetting our habitual caution, and the necessity of silence in a bush
expedition. We then observed him to ascend the bank, and approach the
ruined hut. Some argument that he made use of was irresistible, for
presently, to our great surprise, we saw a man emerge from the building
in the usual habiliments of a sojourner in the bush, that is, a kangaroo
jacket.

This detected individual proceeded with some alacrity, partly prompted by
his desire to assist his fellow-creatures in crossing the stream, and
partly, I suspected, by the persuasive influence of the magistrate's gun,
which I observed to be most pertinaciously pointed at the head of this
inhabitant of the Shannon, to the place where the washing-tub punt was
moored under the bank. Something that the magistrate said to him seemed
to have the effect of making him redouble his exertions.

Having taken his place in the punt, he proceeded to creep up the bank,
sometimes propelling his frail boat by a sort of oar, and sometimes
catching hold over the shrubs and inequalities of the bank. Having
obtained the requisite distance to enable him to shoot the passage, he
used his paddles with the most commendable vivacity, stimulated, perhaps,
by the sight of a tolerable number of gun-barrels ready to inflict
instant punishment on any vacillation or treachery, and quickly came to
land a little above the spot where we were standing. When we saw this
nondescript species of craft, we were amazed at any one trusting himself
to such a speculative attempt at navigation. We looked at the punt, and
we looked at one another, but no one offered to take his seat in this
novel addition to the transport service.

"Now, Worrall," said one of the constables to the other, "you're the man
to set the example. Didn't you cross the Derwent once in a bark canoe
when you were----"

"Hold your tongue," said Worrall; "if I was a fool once, it's no reason
why I should be a fool again. Get into it yourself with your fat carcase,
and then perhaps there will be one rogue less in the world."

"Not cross in my punt!" said the Columbus of Van Diemen's Land, "why
there's no danger at all. There was a stock-keeper last week who crossed,
that is, who would have crossed if he had not been so obstinate. He would
lift up his head as he was lying at the bottom of the punt, and of course
it upset, and I got a wetting, and was very near losing my punt. But it
was his own fault that he was drowned. Now, misters, who comes first?"

No one seemed at all inclined to "come first," and there were whisperings
about wives and families, and the first duty of a man, and such like.
Meanwhile the magistrate, on the other side, was making earnest gestures
for us to join him, and I felt that it was necessary for some one to take
a decisive part, and I stepped forward with the intention of making the
first trial. But the gallant young Beresford anticipated me, and, without
saying a word, he placed himself in the punt, and the man of the river
pursuing the same process of crawling up the side of the stream by which
he had reached us, landed him safely on the other side. This put us all
on our mettle, and it was not who should shrink from the risk, but who
should go first, that was now the question. I have often thought since of
the hazard of this crossing, and wondered how we escaped; but so it was;
we all crossed over in safety, and leaving a couple of sentinels on the
outside, we all entered the hut.

We were wet, and cold, and tired. The sight of glowing embers therefore
on the hearth was very cheering. We quickly provoked the fire to a blaze,
and enjoyed the warmth with unusual satisfaction. There was a tripod on
the fire, in which we immediately made tea for the party, for tea is
always cherished as the grand restorer of fatigue in bush excursions;
spirit heats and debilitates, but tea refreshes and strengthens; such is
the experience of all in Van Diemen's Land. I don't know whether porter
or ale might not do as well, or better; but porter and ale are not to be
found in the bush, and they are commodities too bulky to be carried about
with you; so that the universal ingredient is tea; and a rough-looking
stock keeper, in appearance something between a bear and a badger, talks
of his tea with the same gusto as an old woman at a Scotch christening.
With tea, then, we made our bush breakfast, and as we were all
particularly well pleased with our own courage in crossing the river, we
were in high spirits.

We endeavoured to ascertain from the occupant of the hut something of the
condition and probable route of the bushrangers, but this ambiguous
individual protested most vehemently that he had seen nothing of them,
and that how the marks of the footsteps came which we pointed out to him
surpassed his comprehension!

We knew that this was a lie, and some of us were strongly inclined to
shoot him on the spot, to prevent his giving information about us; but
the magistrate prevailed on us to postpone this summary mode of execution
till we came back, observing that shooting was too good for him, and that
he would certainly come to be hanged without our taking the trouble to
interfere in expediting so desirable a consummation. Having refreshed
ourselves and dried our clothes, and having carefully examined our locks
and ammunition, we proceeded gaily on the track of the enemy.



CHAPTER XV.

ARRIVAL AT THE GREAT LAKE--BUSHRANGERS AT BAY--THE FIGHT--SIMULTANEOUS
ATTACK OF THE NATIVES--MATTERS REMAIN IN SUSPENSE--THORNLEY LOOKS OUT FOR
A KANGAROO FOR SUPPER.

WE followed the track, but we could not come up with the bushrangers. We
kept on for about twenty miles over a rough and difficult country,
crossing the big river by a ford, till we came to the foot of a tier of
hills too steep for a fatigued party to encounter. Here we made a halt
for the night. The next morning we continued the pursuit. When we reached
the top of the tier we beheld in the bottom before us the wide and
beautiful lake then known by the name of Arthur's Lake.

The scene was beautiful beyond description. The morning broke clear and
bright, and the sharp mountain air was exhilarating and exciting. Behind
us was a romantic country of undulating hill and dale, and before us were
the tranquil waters of the great lake. We were all struck with the
impressive character of the scene, and for some minutes we were silent.

"How beautiful and quiet the lake looks," said our leader, "with the
morning sun lighting it up; it seems a pity to disturb such a place with
sounds and acts of blood and battle, but I have a notion that we shall
hem in the bushrangers on the borders of that lake, and then, when we
bring them to bay, we may prepare for a desperate struggle. Now,
gentlemen, if you have satisfied your love for the picturesque, we will
move on."

As well as we could calculate, we were about four miles from the margin
of the lake, and we proceeded at a tolerably rapid pace, following the
track of the bushrangers till we came to its banks. Here, it seems, they
had come to a halt, and were doubtful how to proceed; for the shore was
much trampled by men walking to and fro. We did not stop long, for,
observing that the track led to the left, we followed it. It seemed that
the bushrangers were undetermined how to proceed, for they followed the
winding of the margin of the lake for some distance, when suddenly
quitting that course, their track led direct to a point of the lake where
some cedar-trees grew on a tongue of land stretching into the lake about
a quarter of a mile.

As we proceeded, we observed a smoke to arise from the extremity of this
point, which we had no doubt was the fire of the bushrangers. After our
long and toilsome pursuit, we hailed this indicator of the refuge of the
bushrangers with joy and satisfaction, although with a secret
consciousness that the end was not to be attained without a sharp and
desperate struggle. At the entrance of this little peninsula we halted,
and our leader, assuming the air of one on whom rested a serious
responsibility, urged on us the importance of discipline, and the
necessity of attending strictly to orders in the coming conflict.

"My friends," said he, "we are about to engage with men whom we are
driving to desperation. If that fire, as I believe it does, indicates the
presence of the bushrangers, you will observe that our approach will hem
them in, and that they will have no means of escape but by our
destruction. Are you resolved and ready?"

"Resolved and ready!" said Beresford, who had recovered all his energy,
although looking a little pale from the effects of his wound; "do you
think that we have come thus far to shrink back when the decisive moment
is come? What would any one of us feel if he was in the hands of the
bushrangers, and saw his friends and neighbours sneaking off when it came
to real blows, and afraid to go on with the enterprise they had begun? I,
for one, am ready for the worst; I have been hit once, but I have no mind
to duck my head for all that."

"We are all ready and resolved," we said, "do you lead us, and, depend on
it, you may trust to us as if we were drilled soldiers."

"Then," said he, "let us lose no time, but endeavour to surprise them in
their lurking-place. I think they don't suspect they are followed, or
they never would have chosen a ground from which they have no retreat."

"Or, perhaps," said one, "they are confident in their strength."

"It may be so. At any rate it behoves us to use the utmost caution and
address in our advance. And now, let us move on."

We advanced accordingly, with that sort of tremulousness produced by
excitement, not fear, which is apt to pervade those on the eve of a
dangerous exploit. But our hope of surprise was soon shown to be in vain,
for we had not proceeded more than two or three hundred yards, when a
shot from behind a tree warned us that our approach was discovered. This
did not stop our advance, however, and rapidly ascending a green knoll,
we beheld before us the party of bushrangers in battle array. We levelled
our pieces, but the voice of our leader arrested our impetuosity.

"Stop," said he; "that is not according to promise. You must not fire
without the word."

"The bushrangers will not wait for the word," said one of us, for at that
moment they fired a volley at us. Again, my poor young friend Beresford
had the misfortune to be hit. He dropped to the ground. Quitting my
party, I ran to him; he was bleeding fast. Several slugs had struck him
on his right side; he was in great pain, and almost fainting from loss of
blood, for the jagged shot made from split bullets had torn him sadly.
Without losing a moment in asking questions, I contrived to drag him
behind the dead trunk of a tree which was lying close to us. Our leader
lost no time neither. In an instant he formed our little party in the
position most advantageous to it, by moving us a little to the right.

Our enemies had not had time to load again; but they were busy about it,
and as they stood in a position slanting from us, the six shots fired
promptly, but coolly, confused them not a little; it stopped the loading
of more than one musket, and before they could recover themselves my
party of seven put in a deliberate fire, for we were all used to the
bush, and were not at all flurried. We now observed three of their men to
drop; but two got up again, one remaining on the ground, apparently shot
dead. In the meantime, Beresford's party were ready to fire again, and
almost at the same time about a dozen shots came from the bushrangers;
but not one struck us; but one ball struck the hollow trunk of the tree
behind which Beresford was lying, and was stopped by his body.

The bushrangers were now ranged in a line opposite to us, and we counted
thirty-one, three having fallen. Several of those, however, who were
standing in line were disabled, for one or two were stamping and writhing
with pain, and we saw one man with a fowling-piece in his left hand, and
with his right arm hanging down, and seemingly rendered useless by a
shot. There was one man among the bushrangers whom we could not help
noticing and admiring. He was one of the finest men I ever saw. Tall,
broad shouldered, and muscular, his whole form denoted great strength,
combined with great activity. He stood a little in advance of his party,
as cool as a cucumber, and quite regardless of the shots that flew about
him. As the two parties were not above a hundred yards distant from each
other, we occasionally heard his voice encouraging his men.

"Fire away, my hearties," he cried out, while he was reloading his musket
with all diligence,--"fire away; better die by a musket-ball than a
rope."

With that I saw him deliberately examine the pan of his piece. He was not
quite satisfied with its appearance, for he paused for a moment, as if in
search of something. Stooping down to the ground, he picked up a little
twig or stiff straw, and coolly cleared the touchhole of its obstruction.
He then primed the pan quickly, but without hurry, from his powder-horn,
and putting his musket to his shoulder, pointed it here and there among
us, as if seeking for the best mark. He was not long in finding one. The
magistrate, who was on horseback, formed a conspicuous object. The other
two on horseback were behind us among some trees, to guard against a
surprise from the natives. I saw the bushranger take a quick and steady
aim, and immediately after, a cry from our leader made me fear that the
shot had taken effect. It was certainly a capital shot; it went through
his hat, and knocked it off.

"Everybody seems to have a spite against my hat," said the magistrate;
"the natives sent a spear through it the other day, and now these rascals
have put a bullet through it. Any more of this fun will spoil my best
hat. Keep up your fire," said he, to me and my party. "This bit of a
scrimmage is no joke, gentlemen. Fire coolly, and take aim at a
particular man. They are double our numbers, but we have the advantage of
position. Who is that man in front? There he is, going to fire again;--he
has fired, and one of you is down. This is a bad job," said he to the
wounded man, "but we can't help it. But what do I see behind us? The
natives! By George! they are on us! Look out for the spears! and keep
steady, for God's sake.--Now we are fighting for our lives indeed. Keep
steady and fire quick. Keep it up--keep it up! Show a firm front, and I
with the other two horses will make a rush at them."

We heard the natives at our back uttering loud cries and screams, and
inciting one another to close with us. I had enough to do to attend to my
own work, for we were almost tired with loading and firing, and another
shot from the bushrangers tore open the left arm of one of our party.

The yells of the natives now became louder and fiercer, and the fire of
the bushrangers became quicker, and I thought I observed symptoms of an
intention to make a rush at us simultaneously with the advance of the
natives.

Spears now fell thick among us, and I thought a crisis had come which
would settle the fight without any more long shots, when suddenly I saw
our leader with the two other horsemen dash in among the natives, and
slash away with their swords. They had served in the yeomanry in England,
and understood the use of the broad sword well, and every cut told on the
naked bodies of the natives. The waddies were of no use against the
broad-swords of horsemen, and their slight spears were not strong enough
to serve as pikes, so that they were completely at the mercy of the
sabres.

If it had been among trees, the horsemen would have stood no chance
against such a body of natives; they would have been riddled like sieves
by their spears, without being able to get a cut at them; but in the
plain the horsemen had all the advantage, for the natives were afraid of
the horses as much as of the riders, and finding themselves unexpectedly
assailed in that fashion, they were for a little while panic-struck, and
incapable of resistance. They soon found the use of their legs, however,
and they scampered off like deer across the little plain towards the
entrance of the peninsula. The horsemen followed them for some distance,
and then returned towards us. In the meanwhile a brisk fire was kept up
on both sides.

We had at this time seven of our men disabled, and about thirteen of the
bushrangers were in the same condition. But this increased the odds
against us; for we were now only six, and with our three friends on
horseback nine, against twenty-one. But we had the advantage of position,
and we had got rid of the natives; but the hazard seemed desperate.

I now observed the magistrate with his two companions to the left of the
bushrangers. They had sheathed their swords, and unslung the
double-barrel fowling-pieces which they carried at their backs. All this
did not take long in occurrence, though it requires many words to relate.
They immediately fired at the bushrangers and hit two of them. This move
evidently puzzled the enemy; but their leader soon formed his party to
meet it. Some of them faced about and fired, and one of the horses was
hit, as I observed by its plunging about.

The fire of the horsemen, however, sensibly relieved us from the shots of
the enemy, and our little party of six now redoubled their fire, and the
bushrangers began to waver and show signs of unsteadiness. It was plain
that their weapons were not in the same state of efficiency as ours, for
although they all had pieces of some description, their fire was slack
and infrequent, while every one of our barrels told; besides, we were all
accustomed to the use of fire-arms, which most of the bushrangers were
not. I am inclined to think, too, that they were fearful of expending all
their ammunition, which they would have a difficulty in replacing.

This and other reasons combining caused them to slacken their fire. Their
fire-arms, too, for want of proper cleaning, and from the damp of the
bush, became every minute more and more unserviceable, and all the while
we were pelting them with our shots, sheltered by the trees behind which
we fought.

Once I thought they had fully made up their minds to a rush, and the
result might have been fatal to us. They gathered themselves up in a
compact body, and the leader led them about fifty paces towards us at a
running pace, but at this distance our volley told fearfully. We fired
plump into the midst of them, at about fifty yards' distance, while the
horsemen gave them the contents of three barrels on their left.

This was enough for them. Five fell--two got up again, and three remained
on the ground. They now broke, and ran away over the little plain. Their
leader was the last to run. He turned round, and levelling his musket,
gave us a parting shot. This was the only shot that came close to me, to
my knowledge, during this bloody fight. The ball struck the left-hand
side of the tree behind which I was standing loading my piece; it knocked
off the end of my ramrod, which in the act of ramming projected of course
beyond the trunk of the tree. I thought it an odd shot, but I was too
satisfied that it did not knock off me to make any remark about it at
that time.

I thought the horsemen would have pursued the bushrangers as they were
running off, but, contrary to my expectation, they galloped towards us.

"Keep where you are gentlemen," said our leader. "Don't let the
bushrangers see how we are reduced in number. On the plain they would be
more than a match for us, and they might turn and defeat us. We must be
content with what we have done, and think ourselves well off. And now for
our wounded friends: where is the surgeon?"

"He was one of the first of us that was hit; he is lying on the other
side of that mimosa tree."

"That's unlucky; but we must do the best we can. Let us see--how many of
us remain fit for service?"

Six of us stood forward.

"Here are six, and that with myself and my two companions on horseback,
makes nine, out of eighteen. A melancholy deficit. But with our small
numbers it would be madness to force a close conflict with desperate men.
We must take counsel what to do. In the meantime let us show a bold
front. I did not expect, I must confess, that the bushrangers would fight
so well; but they are desperate, and they feel that their alternative is
a halter."

We all thought that our situation, with the bushrangers in superior
numbers on one side, and with the natives on the other, was desperate
indeed. We felt as doomed men; but, unwilling to give up our lives
without a struggle, and retreat being now as dangerous as to stand where
we were--to say nothing of the impossibility of our forsaking our wounded
companions--we determined to sell our lives as dearly as possible. We
therefore drew ourselves up in three parties of two each, posted behind
the trees.

In this position we stood for about half an hour without any signs of
further attempts from the bushrangers; they had ceased firing and so had
we; and presently afterwards they retired behind a green ridge about a
hundred yards behind them, close to the water's edge.

During the fight we had seen nothing of our friend whom the bushrangers
had taken with them from the Clyde, and, to tell the truth, in the urgent
necessity of defeating them and of defending our own lives, we had almost
forgotten that his rescue was a principal reason for our pursuit of the
bushrangers. The horsemen now did good service; they served as patroles
to guard our little party from surprise to the right and left, and one of
them made occasional excursions to the rear to look after the natives,
but it seemed they had had enough of it for the present.

Relieved from the apprehension of an immediate attack, we now turned our
attention to the wounded. They had contrived to drag themselves behind
the big hollow log of the tree where I had placed poor Beresford, and we
were relieved to find them all still living.

The course of the conflict had drawn us more to the right, and in the
excitement and the noise of the firing we had not been able to pay
attention to those who were hit; it was as much as we could do to defend
ourselves from being massacred by the numbers against us. It was an
agreeable surprise to us, therefore, to find the surgeon, with a bloody
handkerchief tied round his head, as busy as possible with his patients.
During his sojourn in the colony, and indeed in the whole course of his
life, he had never, he said, had such a favourable opportunity of gaining
experience in gun-shot wounds.

I could not help thinking, notwithstanding our distress and peril, and
the ghastly faces of the wounded, that his professional gratification at
the sight of such a variety of lacerations acted like a charm on his own
wound. Planting the two horsemen and two on foot as sentinels, we bent
all our attention to the care of our suffering companions.

There was plenty of water at no great distance; we fetched some, and it
refreshed them greatly. The surgeon was sadly troubled, however, at the
prospect of passing the night in the open air, for there were three of
them in a bad way, and he feared the cold, frosty air of the Lakes, would
be too sharp for the sick, and we had doubts about the prudence of
lighting a fire. In this occupation the remainder of the day wore away,
when I saw our four dogs coming to us.

I was startled at first, for really I had never missed them, the fighting
and firing having put everything else out of my head. Hector came up to
me with a meaning air, as I thought, and I looked at his chops, and saw
that he had assisted in the killing of a kangaroo not long before; the
other dogs looked significantly about something, but they kept in the
rear of Hector, paying a sort of deference to his superior sagacity and
favour. It struck me that a kangaroo steamer, if we could venture to make
a fire to cook it, would be no bad thing in our present circumstances,
and it was agreed that I should go after it, if it did not lead me too
far.

"Take my horse," said the magistrate, "if you should fall in with the
natives, he will save you from a spearing, and I'll stay to help the
surgeon. He wants some splints, he says, for Worrall's arm, but there's
no surgical instrument maker with a shop hereabouts, I fancy."

"I have it," said the surgeon, "I have it; where's your axe?" said he, to
the other constable; "here, Tucker, chop me a strip of bark from this
tree. That's right; that's a capital piece. Here," said he, cutting some
longitudinal slips in it, "here's a beautiful cradle for a wounded arm!
This is another wrinkle for me! I never thought, when I was serving my
time in Aberdeen, that I should have to invent splints from the bark of a
gum-tree in Van Diemen's Land! Now, my man, it's almost worth while to
get one's arm shattered a bit, to have it done up so nicely; that's it;
don't wince, man; stop, give me a pocket-handkerchief, one of you, or
something; there--that will make a nice soft bed for it. A little water
do you want?"

"Couldn't you put a little brandy in it?"

"No--no brandy; inflammation, you know, and all that. And now for the
others. Well, to be sure, I have enough to do with you all. Where have
you been hurt?" said he, "Mr. Nicholls?"

"Here, on the right side. I feel very faint."

"I see; but we must get out the ball; it isn't deep in. How to do it,
though--that is the question--for I have not got the tools with me."

"I've got a cork-screw," said Worrall.

"A cork-screw! Why, I never did hear of balls being extracted by a
cork-screw; but----"

Nicholls groaned.

Seeing that I could be of no use in this difficulty, and thinking that
the meat would be a help to us, I slung my fowling-piece behind me, and
throwing the horse's bridle over my arm, I set off in search of the
kangaroo. I first did all that it was possible for me to do for my young
friend Beresford. His left arm had been shattered by a ball, and he was
suffering the most excruciating pain. The surgeon, who was much attached
to him, but who, under the present circumstances, made no distinction,
helping those first who most wanted assistance, now took Beresford's case
in hand, and our mutual friend the magistrate gave him all the aid he
could think of.



CHAPTER XVI.

HECTOR POINTS AT UNEXPECTED GAME--THORNLEY MEETS WITH A PARTY OF
SOLDIERS--HIS JOY THEREAT--HIS DIS APPOINTMENT THEREON--HIS LAMENTABLE
PREDICAMENT--HIS FORTUNATE ESCAPE FROM A PISTOL-BULLET--HIS RELEASE--A
LETTER FROM HIS WIFE--THE BUSHRANGERS ESCAPE TO AN ISLAND IN THE
LAKE--MELANCHOLY NEWS FROM THE CLYDE--THORNLEY RESOLVES TO RETURN HOME.

THE day was drawing to a close; I judged there was a good hour and a
half's daylight. I saw there was something in Hector's manner more than
usual but I set it down to the recent scrimmage with the natives, and the
firing. I bid him "Go show!" He trotted on, and at about half a mile's
distance he brought me to the dead kangaroo, lying not far from the lake.
I did not wait to cut it up, but threw it as it was across the saddle,
and was about to return to my friends, but Hector exhibited a strange
unwillingness to go back, and ran on a little way in the direction from
which we had come from the Clyde.

Being well acquainted with his ways, and knowing the wonderful instinct
of the dog, I was uneasy, my mind being full of the fear of natives being
at hand. But the signs he gave were not the signs of natives; they meant
something else. The bushrangers, I knew, were behind me, and that they
could not pass our little party without an alarm being given. "Well,"
thought I, "the dog knows something that he seems to think I ought to
know too. I'll follow him a little way at any rate;" so I threw down the
kangaroo from the horse, and mounted.

Hector seemed pleased at this, and knowing that I could keep up with him
on horseback, he cantered off at a pretty good pace, keeping the track by
which we had reached the lake. When we had gone about a mile, I stopped;
but Hector still showed a great anxiety to proceed. "Well, Hector," said
I, "I'll trust you, but I can't understand what you are at; if it is to
go home that you're trying for, that won't do." The other three dogs had
staid by the kangaroo, which I had thrown on the ground, so that I was
alone with Hector.

We had proceeded in this way about three miles, and I was beginning to
think I had gone far enough, when Hector suddenly stopped, and assumed
the attitude of pointing at game. "What's in the wind now," thought I!
"Is it an emu that the dog has been bringing me to? It's worth a shot,
however, for the sake of the fat; but I must be wary!" I got off my
horse, which I tied to a tree, and advanced stealthily in the direction
to which Hector pointed. I had not proceeded more than twenty steps,
when, to my surprise, and I must confess, exceeding fear, a quick sharp
voice cried out--

"Who goes there?"

"More bushrangers," thought I; "now I'm in for it!"

"Who goes there?" repeated the voice, and I heard the well-known click of
the cocking of a musket; it came from the direction of a thicket close
by. I looked and saw the muzzle of a musket projecting just beyond the
leaves. I was in a terrible fright.

"A friend," said I, in a hurry.

"Stand, friend; if you move, I fire!"

"I'm done!" thought I; "it's all over! I shall be made a target of by
these rascals, and there's the lake handy by to throw me into
afterwards!"

As these horrible thoughts crossed me, I heard the peculiar sound of the
shouldering of arms together by drilled soldiers, and immediately
afterwards a sergeant's party showed themselves in line to the left of
the thicket.

"Hurrah!" said I, jumping about in delight; "well done, Hector!"

"Hurrah! What the devil is the man hurrahing about?" said the sergeant.
"I've a notion, my friend, that the next caper you cut will be from a
tight rope. Secure him! Present! There, you see, resistance is of no use.
The rascal has got a beautiful fowling-piece with him, stolen, of course,
from some unfortunate settler."

"What the devil are you about?" said I; "you're mistaken."

"No mistake at all. There, tie his arms behind his back--a little
tighter. Two file, present at him. Now, my friend, lead us on to where
your other blackguards are nestling, or by----, you shall have a couple of
the most beautiful balls through your rascally body that ever were cast
by the king's commissioners. Lead on--I say! you won't! Fix your
bayonets, and touch him up behind. Ah, that makes him move!"

"Holloa!" said I, "none of that fun, I'm not a bushranger, I'm after them
myself. I'm a gentleman!"

The laugh that the soldiers set up at this assumption of dignity made the
woods ring again.

"A gentleman! a beautiful gentleman you are, ar'n't you? It's a pity you
hav'n't got a glass, to see how a gentleman looks when he has taken to
bushranging!"

It struck me then for the first time, that my appearance might well lead
the soldiers wrong as to the personal consideration which was due to my
standing in the colony. I had on my bush dress, which was dirtied and
stained with travel, and my hands, face, and clothes were smeared with
the blood of my wounded companions, whom I had recently been assisting.
In addition to these unfavourable indications, my beard was of three
days' growth, so that it may be easily imagined that I presented a
capital likeness of a hunted bushranger to the eyes of the soldiers.

I might have laughed at my ludicrous position if it had not been so
dangerous, for the two soldiers behind me, with cocked muskets and fixed
bayonets, which seemed to have been sharpened up for my especial
accommodation, kept their fingers, as I observed, and I shuddered at the
sight, on their triggers, ready to treat me with the contents of their
barrels at the least sign from their commander; and soldiers, I well
knew, were not very particular about shooting a bushranger in the bush,
and taken, as the lawyers say, in flagrante delicto. I was in a cold
sweat, and my excessive perturbation was visible to the men.

"Look at the sneaking hound," said the sergeant; "what a desperate funk
the coward is in just at the chance of being shot! Be steady, my men,
don't shoot him if you can help it. Now, my beauty, use your stumps."

"I'll take you," said I, with a sort of desperate eagerness, "to where
you will find the bushrangers----and----"

"Oh--you will, will you? You're a nice fellow for a bushranger! A pretty
blackguard you to betray your comrades!"

"I don't betray anybody," said I. "I----"

"Hold your jaw," said the sergeant, "and get on, or you shall have
another spur from behind; and take care you don't think of betraying us,
or you'll regret it as long as you live, though that wouldn't be long,
you may depend on it. And--hold your jaw," again said he, seeing I wanted
to speak "lead us to your comrades in silence; we don't want you to give
'em notice of our coming by your blackguard and treacherous tongue."

Compelled thus to be silent, with my arms tied behind my back, if I had
been inclined to philosophize, I might have mused on the instability of
human affairs; but my contemplations were interrupted by the sight of my
horse with his bridle hooked over the branch of a tree.

"O ho!" cried out my tormentor, "bushrangers ride a-horseback now-adays,
do they? The Clyde magistrate's horse, by George! You infernal rascal!
you've shot the magistrate, that's clear, and here's his gun that you
stole. Don't speak; we want none of your lies. Williams, lead the horse.
Oh! the villain, to shoot a magistrate! A bushranger to shoot a
MAGISTRATE!! That deserves double hanging! Now don't attempt to give us
any of your jaw, or we'll gag you in no time. Prick him up behind if he
speaks. A murdering bushranger is not going to come over us, at any
rate."

"A pretty situation," thought I, "for an old Surrey farmer and
middle-aged gentleman to be in! After I have escaped being shot by the
bushrangers, it seems that I am now more likely to be summarily executed
by a sergeant's party of soldiers! Well; this is the last time that I
will ever go a-hunting of bushrangers--that's certain."

All this I said to myself, for the terrible sergeant had his eye on me,
and I feared that if I opened my lips I might have a couple of balls
through my body, to say nothing of the points of the bayonets, the smart
of whose application was uncommonly disagreeable.

In this trim we marched on. I looked round for Hector, but he had
disappeared. After a three miles' march, we came to the dead kangaroo,
which the dogs, for some reason, had abandoned.

"Here's their dinner," said the sergeant, "and a very pretty piece of
venison it is. We are right on the track, I see; there it leads. We are
not far from the rascals now, I'm thinking. What says our honest friend
here? He nods his head. He's wise. (Here I rubbed myself against a tree
at the place where I felt the smart of the bayonet.) Oh,--I see, he knows
how to take a hint. Now for the kangaroo. Johnson, you're a clever chap
with your knife. Just divide him at the loins here."

"How shall we carry him?" said one.

"Put it on the horse, to be sure," said one of the soldiers.

"On the horse!" said the sergeant; "no, you would not dirty the
magistrate's saddle that way. But--eh! it is dirty already, and with
blood, too! That's the poor magistrate's blood! Oh, you murdering
villains,--won't you catch it for this? Here--stick the kangaroo on his
shoulders, and let him carry it for us. Not a word! Let him feel the
point of your bayonet, Steadman--that's enough! Why, it makes him dance
with the kangaroo on his shoulders. Now for it--move on, my men, and keep
awake--there's mischief near, by this blackguard's looks, I'm thinking."

I was straining my eyes to endeavour to discover some sign of friendly
help to release me from my very disagreeable situation, and it was my
gaze that attracted the attention of the vigilant sub-officer. But it was
now getting dark, and I could distinguish nothing but the dim and thick
foliage of the cedar-trees, and the wide and cold-looking expanse of the
dreary lake. The sergeant took the lead on the track by which I, with my
companions, in the morning, had followed the bushrangers to their retreat,
and we presently entered the neck of land at the extremity of which we
had hemmed them in.

"A likely place for a nest of vipers to lurk in," said the talkative
sergeant, in a low voice; "but what do I see there? Halt! Steadman, take
two file, and examine that odd-looking lump there."

Steadman departed, and reported in military style,--

"It's a dead native; he's been slashed all to pieces with broadswords.
He's quite warm, and seems only just dead."

"Broadswords! natives! oh, the cruel villains, they have been killing the
natives to boil them down for their fat to make bush-candles! What a
horrid set! But now, silence! no more talking; let no man speak a word.
We can't be far off from the villains, for this neck of land doesn't
stretch above a quarter of a mile into the lake; so now, my men, be
awake, for we shall have a brush presently. Now, my friend with the
kangaroo, we will take the liberty to gag you; we can't have our precious
lives put in jeopardy by your treachery. Open your mouth, you blackguard,
or I'll wrench it open with the end of my firelock. There, now you're
quite comfortable--so move on."

We moved on accordingly, leaving the horse tied to a tree, in silence,
and in Indian file, the wary old sergeant using every art to surprise
without being surprised. It was nearly dark, so that we came on one of
our horsemen who was standing sentinel without his perceiving us', so
silent and cautious were our movements. At the sight of him, at not many
yards' distance, we halted; but the sentinel's horse was aware of our
approach before the less acute senses of his master had distinguished us.
He snorted and betrayed our advance. The horseman immediately fired one
of his pistols at us, and galloped off to give the alarm.

The hind-quarters of the kangaroo on my shoulder, being the most
conspicuous object of the party, attracted the attention, I presume, of
the horseman, for the pistol-shot struck one of the thigh-bones of the
animal, and the legs being tied tight to my person, the shock knocked me
and my burthen down.

"There's a shot that has robbed the gallows," said the sergeant. "Don't
be in a hurry, my men; take it coolly."

They had not advanced many paces, however, before they were confronted by
the magistrate, with all our party who could act. I could just
distinguish them as I lay on the ground, in an attitude of preparation
for mutual attack. The steady discipline, however, of the military, and
their habitual coolness in danger, saved both parties from a murderous
discharge.

"We are a party of soldiers," said the sergeant, "and we are too strong
for you. You had better surrender, and trust to the governor's mercy."

"Hurrah!" cried out the supposed bushrangers.

"Hurrah!" said the cool old sergeant, almost inclined to be offended at
this apparent insult to his dignity. "Hurrah! You're very fond of
hurrahing, my fine fellows. The first thing that other chap that one of
you has just shot said was hurrah! but I'm thinking----"

"It's all right," said a voice I was glad to hear--"we are friends!"

"The magistrate of the Clyde! Well, I'm glad you are safe, but I hoped
you were bushrangers. The Lord forgive me, I hope I have not made a
mistake with the other man."

"What man? what do you mean?"

"Why, we got hold of a terribly ill-looking chap, I must say--one of the
most ferociousest looking bushrangers I ever set eyes on; and we were
bringing him along with us, when your sentinel, I suppose he was, fired
off his piece and shot him. But I hope there's no harm done."

"It's Thornley, I'll be bound," said the magistrate; "where is he?"

"Oh--he's not far off."

My friends immediately came to seek me in a body. It was some little time
before they could pitch upon the spot where I lay, for being gagged, I
was not able to respond to their inquiries. At last, however, they found
me, and as it was dark, in a seemingly desperate plight. Wet with the
blood of the kangaroo, which was bound tight to me, and with my arms tied
behind my back, and gagged, the only signs of life that I gave was by low
and hollow groans.

"He is almost gone, poor fellow," said my friends; "but let us release
him from his bonds."

They untied my arms, and loosened the fastening of the kangaroo, and
feeling about my face, they discovered that I was gagged. I was quickly
relieved from this stopper; and the first thing, I remember, that I said,
was, "Take care of the kangaroo; it's the finest haunch I ever saw, and
we shall want it for supper."

"Well," said the magistrate, "you can't be very bad, after all, if you
are wanting your supper. Come, tell us all about it."

I told them how I was mistaken for a bushranger, not forgetting the hint
a posteriori which the soldiers had given me to hold my tongue; so that I
had not the opportunity of explaining the mistake. I believe that I
narrated this part of my mishap so ruefully, that it was impossible for
them to resist the temptation to laugh at the mingled danger and drollery
of my position, and then and there they set up such a burst of merriment
as must have startled and astonished the bushrangers if they were within
hearing. Being now confident in our strength, by this addition to our
numbers of the party of military, we lighted a fire and cooked the
kangaroo after the usual bush fashion.

"Thornley," the magistrate began to say "Thornley," said the
sergeant--"I've a letter for that gentleman. Sorry to be the bearer of
ill-news, Sir, but your house and farm have been burned down. But this
letter will tell you all. There is another for a gentleman of the name of
Beresford--here it is. Oh--sorry to see you've been hit, Sir; but it's
nothing when you are used to it. Here--let me hold this piece of lighted
wood near you, that you may see to read it."

Availing myself of the same light, I read, with an anguish which it would
be in vain for me to endeavour to express, the following letter:--

"DEAREST HUSBAND,--

"The sad misfortune that has befallen us, and the fright and cold of the
night, have so shaken me that I can scarcely write to you, and the
soldiers cannot wait long for my letter, as they are in a hurry to go
after the bushrangers. Thank God! there are no lives lost, but the house
is burned down to the ground, and almost everything that was in it. The
large wheat stack, they tell me, is burning now. How the fire began I do
not know. Dick let the horses out of the stable, so that they were saved,
but the saddles and all the harness are burned or spoiled.

"The cattle were got out of the stock-yard in time; but the home flock of
merinos is dispersed in the bush. The wind was very high, and,
unfortunately, the fire began at the further end, so that it embraced all
the buildings except the new barn. The large pile of sawed stuff and the
stock of firewood helped to do the mischief, for they caught fire early
and communicated it to the house. As to trying to put out the fire with
water from the pond, it was all useless. We longed for the London
fire-engines. Poor Lucy Moss was the first who gave the alarm; she was
awakened by the blaze of the wood-stack, and very soon afterwards the
house was in flames. The men did not like to go near it, as they were
frightened at the little keg of gunpowder that was brought up about a
fortnight ago. We are all housed at the old stock-hut by the creek, and
all our neighbours are very kind.

"It is now seven o'clock. A sergeant's party of soldiers has been sent by
the governor after these bushrangers. They saw our fire in the night, and
thought it was the bushrangers who had attacked us. They were out-lying
on the Den Hill, about five miles from us, but they hurried to the spot,
and gave us all the help they could, but help was useless against such a
fire; however, it saved a few things for us. I am terribly uneasy about
you, as we have heard nothing of you since you left to go in search of
Mr. Moss, and I am glad, indeed, that the soldiers are going on your
track. The sergeant seems a most determined fellow, but very
grim-looking; you will be glad enough when you find yourself among them.
They say that if they catch hold of a bushranger they will make short
work of him, for the bushrangers shot one of the soldiers at Pitt Water,
and the others are very much enraged at it.

"I hope to Heaven that you may get safe out of this affair, and let the
soldiers go on with it, for it is their business to go after bushrangers.
However, my hope is, that the soldiers may soon fall in with you, and
then I do not doubt you will feel safe and comfortable. William wants to
go with the soldiers to join you, but I have persuaded him to stay with
us, as he is of more use here.

"The old sergeant says he must go now. Farewell and Heaven protect you.
Pray try to come back directly, as there will be plenty of people to
fight with the bushrangers without you, when the soldiers join your
party. "Your affectionate and anxious,

"MARY THORNLEY."

While I read this disastrous intelligence by the light of the cedar-stick
which the sergeant held for the wounded Beresford's accommodation,
preparations were promptly made by the magistrate for a night attack on
the bushrangers, in order to take them by surprise before they could be
aware of the arrival of the soldiers.

What Beresford's letter contained I had no opportunity at that time of
knowing, although I observed he read it over, short as it was, very
earnestly two or three times, and then put it by very carefully. I was in
a manner stupified for awhile by the intelligence of my wife's letter,
and unknowing how to act. My first impulse was to hasten home
immediately, but that was more easily said than done, for I was upwards
of thirty miles from home, and the country was a desolate one to travel
through, and difficult to cross. Besides, there was reason to believe
that the natives were between our party and the settlements, and it was a
risk of too great danger to encounter them single-handed. While I was
hastily revolving these thoughts, the word was given for volunteers to
step forward for the night attack.

"We don't want any volunteers for this business," said the sergeant,
"you had better leave it to us, and stay where you are to take care of
your wounded men. We are enough without you, and I warrant, if we come on
the rascals, we'll give a good account of them."

"Ah! Mr. Sergeant," said the magistrate, "you want to have all the fun to
yourselves. But I think you are right this time. I think, gentlemen, we
had better stay where we are, and take care of our friends. I will go
with the soldiers, because the presence of a magistrate may be useful;
and do you, Worrall, come with me; you can act as a messenger, if you're
wanted."

They set out accordingly, and we remained by our fire, keeping strict
watch, however, and full of anxiety for the issue of the adventure. We
remained in suspense about a couple of hours, when Worrall returned and
reported that they could see no signs of the bushrangers. Presently
afterwards the soldiers came back, and the sergeant posted some of them
at intervals across the neck of land, so as to prevent the bushrangers
from stealing past us in the night.

"We need not be in a hurry," said the sergeant; "we have them safe, and
when the daylight comes, we can catch them like rats in a corner."

"A pent rat is a dangerous animal," said Beresford.

In this position we waited till daylight; when leaving the two horsemen
to act as sentinels for the wounded party, we all proceeded to the point
where we calculated the bushrangers would be found. In this expectation,
however, we were disappointed; we could see no traces of them. Pursuing
our search, we discovered footsteps at the water's edge, with the furrows
made by the dragging of pieces of dead timber from the bank to the water.
Some little bits of hide-rope were scattered here and there, as if
recently cut.

"Depend upon it," said the experienced Worrall, "they have been watching
us, and saw the arrival of the soldiers, and as a last shift they have
made a raft of the dead timber, and floated away to the little island of
snakes yonder. They could easily do it, for it is not above a quarter of
a mile over. Anything to escape hanging!"

"And how are we to follow them?" said the sergeant; "why they would pick
us off like cock a-toos a-roosting if we were to approach them that way!
But they must soon starve there for want of provisions. Well, we must
keep a sharp look-out, and see what's to be done. If we had a boat now,
we could venture it, though that would be a ticklish job."

"A boat!" said I, "why I know there's a boat hid somewhere hereabouts, by
a party who visited the lake last year. I remember they told me it was
hid at the end of a neck of land like this, on the left-hand side of the
lake."

"In that case," said the magistrate, "it is very likely to be found on
that peninsula that you can see about three miles off there; at any rate
we can look for it. But, Thornley, you are wanting to get home, I dare
say, and we can do without you now. Take my horse, if you like, and if you
think it safe to venture, which I must tell you, I doubt. But of course
you must be anxious to get home."

"There is not much of a home left for me," said I, "but I should like to
get to my family as quickly as possible, and if I can trust your horse I
will risk it, for I am not wanted here now."

"Oh, you may trust the horse; he will take the water like a duck--only
give him his head;--and you may fire from his back like an armchair; he
will stand as steady as a rock."

"Well, then," said I, "I'll go." So taking leave of my young friend,
Beresford, and bidding good-bye for the present to my companions, I left
them to continue their pursuit of the bushrangers, and set out on my way
home. It would have been well for me had I remained; but I little
anticipated the disasters and perils which beset me on this memorable
journey through a difficult and desolate country. The account of the six
days, however, during which I was lost in the bush, and the adventures
that befel me, must form the subject of another chapter.

END OF VOL. 1.




TALES OF THE COLONIES: Volume 2 etc.



CHAPTER I.

HE SETS OUT FOR THE CLYDE, TRIES TO MAKE A SHORT CUT, AND MISSES HIS
WAY--HE IS LOST IN THE BUSH.

IT was at the close of the month of May, the beginning of the winter
season in Van Diemen's Land, that I quitted my companions on the borders
of the Great Lake, and, full of sad and anxious thoughts, turned my
course towards home. I took care before starting to examine my
double-barrel fowling-piece minutely, as well as the holster pistols at
the saddle; with these four barrels and my broad sword, I considered
myself a match for any casual attack, as my object was to make the best
of my way home, and to avoid any encounter either with bushrangers or
natives. Besides, as the distance from the Clyde was not much more than
thirty miles, and my horse was good, I calculated, that although part of
the country was hilly and difficult, and that I had lost some hours of
the morning light before I set out, I could reach home before the end of
the night.

Hector, who had watched me very closely all the morning, and had seemed
particularly inquisitive as to what I was about, of course accompanied
me, and Fly accompanied him. In this fashion I travelled on, nothing
doubting that my journey, dull and solitary as it was, would come to its
natural termination after the usual fatigue; but I little guessed what
was in store for me.

I had gone about three or four miles, when I came to the foot of a sharp
hill, part of an irregular tier of hills, stretching from the lake to the
south-east. When I had come down this descent with my companions, in
pursuit of the bushrangers, I had not particularly remarked its
steepness, but as I stood at its base, and in a manner under it, I felt a
strong desire to avoid the task of climbing up the height, and I cast my
eyes about to see if there was any break in the tier that presented the
prospect of a less difficult ascent.

I observed to the right a hollow which promised an easier passage, and as
I had always strongly in my mind, that it was no farther to go round a
hill, than to go over it, I turned my horse's head, without hesitation,
in that direction. When I reached the hollow, however, it proved
delusive, and I found myself in a sort of bay surrounded by hills, not
very high, but very steep. Still, full of the desire to avoid climbing a
hill at the beginning of a journey, and having a sort of lazy
disinclination to dismount, I continued my way somewhat farther to the
right, expecting to find the outlet that I wanted.

In this way I was led to try several tempting valleys, which all ended
like the first, in disappointment. Vexed at the loss of distance and the
loss of time which these attempts cost me, I determined to be baffled no
longer, and dismounting at the foot of a high hill, I proceeded to climb
to the top, leading my horse by the bridle. When I reached the summit, I
flattered myself that I was rewarded for my labour by the discovery of a
valley which stretched to some distance, and by which, it seemed, I
should be able to escape the fatigue of the continual ascents and
descents which I should have had to surmount by pursuing the original
track to the left. I never doubted but I should be able to find my way to
the Clyde by some way or other, for the thought of being lost in the
bush, and on horseback too, never occurred to me.

I cantered pleasantly down this valley, which with occasional windings,
and one or two gentle ascents, continued for five or six miles, when I
was suddenly brought to a stand-still by finding myself in the same
difficulty as before, the valley ending in a little deep bay surrounded
by steep hills. "Well," thought I, "as I have come so far, I am not going
to be stopped by a hill now, though it is a tough one, and at any rate I
have had an easy five miles through the valley."

So without stopping to think more on it, I got off my horse, and leading
him by the end of the bridle, I scrambled up the hill. It was a very
sharp climb, and when I got to the top, the prospect was rather
discouraging. A succession of hills was before me, like the waves of a
troubled sea suddenly solidified. The hills looked like gigantic waves.
"Hills or plains," thought I, "I must get through you; I can't miss the
'lie' of the country; and so long as I pursue the right direction, I must
come to the end of my journey at last." So I worked my way on, sometimes
riding, sometimes walking, but embedding myself more and more among the
intricacies of the hills.

At last I got tired of this work, and my horse began to be tired too, so
at the bottom of one of these punch-bowls, I sat down to rest myself;
Hector and Fly lay down beside me, and my poor horse, with his head
hanging down, looked very doleful. By this time the day had become
overcast with a sort of mist, so that I could not see the sun, and the
valley in which I was resting looked very gloomy indeed. "I don't like
this," said I; "but I must have another try at it."

I took off my horse's saddle, and gave him a rub down and cooled his back
a bit; then I set myself to consider the direction of the Clyde.--I was
puzzled; and I began to feel that uneasy sensation which besets one who
has lost his way. But my head was cool; and after calculating as well as
I could the turnings and windings by which I had reached the present
spot, I decided on making my way right across the tier to my left.
Patting my horse, and speaking to Hector and Fly encouragingly, I set at
the hill boldly.

I found this climb more difficult than any of the previous ascents; and
when I had finished it, fagged as I was, it quite chilled me when I found
that I was no better off than before; nothing but hills upon hills as far
as the misty atmosphere would allow the eye to penetrate. This was very
vexatious, and I began to feel a strange trouble come over me. But I
never was one to stand still and despond; so plucking up heart, I plunged
down the hill, and found myself in a valley similar to the last, but with
the disagreeable accompaniment of a multitude of stones and pieces of
rock impeding the path.

"Worse and worse," said I; "but, rocks or no rocks, I must get home."

I skirted this impassable way to the right for about a mile, till I came
to a point which presented a favourable opening. I still kept, or thought
I kept, the right direction; I followed it, therefore, leading my horse,
and getting over the occasional rocky parts as well as I could. I had now
another hill to cross, but free, to my great joy, from stones. I got on
my horse, for I was sadly tired, vexation of mind increasing the fatigue
of body.

I had not proceeded many steps when I found one of the horse's legs
failing him, and presently setting his foot on the sharp top of a
projecting stone, his leg bent under him, and he stumbled, and almost
fell down. I was off in a moment, and with his foot in my hand. The
mischief was plain; he had cast a shoe! I remember to this day the odd
pang that shot through me as I contemplated this disaster. My difficulty
was great enough with the aid of a horse, but without it, it was an
awkward one indeed. Nay it was worse than being without one, for I now
had to lead a lame horse up hill and down hill, to my great fatigue and
incumbrance. I held his foot in my hand for some time, I do believe for
more than a minute or two, gazing at it, as if by looking and looking I
could remedy the loss.

When I put down his leg, I stood for some time with my hand on his
shoulder, and in a manner stupified by the disaster. He was dead lame. I
tried to lead him on, but it was with great difficulty that I could pull
him after me. It then struck me that I might find his shoe by searching
for it, and that by some means I should be able to put it on again, so as
to answer as a temporary shift. Leaving the poor horse standing still,
with his near fore-leg bent listlessly, I tried to track the way by which
we had come; but this I found no easy matter, and it consumed a great
deal of time. I succeeded, however, in finding the shoe, which had been
torn off among the rocks over which we had recently passed.

The recovery of the shoe quite lightened my heart, and I strode back to
the horse with some glee with my treasure. It was in vain, however, that
I tried every imaginable scheme to replace the shoe. I tried to bind it
on with my handkerchief, but that was an idle attempt. So there I was
with a lamed horse in a dead fix.

In the meantime the shades of evening began to close in upon me, and I
felt weary and hungry. Having no fear of the horse's straying suddenly, I
took off his saddle and bridle, and fastened the holster pistols round my
waist with my handkerchief. He presently began to feed, and that pleased
me. But what was I to do? To drag him after me in his lame state was an
impossible task, and I could not at once make up my mind to leave him.
"At any rate," I thought, "I will try the chance of a night's rest; that
may restore him sufficiently, perhaps, to take me home."

So I set about establishing myself for the night, and as I was used to
bush expeditions, I soon made myself tolerably comfortable. There was the
kangaroo rug for my bed and covering, and the saddle for a pillow, and
that was luxurious accommodation for the bush. I wished to go after a
kangaroo, but I was too tired, and it was getting too dark for that
sport.

I looked for water, and fortunately found a little spring running over a
shelving rock at no great distance. I took a good drink of it, and then
tried to get the horse to it, but it would have been too long a job; so I
filled my hat, and by that means contrived to give him a drink too. I
then kindled a fire, by flashing some loose powder in the pan of one of
the pistols, and lighted a piece of charred punk, which is as good for
the purpose as the German tinder which has been brought to the colony by
some settlers. Sitting down by my fire, I proceeded to eat my supper in
great state, the kangaroo rug forming a comfortable carpet, and the
saddle, a resting place for my elbow.

The fire burned briskly and cheerfully, and I discussed a huge piece of
damper with considerable relish. As I did not expect to be out in the
bush another night, I was rather lavish with my provision, and Hector and
Fly came in for a more than liberal share of the supper. I confess I felt
as if I wanted something more, and I was vexed to lose a night, and to
have to pass it in the bush unnecessarily, but there was no help for it,
so I prepared myself for a sleep.

With my pistols in my belt, and my fowling piece alongside of me, I
rolled myself up in the kangaroo rug, my feet towards the fire, and my
head resting on the saddle for a pillow. Hector nestled himself close to
my head, and feeling secure against any sudden surprise with my faithful
dog watching me, overpowered with fatigue, I soon fell asleep.

I slept for some hours, and was awakened by the cold air of the early
morning. The sharpest time of the twenty-four hours in Van Diemen's Land
is just before sun-rise, and as it was now the beginning of winter, I
felt the frosty air very disagreeably. It was still dark, and the fire
was quite out. Not liking to stumble about in the dark after fire-wood,
and expecting that the morning would break in about an hour or so, I
unrolled myself from my rug, and kept myself warm by walking, taking
short seaman's turns backwards and forwards.

The time seemed very long before daylight came, but as the longest night
must, at last, come to an end, so did this, and my sight was gladdened
with the coming light, but the morning was very foggy. From this foggy
state of the atmosphere I was inclined to suspect that I was in the
vicinity of some lake, but how I could have wandered back to the Great
Lake, if I had done so, it puzzled me to make out. The hazy state of the
weather, however, was a serious evil, as it prevented me from seeing the
sun, and deprived me of that guide to my course.

When it was light enough, I looked eagerly round for the horse, and saw
him close to the spot where I had left him the previous night. I went up
to him and examined him; he was in a pitiable condition indeed; his foot
was swelled frightfully, and it was plain that it was quite out of the
question to hope that he could carry me, for he could not even carry
himself beyond a few steps on his three tottering legs.

Well, this was a bad job; but I had my own legs to carry me, and they had
never failed me yet; it would take more time for me to get home
certainly, but I had not the slightest apprehension of being able to
reach it. So, as there was no help for it, I was obliged to abandon the
poor horse to his fate; his saddle and bridle I placed under a shelving
rock, and I marked the place in my mind by taking various bearings, so
that I might know it again.

Having done this, and having patted the horse as a sort of farewell--the
creature seemed to look beseechingly at me not to leave him--I set about
considering the direction in which I should proceed. I felt rather
sharp-set, the damper having become digested with provoking rapidity, but
as I had nothing to eat, I was obliged to do (I used to say to my boys)
as the King of Prussia did when he had no bread--I went without.

I decided on the direction at once, my mind being still clear, and I
tramped on lustily up hill and down dale for about ten miles, when I
found myself becoming tired, and still embosomed, to my great perplexity,
in the midst of these eternal hills. At last I got angry at my
situation--my head became confused--I grew distrustful of myself and of
my judgment, and I felt myself rapidly losing all sense and power of
deciding on any direction as the right one.

My head, however, did not yet give way; I had still sufficient
self-possession to be aware of the danger of suffering my mind to lapse
into the perilous state of fear and indecision in the bush, and I thought
if I could get some food, the restoration of the body's strength might
help to keep the mind in its equilibrium. I looked out, therefore, for
something to shoot; but in that desolate place I could not spy a single
bird of any description.

I thought I would try what the dogs could do. I looked narrowly about for
some distance around, but could see no trace of a kangaroo. I thought I
would try, however,--so summoning up my spirits, and assuming a cheerful
tone, I bid the dogs "go hunt!" To my great and most pleasurable
surprise, they immediately began to hunt in circles around me, till the
wideness of their range withdrew them from my sight. I flattered myself,
by their not returning, that they had got scent, and I remained very
anxiously at the spot where they had left me for more than two hours.

During this time, a fear came over me that the dogs might leave me, and
that I should lose the help of their watchfulness and instinct in the
bush; but this fear was an injustice to their fidelity, for at the end of
the time, they returned, looking sorely jaded, but with the marks on
their mouths of having killed their game.

My two hours' rest had refreshed me, and it was with a joyful and eager
voice, partly prompted by an exceedingly sharp appetite, and partly by
the instinctive delight of a huntsman at success, that I bid them "go
show!" They trotted on and I after them, and a weary way they led me.
Right over the steepest hills and down the sharpest precipices, without
once stopping, or swerving from their line, they took me over seven or
eight miles of the severest country that I ever travelled over before or
since. Several times I thought I should have been obliged to give in, but
hunger is a fierce prompter, and I knew there was killed game at the end,
and at length I reached it.

Even the dogs were tired; I sat down for a while, for I was dead beat,
and I felt faintish. The sight of the kangaroo, however, was a
restorative.

I soon cut him up and gave the dogs a meal; and then I kindled a fire,
and was not very particular about the cookery, I assure you. I cut off
slices from the loin, the tenderest part of the animal and the
bushranger's tid-bit, and throwing them on the glowing embers, eat my
venison stakes hot and hot without waiting for salt or seasoning.

I left off, because I could not eat any more, and then I began to think
what was I to do? I had now got into a part, still among steep hills,
where I had lost absolutely all idea of which way I had come, or which
way I ought to go. I was besides very tired, and my feet and limbs were
getting tender from scrambling over stony ground, and over rocks and
precipices.

I felt too much fatigued to encounter more wandering that day, for the
evening was coming on;--so I made the best of it. I missed my kangaroo
rug and saddle for blanket and pillow, but I lighted up a good fire, and
sometimes lying down, and sometimes walking about to prevent the night
air from benumbing me, and occasionally having a peg at the kangaroo,
making capital broils, I contrived to get through the night without
losing my spirits.

When daylight came, I cut off from the kangaroo as much flesh as I could
carry, and then looking out for the highest hill in my vicinity, I
ascended it, and endeavoured to make out where I was, and which was my
proper course. I could see nothing but hills, like the vast and
tumultuous waves of a troubled sea. The atmosphere was still misty, and I
could not, therefore, help myself by observing the position of the sun. I
tried to put the instinct of the dogs into exercise, and I spoke angrily
to Hector, and bid him "go HOME."

The dog crouched, and obeyed reluctantly; when he had got fifty yards or
so, I called him back, and then taking the bearings of different points,
I pursued the line which Hector had taken, hoping it was in the direction
towards home, or to some inhabited place to which the instinct of the
animal had prompted him. Cherishing this hope, I proceeded in this course
for many miles, but over a dreadfully fatiguing country, but still
without extricating myself from my embarrassing entanglement in those
perplexing and confusing hills.

It was now beyond mid-day, and I sat down to rest myself, and, kindling a
fire, dined heartily on the flesh of the kangaroo which I carried with
me, taking care to feed the dogs well, that hunger might not tempt them
to stray from me. Having so refreshed myself, I earnestly bent all my
faculties to discover whereabouts I could be, and which was the proper
course to pursue. In my difficulty and anxiety, I thought the best thing
to do was to try to discover my own track, which I hoped the tread of the
horse's feet would leave sufficiently plain, and so find my way back to
the point from which I had first deviated when I sought for an easier
passage across the tier, on leaving the Great Lake.

This I knew would be a tedious journey, but it seemed my only resource. I
set about it, therefore, with all the coolness and vigilance which I
could summon up, and choosing a direction which I judged would lead me
across my own track, I set diligently to work. But all my efforts were in
vain. Each succeeding mile seemed only to plunge me deeper and deeper
into the recesses and mysteries of the woods.

At the close of day, when the light began to fail me, I found myself at
the foot of a rocky and scraggy mountain, at the base of which was a
black and stagnant-looking pool. An eagle arose from the margin of the
water as I approached, and slowly soared to the summit of the mountain.
There were no trees near this spot, nothing but a few ragged and stunted
bushes. It was the very picture of loneliness and desolation. Its gloomy
and fearful aspect struck a chill into my very soul, and the coming
darkness helped to fill my now weakened mind with all sorts of
superstitious fears.

I held my fowling-piece in my hand for a considerable time, with a vague
sort of apprehension of danger from I knew not what. At last I roused
myself up sufficiently to light a fire, which was a difficult matter, so
scanty was the fuel in that barren place. I contrived to kindle one,
however; but its faint light seemed to multiply my terrors, and to
aggravate the feeling of loneliness and desolation around me.

I felt that I was rapidly falling into that state of mind of which I had
heard, but which I had never experienced--the confusion of intellect, and
the deprivation of the power of judging, causing the peculiar aberration
of mind which seizes on those who feel the terrible conviction of being
"lost in the bush!" I was now lost in the bush! That calamity however,
frightful as it was--with my body enfeebled, and my mind wandering--was
not the worst evil that was to befal me. But I must pause here, and
recover myself before I attempt to describe the horrible fate that
awaited me in the desolate wilds of the dismal bush.



CHAPTER II.

IS THREATENED BY EAGLES--HIS SUFFERINGS--THE MAGNETIC NEEDLE--THE DOGS
GIVE NOTICE OF THE NATIVES--THEIR ATTACK--HIS FIGHT SINGLE-HANDED WITH
THE SAVAGES.

I SHALL never forget my sufferings on that wretched night. It was
piercingly cold, as the nights usually are in the month of June in Van
Diemen's Land, and it was with the greatest difficulty that I could
contrive, by incessant motion, to prevent my limbs from becoming
benumbed.

The thoughts of my family, of my ruined farm, and of the disasters which
seemed to thicken on me, with the dreadful feeling of my present state of
helplessness, almost maddened me. At last, towards morning, I sat down by
the fire, and from mere exhaustion fell asleep.

I was soon awakened by the nipping cold of the early morning. My sleep,
however, short as it was, served to calm me. I began coolly to reflect on
my position. "I certainly was lost in the bush; but was there no way out
of the difficulty? If I continued in a straight line in any one
direction, I must at last come to some stream, or perhaps to some
stock-hut, or to some known point, which would be the means of recovering
my way;--the great danger to be avoided was straying to the west, in
which direction there were neither settlements nor stock-yard stations,
and nothing but the wild and untrodden bush between me and the sea. If I
could keep an eastward course, I must at last arrive at some broad track,
and certainly at the high road across the island."

Such were my thoughts. I tried, therefore, to observe the rising sun, but
the fogginess of the morning was too great to allow me to do more than
ascertain the point from which light seemed to come. That was some help,
however; so, summoning up my strength, and endeavouring to preserve the
coolness of mind necessary to enable me to keep a straight course, I set
out.

But I had not proceeded many miles before the same doubt, and confusion,
and indecision of mind, which I had experienced the day before, again
seized on me. When I perceived this fit coming on, I immediately paused
and lighted a fire. While I was lighting it, a kangaroo hopped into
sight; the dogs pulled it down in less than a couple of minutes, not a
hundred yards from the fire. This I looked on as a good omen, and it
reassured me. I made a good bush meal, and felt my strength somewhat
restored.

It was now past mid-day, and I again set myself earnestly to consider the
right direction. There was a barren hill to my right, very steep, and
without trees to obstruct the view. I determined to climb up it, in order
to get a better prospect of the country around, and with that view I
looked about for a stick to use as a walking staff. I soon found a young
sapling fit for my purpose, and having provided myself with this help, I
buckled my gun behind me, that my hands might be at liberty. I then
climbed, with a good deal of scrambling, to the top of the hill.

Having gained the top, I proceeded to examine the country around me very
carefully, hoping that I might catch sight of some point, or high hill,
or particular tree, by which I might learn my present position.

I was anxiously engaged in this manner, and quite absorbed by my anxious
survey, when suddenly there was an obscuring of the light above my head.
I raised up my eyes to ascertain the cause of it, when, to my exceeding
terror, I beheld one of the largest of the eagles of those regions
poising itself on its wings not twenty yards above my head, and in the
attitude of pouncing down on me.

I had more than once witnessed the attack of an eagle on a sheep, which
is by fixing its claws on the body of the animal, and digging out its
eyes with its beak; the sheep then becomes an easy prey. The thought of
this horrible fate made me instantly put my hands over my eyes, so
imminent was the danger, and so great was my fright. I fancied I heard
the flapping of the creature's wings, and in a sort of despair I whirled
the stick which I held in my hand over my head to ward off the expected
attack.

Looking up at the same moment, I perceived a second eagle who had joined
the first, and they now flew in rapid circles just above me. I guessed at
once that I had approached the spot where they were accustomed to build
their nest, and that they were angry at the intrusion. I slipped my
fowling-piece from my back, and fired both barrels, first at one and then
at the other. They uttered a fierce scream, but did not leave me.

I did not wait any longer, but ran helter skelter down the hill, making
more than one summerset before I got to the bottom. Luckily, however, my
gun escaped any damage in this scrambling tumble; and although I felt a
good deal bruised, I lost no time in reloading it, and then I felt
secure. The peril to which I had been exposed shook me a good deal, and I
sat down at the foot of the hill in a very disconsolate mood, feeling
that my nerve was giving way under the terrors of being lost in the bush,
for at any other time I fancy I should have been glad of the opportunity
of getting such a good shot at an eagle, and particularly of getting a
sight of their haunts.

This thought made me very sad; but I still kept up my spirits, and my
bodily strength was not yet subdued; I was well armed, and had my
faithful dogs with me, and another effort might bring me to some known
track. Again, therefore, I braced myself up to the task, and choosing a
direction which, according to my judgment, led eastward, I determined to
make a vigorous effort. My efforts, however, were all in vain, and the
fourth night found me still an almost hopeless wanderer.

The fifth day passed in the same wearisome endeavours. My strength now
began to fail me; not so much, I think, from bodily fatigue, as from the
exhausting operation of anxiety of mind and uncertainty of direction.
Towards the close of the evening I arrived, at dusk, at the foot of a
rocky hill. The dogs were uneasy, and whined a good deal but I set it
down to their sympathising with my own appearance of sorrow and
dejection.

I had scarcely strength to raise a fire and broil some of the flesh of
the kangaroo which I carried with me. I had no water, and in the dark I
could not discover any. A sort of numbness of the mind had now come over
me; a leaden feeling of cold despair. In my strange frenzy, I fancied I
must have wandered towards the western coast, for I could not otherwise
account for my not being able to discover some track or point known to
me.

In this state I lay down by the side of the fire in a state of complete
bodily and mental exhaustion. My dogs crouched close to me, and I fell
asleep. I awoke once in the night with a feeling of cold; I replenished
the fire with some large fuel, and slept again.

I must have slept soundly; for in spite of the cold, and of the thirst
which was on me, I did not wake till the light roused me. It was a
glorious morning; very cold, but the air was clear and bright. I tried to
get up, but found my limbs so benumbed that I could hardly move. I
contrived, as I lay on the ground, to push with my feet the loose pieces
of dead timber about to the fire which was still faintly burning.
Presently there was a good blaze, and the warmth restored me a little. I
continued to heap dead wood on till I made a complete bonfire.

This exertion and the heat of the blaze revived me completely, and once
more I endeavoured to rouse myself to the labour of fresh exploring in
the bush. This was the morning of the sixth day.

Casting my eyes about me, I saw, not far off, a sort of natural basin
hollowed out in a rock, about a foot deep, and as clear as crystal.
Feverish with thirst, I took a good drink, but the water was very cold. I
then sat down beside it to consider what I should do.

In my tumble down the hill I had torn off the strap of one of my leather
gaiters, and its loosehess was an annoyance to me in the walking. As I
always carried a housewife with me in my bush expeditions, I thought I
would spend a few minutes in sewing on the strap again; so I undid the
case, and placed it by the side of the rocky basin. I took out a needle,
and with my arms resting on the side of the basin, proceeded to thread
it, when it slipped through my fingers and fell into the water beneath;
but instead of sinking, it floated on the top.

I was struck with this circumstance, and admired how the needle floated
at the top of the water, when I observed it slowly to turn half-way
round, and then remain stationary. It instantly occurred to me that the
needle had become magnetized, and I remembered that, some weeks ago, my
youngest daughter had been amusing herself with a magnet and the needles
in this case. I tried it again; taking the needle from the water, I
rubbed it dry and clean, and then holding it parallel to the surface of
the water, I let it drop; it floated, and turned itself slowly to the
same point as before.

I was full of joy at this discovery, as I now had the means of
ascertaining the points of the compass, and my confidence in myself
returned. Without losing any time, I prepared for another start. I
breakfasted gaily on some of the kangaroo stake that remained, and
talking to my dogs, proceeded on my way. I had not gone far, however,
when I perceived by the dogs' significant signs that there was something
in the wind. It was not a kangaroo, that was certain; but I flattered
myself that we were approaching some human habitation, and that the
sagacity of the hound had detected its vicinity. I spoke to him,
therefore, and encouraged him to look about him, but the dog exhibited a
strange reluctance to leave me, and presently began to whine in the
manner which I knew indicated his scent of the natives!

Broken down as I was with excessive fatigue and anxiety, I confess that
this apprehension almost overpowered me; a tremulous fear possessed me;
my limbs for a while refused to move; my sight became clouded, and a cold
sweat came over me. This was my sixth day of wandering and privation in
the bush, and where I was, or how far from home, was unknown to me. I sat
down on the log of a tree, and tried to rally my fleeting spirits. I
thought of my wife, of my children--of my home, or rather the spot where
my home once was--and made a powerful effort to recover my coolness of
mind and to summon up my courage. "After all, it might not be the
natives; the dog might be mistaken, or they might have passed away."

I tried to delude myself with these hopes, but a glance at the dog was
sufficient to convince me that the natives were near. Hector was very
uneasy; he whined, and licked my face, and exhibited signs of fear too
expressive to be mistaken.

With this horrible conviction on my mind that a deadly struggle for life
must soon take place, the very extremity of my danger and the force of my
fear caused a reaction in my frame. I nerved myself up with a sort of
terrible despair. I looked around, but as yet saw no signs of my dreaded
enemies.

I examined the two barrels of my fowling piece, and assured myself that
the charges in them and in my pistols were unshaken. I carefully
inspected the pans, probed all the touchholes, and felt that the flints
were firmly fixed and clean, and dry at their edges. Then I looked at my
powder-horn, and calculated how many charges it would supply to me. I had
a little bag of bullets with me; these I placed loose in a convenient
pocket.

All the while I was searching the bush with my eyes on every side. No
signs of the natives! I began to indulge in the hope that after all it
was a false alarm, and again I proceeded on my way, but slowly and
warily. I had gone about two miles, when I came to a spot which I thought
was familiar to me. Looking about, I recognised the place where I had
stopped five nights before with my lame horse; the horse had
disappeared--perhaps, strayed away--but I saw on the ground my old
broadsword which I had left there as an encumbrance to my walking.

Full of fears of the natives, I greeted this weapon as an old friend, and
seized on it eagerly. I felt more secure with this additional means of
defence, and drawing it from its sheath, which I cast on the ground, I
carried the sword in my hand. I had scarcely resumed my journey, when
Hector began to growl and whine in a way which put me on my guard.

As my object is to record all the emotions of my mind during this time of
my being lost in the bush, and exposed to the new peril which I am
describing, I must not forget to tell that the unexpected recovery of my
broadsword produced a strange revolution in my mind and feelings. I
recovered from the extreme depression of spirits which had weighed me
down and deprived me of all hope and courage, and I now felt a full
confidence that I was a match for the natives, and that I should be able
to keep them at bay.

Perhaps the restoration of mind, caused by the accidental discovery of
the magnetic needle on the water, and the confidence of the right
direction which that discovery produced, helped to restore my coolness
and courage. However, without more philosophising on that point, I will
proceed to describe my fight with the natives.

Fight or no fight, I thought that the best thing I could do was to make
progress onwards to the east with all the speed that my strength would
allow. I strode on, therefore, towards a gentle acclivity, beyond which
there seemed to be some clear ground, as the light was strong beyond it.

I was in a valley about a quarter of a mile broad, clear of trees, with a
rise on each side of me thickly wooded. I ascended the acclivity, and was
cheered with the prospect of a more open country, and with a scenery
which seemed not unknown to me.

Turning back to look at the ground which I had passed over, and to take
the bearings for my straight progress, I thought I detected on my left
hand through the trees, the glimmering of a faint light. I was quite
cool, and fully prepared for a conflict, but, as may be supposed, I had
no desire to seek it. Knowing the importance, however, of not being taken
unawares, I stood still for a few minutes; but I saw no more of the
light.

This light, I have no doubt, was caused by the two pieces of lighted
stick which the natives carry about with them to light their fire. They
have discovered, by some accident, that two pieces of lighted stick, or
charcoal, crossed and in contact, will keep alight; whereas a single
piece would soon become extinguished. The settlers have borrowed this
hint from the natives.

I had turned round to proceed on my way, when my steps were arrested by a
spear which passed by me to the right, and stuck in the ground. "Oh, oh!"
thought I, "the fun is about to begin, is it? Well, I have four barrels
for you, my beauties; two long shots and two close ones, besides my
broadsword for a tussle."

I am surprised, when I look back, at my extraordinary coolness, but it
was so. I did not fire, for I did not like to lose a shot, but suspending
my broadsword by its leather to my left wrist, I held my piece ready. I
was in a tolerably favourable position, on the top of a low green hill,
so that I could see all round me, and I kept a sharp look-out, I can
assure you, for I did not know from which quarter the attack might come.

I again turned round and proceeded a few steps, when another spear came
close to me. I did not care much for their spears so long as they were
cast from a distance, as they do not inflict any dangerous damage unless
they are within forty yards or so; but this second spear was an
indication of a determination to attack me, and it shewed that I was
watched, and that the natives were ready to take me at a disadvantage.

How many there might be I had no means of knowing, but I took it for
granted it was one of their wandering mobs, consisting of about twenty
persons, men, women, and children. I gazed earnestly in the direction
whence the spear had come, but I could see nothing; the trees were about
eighty or a hundred yards distant from me.

While I was looking, a native shewed himself, and running a little way
towards the spot where I stood, cast a womera at me. I had never
witnessed the casting of this curious native weapon in a hostile manner
before, and having had that satisfaction, I certainly have no curiosity
to see it cast in that manner again. The womera would have struck me if I
had not skipped aside in time, and as it was, it was only by a hair's
breadth that I avoided it.

Almost before I could take aim at the native, the womera, skimming
through the air, returned to the spot from which the native had cast it.
I was unwilling to fire without a positive necessity, and I refrained
from drawing the trigger, though I still kept my piece in the position of
taking aim.

The native picked up his womera, and without waiting, cast it at me
again. I saw it whirling towards me with great velocity, and in an
instant afterwards I felt myself struck with considerable violence on my
left leg, which, at the moment, I thought it had broken. The shock
brought me on one knee to the ground. The native gave a cry of
exultation, and I immediately fired at him. The discharge of my piece was
a signal for a rush from the whole body; about a dozen of them suddenly
shot out from among the trees, and with wild and terrific shouts, rushed
towards me.

Supposing that I was defenceless after the discharge of my gun, they came
on swiftly, boldly brandishing their waddies in the air, with the intent
of shortly exercising them on my unfortunate skull. I did not lose my
presence of mind, but remaining on one knee, I fired off my second
barrel, and hit the foremost man.

This second discharge puzzled them, and they halted, not knowing what to
make of a gun that could fire twice without being loaded. Seeing them
hesitating, I drew one of my horse pistols, and treated them with another
shot; this completed their dismay, and they all scampered off as fast as
they came, behind the shelter of the trees.

I lost no time in reloading my three barrels, and stood on my guard
again. Hector and Fly were of no use to me; they were afraid of the naked
savages. After waiting in my posture of defence for some minutes, I
thought I might venture to make a move away from them, as I had given
them a taste of what I could do; but on attempting to walk, I found that
the blow of the womera had been so severe, that it had almost deprived me
of the use of my leg. I limped on, however, as well as I could, deeming
any advance homewards a gain.

I picked up the womera and carried it away with me. It was in the shape
of a half circle, with a peculiarity of make which must be seen to be
understood, but of the efficiency of which I had received a sharp
illustration.

The natives seeing me bear away the womera, which is a scarce weapon
among them, and much prized, and observing by my limping that I was
wounded, raised a loud cry of anger and triumph, which sounded in my ears
very disagreeably, as it betokened an inclination on their part to
continue a conflict which I should have been very glad to avoid, though
still without fear as to the result if I could hold out long enough.

Had I been aware that the fierce and vindictive Sydney black, known by
the name of Musqueeto, was among them, my confidence would have been
considerably abated; but the worst was to come, and the fight presently
began to assume a more serious air than I had calculated on.

The terrible extremity, however, which I have to tell of is of a nature
so horrible and appalling, that I cannot summon up spirits to enter on it
to-day; my mind sickens and revolts at the recollection of its horrors.
The description of that fearful trial must form the subject of a separate
chapter of my eventful history.



CHAPTER III.

TAKES REFUGE IN A DESERTED HUT--THE NATIVES BESIEGE HIM, AND SET FIRE TO
THE ROOF--HIS ESCAPE--HE CLIMBS INTO A TREE--THE NATIVES SET FIRE TO
IT--DEATH SEEMS CERTAIN--HIS RESCUE.

THE day was clear and bright, and though the early time of June is the
beginning of winter in Van Diemen's Land, the beams of the sun, which
shone splendidly at mid-day, had still power to spread a feeling of
summer warmth over the park-like plains. I shall never forget that
memorable day of my fight with the natives. Alone--buried in the
wilderness of the vast woods--wearied by a six days' travel in the bush
in which I had been lost--worn down from want, of sleep, and feeble from
scanty fare, I was now exposed to a deadly struggle with a body of
furious natives, led on by the fierce and malignant Musqueeto. I am
amazed, when I look back on the events of that fearful day, that I did
not sink under its difficulties, and that I am still alive to relate the
story. But to proceed.

I hastened on my way in the direction of the east, trusting that by such
a course I should come upon some settlement, or stock-keeper's hut, which
would afford me a place of defence, or at least on some track of man or
beast on which I could rely to lead me to human habitations.

The natives ceased to molest me for some miles, nor could I detect any
signs of their vicinity, but it will be seen by the sequel that they did
not lose sight of me. I was in some pain, and limped a good deal at first
from the effects of the womera which had struck me on the leg, but as I
got warm the pain left me, and I ceased for a time to feel much
inconvenience from the wound.

In this manner I proceeded some miles, when my sight was gladdened by the
appearance of a stock-keeper's hut, to which I eagerly hastened. I looked
round when I approached it, but I saw no signs of the natives. When I got
to the door I called out--

"Hulloa! anybody here?"

No answer.

"Is there any one inside? I have been lost in the bush, and the natives
have been attacking me. Don't be afraid of me; I am William Thornley, of
the Clyde."

No reply.

I then knocked loudly at the door, thinking that some one might be asleep
inside, and not liking to burst in suddenly, lest I should be mistaken
for a bushranger, and fired at, for the equivocal appearance which my
person had presented a week since to the soldiers had not been improved,
I felt aware, by a six days' scramble in the bush; but as no reply was
made to my repeated knocking, I concluded that the hut was empty.

I tried the latch, therefore, of the upper half of the door: it was not
fastened; I opened it easily, and looked in, first taking a look behind
me, for fear of a surprise. I saw no signs of an inhabitant; so I opened
the lower half of the door, and stepped in. A view of the interior
satisfied me at once that the hut had not been occupied for some time. I
was sorry for this, as I had hoped that I should meet with some one to
direct me on my way, and who might assist me in my defence against the
natives. But on the whole, I was pleased with the discovery of this hut,
tenantless as it was, as it afforded me, I thought, a temporary place of
refuge.

I examined its capabilities of defence, and found that it consisted, as
usual, of two rooms or divisions, in the inner of which was a window, and
a shutter at the back; there was another window and shutter in front by
the side of the door; when I say a "window," I mean an opening to let in
light without glass or window-frame; when the door and shutters were
shut, it was dark, with the exception of the light which penetrated
through the crevices of the logs of which the hut was rudely built.

Without losing any time, I set to work to render the hut as secure as
possible against the natives, should they have the mind to follow up
their first attack. The upright logs seemed all to be pretty tight set,
and strong enough to resist any ordinary violence. The window at the back
was awkward, as it afforded the facility of a back entrance while I was
engaged in front.

To render this point secure, I pulled down the partition of split logs
that divided the two rooms, and contrived to barricade the back window
with them, so as to insure me from any sudden inbreak on that side. I
then barricaded the front window in the same manner, and I put a split
log against the lower part of the door, with one end jammed firmly in the
earthern floor of the hut; the top part of the door I left to the
security of the bolt, intending to open it occasionally for the
convenience of firing through its opening.

These preparations occupied me for about an hour, and, having concluded
them, I felt that I was very hungry, and what was worse, that I was
suffering from thirst. There was an iron tripod on the hearth, the usual
piece of kitchen furniture in a stock-keeper's hut, and being heavy and
bulky, it had not been removed. It occurred to me that the spot chosen to
build a hut on was sure to be near to water.

As the extremity was pressing, I thought I might venture to get a drink,
so I clambered over the lower part of the door, followed by Hector and
Fly, who stuck close to me to look for the spring. The dogs were panting
for water, so I left them to their instinct, and presently Fly, after a
little snuffing about, went straight to a pool formed by a spring, not
twenty yards from the back of the house.

I first took a good drink, which refreshed me greatly, and then I cast
about how to get a supply of water inside the hut. The tripod was too
clumsy and too heavy to be taken to the pool, so I got over the
half-door, and lifted it close to the entrance; then I went back to the
pool, and, filling my hat with water, ran back with it, and poured it
over the door into the tripod.

While I was repeating this operation, I was terribly startled by Hector
suddenly darting off in the direction of the bush. I thought, to be sure,
that the natives were on me, and, dropping my hat full of water, I
scrambled over the door into the hut again. But it was a false alarm, for
in a few seconds after, Hector came to the door wagging his tail, with a
kangaroo-rat in his mouth, which he had killed, and which was the cause
of his run into the bush.

I was not a little rejoiced at this unexpected supply, for I was sadly at
a loss for food. I was not long in kindling a fire, and skinning my
prize, which was rather a large one of the sort, nearly as big as a
rabbit, and excellent eating, and made a broil of it, which afforded me a
delicious repast.

My spirits revived after this refection, and I began to consider that I
was perhaps only losing time by remaining in the hut. It was now, as
nearly as I could judge, about two hours past mid-day, and I had plenty
of daylight before me to make considerable progress before night. I had
recourse to my needle again, and I dropped it into the tripod; it sunk to
the bottom immediately, being affected by the iron; so I filled my hat
with water, and removing it to a distance from the iron tripod, had the
satisfaction of ascertaining the points of the compass.

I prepared, therefore, to leave the hut, and put myself in order
accordingly. I was in the very act of throwing my leg over the half-door,
when I was stopped in my exit by a growl from Hector, who immediately
gallopped towards a thicket of trees about a hundred yards or more in the
front of the hut. He quickly returned, and by his crouching attitude and
peculiar whine I at once knew that he had scented the natives.

It was too true; in less than a minute afterwards, a body of about twenty
men and women, headed by Musqueeto, moved rapidly towards the hut. Being
invigorated by food, refreshed with partial rest, and confident in the
power of my firearms--appalling as this attack appears to me when I look
back on it--I felt at the time no fear. I was confident in the security
of my little fortress, and for a moment I felt a sort of reluctance to
fire into the mob of naked natives--savage as they were--to the certain
destruction of some of them; but this disinclination lasted only for a
moment, for the natives, with the grim Musqueeto, whom I now recognized
at their head, were fast approaching, and the feeling of self
preservation regained its predominant influence.

My left-hand barrel contained a single ball; I fired; a native fell, but
the others continued to advance, and sent a shower of spears at the open
part of the door; one of them went through the lower part of the back of
my left hand, where it stuck, while some went past me into the hut,
narrowly missing me, and some stuck in the wall on each side.

I fired off my second barrel loaded with shot, and slamming the door
close, bolted it. This second discharge, I judge, checked their rush; and
fortunately; for so determined were they, that I feel convinced, on
looking back, they would otherwise have succeeded in their intention of
forcing open the door.

They now commenced a furious yelling round the hut, and some of them
tried the back window, but they found it secure. In the meantime I
reloaded my fowling-piece, putting a couple of balls in each barrel, for
I felt that the natives were in earnest, and that it would require my
utmost efforts to save my life from their furious assault. I was standing
by the door uncertain what to do next, when suddenly a spear was thrust
between the crevice of the lower and the upper door; fortunately it
encountered my shot belt, which it perforated, and gave me time to jump
back.

It seems that my movements were watched from the outside through some
crevice, for immediately on my retreat, a rush was made at the door; had
it been made on the upper part, the savages would have effected an
entrance, but the lower part, having been secured by a log, resisted the
attempt, and placing the muzzle of my piece at the same crevice through
which the spear had been thrust at me, I fired first one barrel and then
the other at the assailants. A horrid yell that made the woods re-echo
proclaimed that my fire was successful, and I could hear the tramping of
their feet as they retreated to a distance.

There was now a pause for some time, and a dead silence. I reloaded my
piece and stood on my guard. I was afraid of placing my eye close to a
crevice, lest a spear should be thrust into it by some devil watching me.
I remained in this state of suspense for some minutes, which seemed to me
as many hours, wondering what was to come next. While I thus stood, my
ears were assailed again with the horrid shouts and yells of the natives,
whose rage seemed to have redoubled at the sight, probably, of their dead
companions.

Fearing that the strength of the upper part of the door, was not
sufficient to stand against a rush, I lifted up a heavy log that had
formed one of the door-posts of the partition which I had broken down,
and placing one end of it against the door-flap, I added my own weight to
it, pushing it down on the door as firmly as I could.

But this sort of precaution was unnecessary. The devils had hit on a
surer and safer means of accomplishing my destruction. I was soon made
sensible of their operations by a smell of smoke, which, to my terrible
dismay, became rapidly stronger and stronger. They had set fire to the
thatch of the hut! The smoke increased, and presently the light of the
flame was visible. I now perceived that the thatch had been set on fire
on all sides, and as the smoke and flames increased, the rejoicing
natives yelled and screamed with frantic delight!

My presence of mind almost forsook me at this crisis. Escape seemed
impossible; and I felt that I was doomed to the most horrible of
deaths--that of being burnt alive!

The light of the flames increased, and the smoke inside the hut became
almost insufferable! Feeling that if I remained where I was, death was
certain, I determined to make a desperate effort to escape. There was a
little wind which blew the smoke in the direction of the back of the hut;
the natives, as I knew by their cries, were assembled in the front.

I determined to attempt my escape by the back window, hoping that the
smoke in that direction would serve to conceal my exit at the moment of
getting out of the window, when my position would be defenceless. I
hastily tore down my barricade of logs, and jumped through the opening
into the smoke. I was almost suffocated, but with my gun in my hand I
dashed through it.

For the moment I was not perceived; but the natives soon got sight of me,
and a volley of spears around me, one of which struck me in the back, but
dropped out again, proclaimed that they were in chase. I kept on running
as long as I could towards a tree that was in the middle of the little
plain over which I was passing, intending to make that my fighting place,
by setting my back to it, and so to protect myself in the rear.

The spears flew around me and near me, but I reached the tree, and
instantly turning round, I fired among the advancing natives. This
checked them, for they were now becoming afraid of my formidable weapon,
and seeing that I stood resolute and prepared for them, they retreated to
some distance; but they continued to throw some spears, most of which
fell short, and kept up a shouting and yelling in a frightful manner,
capering and dancing about in a sort of frenzy,--ferocious to get at me,
but kept at bay by my terrible gun.

My blood was now up! I was excited to a pitch of joyful exultation by my
escape from the burning hut, and I felt that courage of excitement which
almost prompted me to rush on my enemies, and to bring the matter to an
issue by a bodily conflict with my broadsword! But prudence prevailed;
and I placed my hope and my dependence on my trusty gun, which had
already done me such good service.

Taking advantage of the temporary inaction of the natives, I felt for my
powder-horn to reload the barrel which I had discharged. To my
unspeakable horror and disappointment, it was missing! I searched every
pocket in vain! I had laid it on the table in the hut, and there I had
left it! To recover it was impossible, as the hut was all in flames, and
while I gazed on the burning mass, a dull report and a burst of sparks
from the building made known to me that the powder had become ignited,
and was lost to me for ever!

In my agony of mind at this discovery, my hair seemed to bristle up; and
the sweat ran down my forehead and obscured my sight! I now felt that
nothing but a miracle could save me; but the love of life increasing in
proportion to the danger of losing it, I once more summoned up my failing
energies for a last effort. I had three barrels loaded; one in my
fowling-piece and two in my pistols; I had also my broadsword, but that
would not avail me against their spears.

If I could hold out till night, I thought I might be able then to elude
my savage enemies, as the natives have a fear of moving about at night,
believing that in the darkness an evil spirit roams about seeking to do
them mischief, and who then has power over them. Casting my eyes upwards
to the branches of the tree under which I was standing, I observed that
it was easy to climb, and there appeared to me indications of a hollow in
the trunk between the principal branches, which might serve me for a
place of shelter till the night should enable me, under the cover of its
darkness, to escape from my pursuers.

I formed my plan on the instant, and without losing a moment I shrug my
gun behind me, and, catching hold of a branch within reach, I clambered
up. The natives, who were watching my motions, renewed their shouts and
yells at this manoeuvre, and rushed towards the tree in a body.

I scrambled as fast as I could to the fork of the tree, and found, to my
infinite relief, that my anticipation was right; there was a hollow large
enough to admit my whole body, and effectually to shield me from the
spears of the savages. As my foot reached the bottom, it encountered some
soft body which I quickly learnt was an opossum, the owner of the
habitation, which asserted its rights by a sharp attack on the calf of my
leg with teeth and claws: I was not in a humour to argue the matter with
my new assailant, so with my thick bush shoes I trampled the creature
down into a jelly, though it left its remembrances on my torn flesh,
which smarted not a little. When I recovered my breath, I listened to
ascertain the motions of my enemies outside.

They had ceased their yells, and there was a dead silence, so that I
could hear my own quick breathing within the trunk of the tree. "What are
they about?" thought I. While I mentally ejaculated this thought, I felt
an agitation of the tree, from which I guessed that some venturous savage
was climbing up to attack me in my retreat. I cautiously raised myself up
to look around me, but the appearance of my hat above the hole was the
signal for half-a-dozen spears, three which passed through it, one of
them grazing the scalp of my head. "That plan will not do," thought I; "I
must keep close."

As I crouched myself down, I thought I heard a breathing above me; I
looked up and beheld the hideous visage of one of the savages glaring on
me with his white eyeballs, which exhibited a ferocious sort of
exultation. He had a waddie in his hand, which he slowly raised to give
me a pat on the head, thinking that he had me quite safe, like an opossum
in its hole. "You're mistaken, my beauty," thought I; "I'm not done for
yet." Drawing one of my pistols from my pocket, which was rather a matter
of difficulty in my confined position, I fired.--The ball crashed through
his face and skull, and I heard his dead body fall heavily to the ground!

A yell of fear and rage arose from his black companions. I took advantage
of the opportunity, and raised myself up so as to look about me, but
their threatening spears soon drove me back to my retreat. There was now
another pause and a dead silence; and I flattered myself with the hope
that the savages, having been so frequently baffled, and having suffered
so much in their attacks, would now retire. But the death and the wounds
of their comrades, it appears, only whetted their rage and stimulated
them to fresh endeavours; and the cunning devices of that devilish savage
Musqueeto were turned in a new and more fatal direction.

As I lay in my retreat, I heard a sound as if heavy materials were being
dragged towards the tree. I ventured to peep out, and beheld the savages
busy in piling dead wood round the trunk, with the intention, as I
immediately surmised, of setting fire to it, and of burning me in my
hole.

My conjectures were presently verified. I saw emerging from the wood one
of their females bearing the lighted fire-sticks which the natives always
carry with them in their journeys. I looked on these agreeable
preparations as a neglected but not indifferent spectator, the natives
disregarding my appearance above the opening, and waiting with a sort of
savage patience for the sure destruction which they were preparing for
me.

The native woman approached with the fire, and the natives forming a
circle round the tree, performed a dance of death as a prelude to my
sacrifice. I was tempted to fire on them; but I did not like to part with
my last two shots, except in an extremity even greater than this.

In the meantime the natives continued their dance, seeming to enjoy the
interval between me and death, like the epicure who delays his attack on
the delicious feast before him, that he may the longer enjoy the exciting
pleasure of anticipation. Presently, however, their death-song broke out
into loud cries of fury; they applied the fire to the fagots, and as the
blaze increased, they danced and yelled round the tree in a complete
delirium of rage and exultation.

The fire burned up!--the smoke ascended! I already felt the horrid
sensation of being stifled by the thick atmosphere of smoke before the
flames encompassed me. In this extremity I determined at least to inflict
some vengeance on my savage persecutors.

I scrambled up from my hiding-place, and crawled as far as I could on one
of the branches, which was most free from the suffocating smoke and heat,
and fired the remaining barrel of my fowling-piece at the yelling
wretches, which I then hurled at their heads. I did the same with my
remaining pistol, when, to my amazement, I heard the reports of other
guns; but whether they were the echoes of my own, or that my failing
senses deceived me, I knew not, for the smoke and flame now mastered me.
Stifled and scorched, I remember only falling from the branch of the
tree, which was not high, to the ground, when my senses left me.

I was roused from my trance of death by copious deluges of water, and I
heard a voice, which was familiar to me, exclaiming,--

"Well, if this is not enough to disgust a man with this horrid country, I
don't know what he would have more! For years and years have I been
preaching to him that nothing good could come of this wretched den of
bushrangers and natives, and now you see the evil is come at last."

I opened my eyes at these words. It was the voice of Crab, whom heaven
had directed with a party of friends to this spot to deliver me! Overcome
with the intensity of my emotions, racked with pain, and sick from the
very fulness of joy at my escape from death, I uttered a piercing and
agonizing cry of mingled pain and delight, and fainted!



CHAPTER IV.

HE RECOVERS HIS SENSES AND FINDS HIMSELF AMONG FRIENDS--ACCOUNT OF THE
BUSHRANGERS AT THE GREAT LAKE--MOSS'S EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPE.

IT was some time before I recovered from this fainting fit, as the
surgeon called it, "of physical exhaustion and mental emotion." When
consciousness returned, I heard around me the subdued hum of human
voices, and for a moment I thought that I was in the power of the
natives, and that I was under preparation for being roasted at the fire
of the blazing tree from which I had fallen scorched and stifled. I kept
my eyes closed for a short space;--presently I distinguished the voice of
the magistrate of the Clyde.

"He seems in a bad way, poor fellow! Have the devils touched any vital
part with their spears?"

"No," said another voice, which seemed to me that of my old friend the
surgeon, "he has not received any mortal hurt that I can see, but he has
had a sharp rap on his left leg from some blunt instrument that has cut
and bruised it at the same time; but there's no bone broken."

"He'll never come to any more," said some one, which seemed strangely to
me like Crab's voice, but I could not imagine how it could be his:
"never! that's my opinion! Why, he has been lost in the bush for a week,
without anything to eat, I'll be bound, and without a drop of water, for
there's never a drop to be had in this country when you want it--in
summer, especially. No! poor gentleman! I've stood by him for many a
year, trying to persuade him all I could to leave this horrid place. I
always told him that something would happen at last; but I never thought
it would be so bad as this. He used to say, poor fellow, while he was
alive, that I was always roasting him; he little thought he would be
roasted in real earnest! And there's that new sample of Cape wheat that
he was to try this season: all lost! What could induce him to get up that
tree, I can't conceive."

"The tumble from the tree can't have done him any good," said the
magistrate.

"No; but the branch was not high, and it was a nice soft bed of turf for
him to fall on; it was good luck that he was not hit by our shots when we
banged at the natives."

"He is a long time coming to."

"No! he's all right. This is more exhaustion than anything else. His
pulse is coming back now. You see, he has been in the bush for six days,
suffering under the sensation of being lost, and that wearing of the mind
is enough to exhaust the strongest energies. But he's coming to fast
now."

"Will you bleed him?"

"Oh, no! A glass of brandy would do him more good than bleeding, in his
present state."

"Here's a flask of brandy!"

At the suggestion of bleeding me I opened my eyes, not wishing to give
the worthy surgeon the trouble of performing that operation.

"By George!" said Worrall, the constable, "do you see how he opened his
eyes, and roused up, when he heard the talk about the brandy! I do think
that a glass all round would do us good!"

"Well, my boy," said the magistrate, "how do you find yourself after your
tumble?"

"How do you find yourself, master?" said the rough and honest voice of
Crab; "how do you find yourself, now you're come to life again? I always
told you how it would be; but you never would believe me! and there's the
farm burnt down, and all the home-flock of merinos the Lord knows where;
and there's Miss Betsy taken ill, and Missus is but poorly, and they are
in a pretty confusion with one thing and another; and the blood-foal's
dead, and the tame herd has taken to the bush, and I don't know what else
to say to revive you, except that they say the smallpox is about, and
ruination is going on everywhere; and"--

"Hold your tongue, you villanous old grumbler," said the magistrate; "you
have croaked enough to make a sound man sick. Let him alone."

My head was still confused, and I was perplexed to account for what I
heard and saw around me. My thoughts reverted to the day when we had our
skirmish with the bushrangers at the lake, and for a few moments it
seemed to me that I was awaking from a long sleep, and had been suffering
under the influence of a hideous dream. But the sight of the blazing tree
quickly recalled to my memory the terrible scenes which I had passed
through; a feeling of sickness came over me, and I closed my eyes again.

"Give me your brandy-flask," said the surgeon; "here, Thornley, take a
little sip."

He put the bottle to my lips, and I drank a few tea-spoonfuls.

"Is brandy a good thing for faintness, doctor?" said Worrall.

"Nothing better; it's a capital medicine when you know how to use it."

"I feel very faint, myself," said Worrall; "poor Mr. Thornley's condition
has quite overcome me. Could you oblige me with the brandy flask? I
know how to use it."

"From long practice, I dare say."

"Go and mind your business, Worrall," said the magistrate. "You shall
have brandy enough when you get home, for you have behaved well, and
deserve it, but now let us be moving;--that is, if the doctor thinks our
friend can travel."

"See if you can find a spring hereabouts, Worrall," said the doctor, "and
we will give our friend a refresher."

A pannikin of water was presently brought to me, into which the excellent
doctor put a fair proportion of brandy.

"We must get him home somehow," said he, "and set him to rights when we
get there. We can't treat him as if he was comfortable in a nice
sick-bed."

I took the drink with eagerness, and looking up, beheld the face of our
lost neighhour, Moss.

"How did you get away from the bushrangers?" were the first words that I
uttered.

"Oh!" said Moss, "we'll tell you all about that by-and-by; I have to
thank my friends here for my recovery, and you among the rest, not
forgetting our young friend Beresford; but that story will keep; we'll
tell you all about it in good time."

I now saw that Beresford was near, but a little behind me, with his left
arm in a sling. I reached out my hand to him, and, handing his gun to Mr.
Moss, he extended his right arm to me, and raised me up.

"That's right," said Worrall, who now came up to us, "never say die. We
are all ready," he said to the magistrate, touching his hat, "and we can
get home before morning; the night will be fine, and we have daylight
enough to cross the Big River, and then it will not be more than twenty
miles or so to the Shannon."

"I am ready," said I; "but"--and I tried to move a few steps--"I can't
walk! I feel as stiff as if I actually had been roasted at the fire
yonder."

"Well," said the surgeon, "I'm inclined to think you would not have taken
long to roast at that same fire, if we had not come up in time to stop
the cooking of you; but there's a horse for you, and we must contrive to
carry you with us."

"What has become of the natives?" said I.

"There are some of them lying dead not far from us;" said the
magistrate; "the rest did not stay to make a fight of it with our number.
They are off in the bush somewhere.--But as to following them there, you
might as well look for a needle in a stack of hay. Besides, we have had
enough of it, and I think the natives, for this once, have had enough of
it too. But we must not waste time in talking; we have the Big River to
cross before dark, so let us make a start."

I was helped on to a horse, and we proceeded as fast as we could to the
banks of the Big River. We reached it before dark, but we could not find
a ford. We consumed the remaining daylight in searching for one without
success, and it was resolved at last that we should bivouac on its banks,
and resume our search at daylight. We lighted up several fires, and by
the aid of some loose branches, and the bark of trees, by means of which
was made a breakwind, I shortly began to feel tolerably comfortable, to
which some kangaroo steaks and brandy-and-water not a little contributed.
As we lay by the fire, I was curious to learn some account of the
bushrangers who had escaped, when I left my companions, to a small island
in the lake, at no great distance from the main land.

"Will it do him any harm," said the magistrate, "to keep him awake with
the story?"

"Oh! no," said the surgeon; "it's early yet. Go on, and then you will
sooner have done."

"Do you describe it, Moss," said the magistrate; "you saw it best, and
you can praise us, and so relieve our modesty from the painful necessity
of praising ourselves."

"Very well," said Mr. Moss,--"as I was only a spectator of the fight,
perhaps I can best describe it."

"How did Crab come among you?" said I.

"Oh! that's easily told," said Crab. "After the soldiers left us,
Missus's mind misgave her that they would never find you, and I entirely
agreed with her on that point; so seeing what a taking she was in, I
offered to go for you and bring you back, that is, if the natives left
any of you, for I told Missus they were terrible, voracious cannibals. It
seems, however, that the soldiers did find you, or rather that you found
them, and by all accounts you had no reason to be over-pleased with their
treatment of you."

"Say nothing about it," said I, rubbing myself behind; "there was a
mistake."

"Was there? And is it true that they touched you up, and made you
dance?--Lord! how they did laugh when they told me of it! they said"--

"Say nothing more about it; I don't want to be reminded about that."

"Well--a corporal's party came up from camp next morning to stay at the
Clyde as a post of observation, so I left Missus quite safe and
comfortable, only that everything she had was burned, and the whole
family was in distress and confusion, and I promised her, if you were
killed by the bushrangers, which I told her I had no doubt you was, for
it's always best to know the worst, that I would bring home your dead
body for her to bury, which would be a great consolation to her, poor
lady! I dare say.--So I and Bob set out on your tracks, and we reached
the lake the very morning you left it for the Clyde. And how it was that
we missed you I can't understand, except that nobody can ever find his
way in this wild country when he's once lost."

"I see," said I--"I thought to take a short cut to the right, and so I
missed you."

"That's always the case," said Crab, "in this miserable place; nothing
ever did go right in it, nor ever will! But I'm getting old now--the more
fool I for stopping in it so long! But it won't be long before I'm out of
it; this last business has been a sickener!"

"You're one of Job's comforters, Crab," said I; "but now pray don't
interrupt Mr. Moss in his story."

THE CAPTURE OF THE BUSHRANGERS.

When the fight in which you were engaged (said Mr. Moss) was ended, the
bushrangers retired behind the green bank by the margin of the lake. They
lay close all night, but they sent out scouts to see what you were about,
and when one of them came back to warn them of the arrival of the
soldiers, they were in a great fright, not knowing what to do. Some of
them proposed to make a dash through your party, but that was thought too
rash; one or two who were wounded hinted the prudence of surrender, but
the Gypsey, as they called him, who acted as their leader, threatened to
blow out any man's brains who proposed a surrender.

"Better be shot," he said, "like men, than be hanged like dogs."

Two of the bushrangers had been seafaring men, and they proposed that we
should swim over to the little island that was not more than some few
hundred yards from the shore.

"And what's to become of our arms and of the wounded?" said the Gypsey.

"Oh!" said they, "make a little raft, and put our arms and clothes on the
top of it, and then swim and push it over; there's no tide, and the lake
is as smooth as glass."

"A capital plan," said the Gypsey; "we'll do it,--and then we can defy
the murdering villains that are after us; for if they attempt to get at
us, we shall have all the advantage of firing at them under cover."

The bushrangers were not long in putting this scheme in execution. All
the time, you were watched by two scouts, and they saw you sitting by
your fire and enjoying yourselves; but it was not their game to excite
your attention. The rogues worked hard, and by launching some dry logs
into the lake, which they lashed together with bullock-hide, they soon
made a sufficient raft for that purpose.

"Now," said the Gypsey, "are you all ready? But I forgot,--can you all
swim?"

Three of them, who had been mechanics of some sort, declared they could
not swim a stroke.

"Here's a mess! Well, I tell you what you must do, my fine fellows; you
must hold on in the water by the raft--that will keep you from sinking.
But what shall we do with our prisoner?"

"Oh, let him go,--he'll only be in the way!"

"No, no, we'll keep him, we may find a use for him yet. Now, Sir, can you
swim?"

"No," said I--for the thought struck me of a stratagem to escape--"and I
hope you will not expose me to the risk of being drowned."

"Oh, you must take your chance; it's no worse to be drowned than be
hanged; so strip, mister, and bundle into the water."

I took off my clothes, and the scouts having been withdrawn, and the
whole party collected, we advanced towards the water.

"Stop," said one of the sailors; "how much line can we make by putting it
all together?"

By a general contribution of neckcloths, garters, cords, and
bullock-hide, they made a line of about a hundred and fifty yards in
length. "What's this for?" said the Gypsey.

"You'll see the use of it presently," said the sailor. "Now for it;" and
we all got into the water.

"Where's the prisoner?" said the Gypsey.

"Alongside me," said the other sailor, "he's all safe."

In this manner the swimmers slowly and with great difficulty pushed
forward the raft, those who could not swim, and I, pretending not to be
able to swim, holding on. They had reached the middle of the passage, or
a little more, when the sailor to the right said to the one by me,
"Mate, take the end of the line and swim to the shore, I think it will
reach it now, and then haul on gently, and that will quicken our work and
lighten it too, for it's getting more than we can do. Be alive, for this
is too hard work to last long."

My near companion quitted me with much alacrity, glad to be relieved from
his share of the toil of propelling the clumsy wood-work, and shortly
afterwards I felt that the raft was being hauled in from the shore.

The attention of the bushrangers around being distracted from me by this
circumstance, I took advantage of the opportunity, and quietly dropped
under water, for I had been taught to swim, as a necessary part of my
education, in early youth; and I was as confident in the water, so long
as my strength lasted, as on dry land.

On this occasion, I had need of all my skill. My limbs were torpid and
benumbed from inaction in the water and by the exposure of my hands and
arms to the cold night air. I may add, that all the bushrangers
complained of the piercing coldness of the lake-water, and there was a
terrible chattering of teeth among the holders-on before I left them.

Well--I dropped quietly under water, taking care to keep my head, as I
thought, towards the shore of the main land; and although my limbs were
almost paralysed by the cold, I contrived by a vigorous effort to strike
out for nearly half-a-minute under water,--there's no knowing what a man
can do till his life is at stake,--and when I came to the surface, I had
the satisfaction to find that I was at a fair distance from the raft.

I swam on lustily, but in my hurry, and, I suppose, anxiety and confusion
of mind, instead of swimming towards the main land, I swam towards
another island, which in the darkness I mistook for it. This island was
nearly a mile from the spot that I quitted, and being deceived as to its
distance, I expected to reach it without much effort, and I nearly
exhausted myself by quick swimming, before I was much more than half-way
over.

Fortunately, there was not a breath of air stiring, and the water was
quite smooth, but bitterly cold. I rested in the water for some seconds,
but the cold was so piercing that I was afraid of cramp; so I struck out
again, and worked hard. I reached the shore of the island at last, but I
was so completely exhausted, that I could scarcely stand. The morning now
began to break, and I perceived that I was about half a mile from a low
point of land which ran out from the main shore into the lake.

I was too tired to venture into the water again, and I assure you that my
situation was a very awkward one indeed. I kept running up and down for
some time to keep myself warm, and at last I thought I might as well be
drowned as die of cold where I was, so I plunged into the water again,
and made an effort to reach the opposite shore.

I had got a little more than half-way across, when my strength failed me,
and I began to sink slowly into the water. I gave myself up for lost, and
I began to utter that which I considered my last prayer, when I felt my
foot strike against the ground; the water reached to my chin, and I was
just saved! I cautiously waded on, fearing to fall into some hole every
moment; but the water grew shallower and shallower, and the sand beneath
my feet was firm and even, and I arrived at the dry land.

Without losing a moment, I set off to the point where I expected to find
my friends; I met them on their way to the concealed boat. They were much
astonished, as you may suppose, at the sight of a creature that evidently
was not a kangaroo, but that was similarly unencumbered by any article of
dress. But matters were soon explained, and they had a fine laugh at the
joke, when I told them how I had escaped. There was a friendly
subscription of articles of apparel, to which the slain bushrangers were
made to contribute more efficiently.

"Well--and did you find the boat?"

We found the boat in pretty good condition, with a couple of sculls in
her. We soon launched her, and then it was debated what should be our
mode of attack. The old sergeant--what a grim old fellow he is!--proposed
that we should attack them on three sides at once, and make two rafts to
assist us.

"If we go all together in a huddle in this little boat," said he, "they
will fire at us in a heap, and we shall have no chance, at least not
without great loss, and that we should endeavour to avoid; whereas, by
firing from three points at once, we shall distract their attention, and
those in the boat may dash in and charge them. Of course, we soldiers
will go in the boat; it will just hold us and no more."

"I don't like your lives to be risked even in this way," said the
magistrate. "I think the safer plan will be to starve them out. We gain
nothing by exposing our lives unnecessarily in a conflict with hardened
felons and murderers: they can do no harm where they are, and they must
be starved out at last. We can keep a strict watch on them by the aid of
our boat, and my opinion is, some of them will get tired of being
starved, and will betray the rest."

"Just as you please, Sir," said the sergeant--"it's all one to us; but I
should like to make a dash at'em, the cowardly scoundrels! to murder a
soldier in cold blood! and fire at his back! But if these rascals were to
put another dodge on us, and steal off while we are looking on, there
would be a fine laugh against us when we got back to Camp! We don't mind
doing it alone rather than not do it at all--what do you say, my men;
shall we try the boat?"

"Ay, ay," said the men; "we can fire close, and they can never stand it;
besides, we can fire three times to their one, as they have to load from
their powder-horns, while we have our cartridges. Better have it over at
once, and rap at them while we can."

"Well" said the magistrate, "I have my doubts; but it certainly is of
importance to secure these desperate fellows, and it would not be
pleasant to have the laugh against us if they escape; so let us set about
it without losing time."

We all set to work, and we were busy constructing our raft when Crab and
your man appeared on horseback.

"Yes," said Crab, "we tracked you to the place where you had the first
fight, and then we easily tracked you on to the boat. And such a set of
mad fellows I never saw before in all the days of my life; one would have
thought you were going to have a frolic instead of a deadly fight with
desperate men; but this horrid country makes all the people mad, and mad
they must have been to come to it, and madder to stop in it--that's my
opinion!"

"Mr. Crab entertains peculiar views," said Moss, "and he has his own way
of expressing himself: but to proceed with my story--that is, if I am not
making it too long."

"Not a bit," said I; "we have nothing to do but to hear it; and, as I was
at the beginning of the fray, I should like to hear the end of it."

Well, then (said Moss), we worked hard all that day, but we could not
construct anything to our minds as a fighting raft. Half of the soldiers
were despatched to keep watch on the part of the shore which we had
quitted, and which was nearest to the island. We passed the night as
usual, but we had plenty of fires to keep the cold off. Next day we
finished our raft, which we launched into the water. It was then towed by
the boat towards the island. When we approached within range, a
musket-shot was fired from the shore, which we observed fell short of the
boat in the water, but we saw no one on the beach.

"This will never do," said the magistrate; "we shall all be picked off
this way."

He then called out to the sergeant to go back, which was done, and we
returned to the land to the point from which the bushrangers had started
the morning before. We all went on shore again, and consulted on what
should be done. We were engaged in this deliberation when we were
agreeably surprised by the appearance of a corporal's party of soldiers,
and presently afterwards by a bullock-cart drawn by four bullocks, and
bearing another boat, which had been despatched from Hobart Town to the
lake, as it was guessed such an assistance might be wanted. This boat was
larger and stronger than the one we had found, and being thus provided
and our strength being reinforced by the addition of the corporal's
party, it was at once resolved that we should force the bushrangers in
their retreat by a simultaneous attack on different points. The sergeant
took the command of one boat and the magistrate of the other.



CHAPTER V.

THE GOVERNOR'S PROCLAMATION--THE MAGISTRATE'S MISSION--THE SERGEANT'S
DEVICE--THE BUSHRANGERS CAPTURED.

WE were just shoving off from the shore, when a messenger on horseback
arrived from Hobart Town, bearing a letter from the Governor to the
magistrate, which of course we stopped to read, as the despatch was
marked "Important and Immediate." The magistrate having read it over to
himself, said that as its contents concerned us all, he would read it
aloud, which he did to the following effect:--

"By----, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of his Majesty's Settlements on Van
Diemen's Land, etc. etc. etc.

"Whereas the convicts named in the margin, who have been sent to the new
settlement of Macquarie Harbour, have effected their escape by passing
the mountains, and are now at large; and whereas it has been represented
to me by ---- , Esq., at whose house the said convicts, or several of
them, were on the 9th instant, that they or several of them were desirous
of surrendering themselves to the Government; I do hereby declare that
all or any of the convicts named in the margin, together with such others
as may have made their escape from Macquarie Harbour at the same time,
shall be pardoned for all offences committed by them, murder excepted,
upon surrendering themselves, with their arms, to any of the under-named
gentlemen, they being in the nomination for the magistracy of this
island, or to any officer or non-commissioned officer commanding a party
of the King's troops, provided that such surrender shall be made on or
before the 21st instant.

"And I do hereby require and authorize ----, Esq., of the Clyde, ----,
Esq., of Jericho, and ----, Esq., of the Clyde, they being in the
nomination of the magistracy, to receive all or any of the said convicts
on their voluntary surrender, to convey to them a pledge on my part that
no charge shall be exhibited against them for any offence committed by
them in this island, murder excepted, provided they shall surrender
themselves, with their arms, on or before the 21st instant.

"And I do hereby declare, that in the event of the said convicts not
accepting the mercy herein offered, and of their continuing in a state of
resistance to the laws after the time specified, I will cause the whole
of the King's troops, together with the armed inhabitants, to be put in
motion against them, and that I will put a price upon each of their
heads, authorizing all his Majesty's subjects to bring them in, dead or
alive.

"And I do hereby further declare that I do by this paper, under my hand
and the seal of the colony, convey to you full power to pledge me to the
several convicts for the performance of all herein expressed and declared
on my part, and to receive their surrender.

"----, Lieutenant-Governor, "Government House, Hobart Town,

"To ----,Esq., "River Clyde."

"Now, my friends," said the worthy justice, "it is all very well to show
your courage and your determination in making an attack on these
bushrangers, but we must not be too hasty in the matter. Bear in mind
that our object should be to capture these dangerous men without
unnecessarily exposing our own lives, or the lives of these brave
soldiers who are so eager to get to close quarters with the murderers of
their comrade. As the Government has empowered us to offer that their
lives should be spared, with the exception of the actual murderers, on
the condition of their surrendering themselves, it is my duty to make the
clemency of the Government known to them, and to give them this chance of
saving their lives."

There was some murmuring at this, and it was contended that no terms
ought to be kept with villains who had committed outrages and atrocities
so horrible as these had done; but the magistrate was firm in his sense
of his duty, and declared that he was determined to give effect to the
merciful intentions of the Government.

"But how are we to acquaint them with it?" said the sergeant; "they will
be sure to fire on us if we approach them in a body, and I don't suppose
that any one of us is inclined to go alone into their den of wolves!"

"I will not ask any one to do my duty for me," said the magistrate; "I
shall take one of the constables with me to pull the boat, and go alone,
and without arms; my mission will be a mission of peace and mercy, and I
must take my chance of the rest. Come, Worrall," said he, "step into the
boat and pull me over."

"I'm a bad hand at pulling," said Worrall, "and besides, they have a
particular spite against me, and would skin me alive if they could get
me; not that I mind, only I would rather anybody else did the job this
time."

"You can pull a long face," said the sergeant, "at any rate; but one of
us can go, if his honour pleases."

"No, no," said the magistrate; "Worrall is the proper man; it is right
that he should attend me in his official capacity."

It was with the most ludicrous reluctance that Worrall proceeded to
exercise his official functions on this disagreeable occasion; and as his
face was turned towards us as he sat in the boat with the sculls in his
hands, the dolorous countenance of that usually facetious individual
raised a general shout of laughter.

"I know," said Worrall, in most lugubrious accents, "I'm booked; I shall
be riddied like a sieve! Ah! you may laugh, but how would you like it
yourselves? And the bushrangers always put jagged balls in their guns,
out of spite; as if smooth ones would not do as well!"

"Give me a stick--and tie something white--a handkerchief, or something
to it, that we may not run any useless risk. That will do--now shove us
off--and--Worrall what's the matter with the man? Give way! the sooner we
are there the sooner it will be over."

"Well," said Mr. Crab, "if you don't like to be shot yourself, you
needn't disgust other people with it! What made you stay in this horrid
country? It's your own fault for stopping in it, where there's nothing
but wild bushrangers and savage natives to murder and devour you--that's
my opinion!"

"Oh!" groaned Worrall, "it will be all over soon enough!"

The boat proceeded languidly on its way, feebly propelled by exceedingly
slow strokes, the scalls, as we observed, rising perpendicularly into the
air, and descending again in a straight line into the water, thereby
causing the least possible motion to the boat which bore the wretched
Worrall to his miserable doom, who ever and anon looked over his shoulder
towards the anticipated spot of his expected sacrifice, ducking his head
occasionally with a quick and frantie motion, to avoid the shots which
his fears suggested were being aimed at him. The magistrate, who was
standing up in the boat with the white flag in his hand, at last seized
hold of Worrall's almost paralysed hands, and forcing him to row, by a
few vigorous strokes the boat was soon forced into the midchannel.

We now observed the bushrangers assembling on the beach of the island in
order of fighting, and with their arms in their hands. As the boat
approached the shore, we saw the magistrate wave his white flag in one
hand, while in the other he held up the open letter which he had received
from the Governor. The boat now neared the shore and became stationary,
but we could not hear what passed.

"I will supply that deficiency," said the magistrate. "I confess I did
not feel very comfortable as we approached the spot where the bushrangers
were assembled, and when I felt that my life was in their power; but I
lost no time in telling them of the merciful offer of the Governor.
Worrall had laid himself down at the bottom of the boat, which I saw
excited the bushrangers' suspicions; I made him get up, therefore, and
when they caught sight of his face, there was a general shout of anger,
and more than one piece was levelled at him. I put up my hand and
appealed to their honour, and said that I had trusted myself among them
in order to save life; that I was bound to do my duty, and that I could
not better evince my desire to save them from the consequences of their
holding out, than by my present act in confiding to their good feelings.
I am inclined to think my eloquence would not have saved me from their
murderous inclinations, if it had not been for their leader, who really
is a fine fellow, and I should like to save him if I could. Some of the
rascals called out 'Treachery!' and pointed their guns at me, but their
leader (the Gypsey) stopped them, and he and I had a parley together. I
should say that I observed evident signs in some of them of an
inclination to submit themselves.

"'Will all our lives be spared?' said the Gypsey,'if we surrender?'

"'Not all,' said I, 'but all except those who actually committed the
murders with which you are charged.'

"'But we are all in for it,' said he, 'and we must stand or fall
together; we won't agree to have some picked out from the rest to be
hanged in Camp yonder!'

"'I cannot engage,' said I, 'that all your lives shall be spared; but
your immediate and quiet surrender would no doubt go far in your favour.'

"'Let us hear that part of the Governor's letter read to us word for
word,' said the Gypsey.

"I read it to them from beginning to end, but they shook their heads at
it.

"'It won't do' said the Gypsey; 'we may as well be shot as hanged. But
you see we are well armed and prepared for you. We don't wish to do you
any harm; I believe you mean well to us; but if you attack us, you must
take the consequence. We will fight it out to the death. What say you, my
men, shall it be life or death with us?'

"'Ay, ay,' said the men; 'no surrender, no surrender!'

"I thought my position was getting ticklish, for the bushrangers were
working themselves up to a pitch of savage fury. I therefore thought of
the best mode of retiring.

"'I will give you,' said I, 'another hour to consider of the offer of
the Governor; if before the end of that time you will consent to submit,
hold up a bough by the water's edge, which we shall be able to see from
the other side. I leave you now, hoping that you will consider the
merciful offer of the Governor, and take advantage of this chance of
saving your lives.' So saying, and without waiting for a reply, I
immediately took the sculls and pulled back; and glad enough was I to
escape so well, I can assure you. And now, Moss, do you tell the rest."

We waited till the expiration of the hour (said Moss), but we observed
that the bushrangers were very busy with the dead wood, and with boughs
of trees, which they cut down and dragged to the shore, to form, as it
seemed, a shelter, behind which they might defend themselves, and at the
end of the time we saw one of them holding the bough of a tree in his
hand, which he waved about.

"They have agreed to surrender," said the magistrate; "don't you see the
signal which we agreed on?"

"Not a bit of it," said the old sergeant; "those fortifications have not
been run up for nothing: the treacherous devils, they show that branch as
a feint, depend upon it, to put us off our guard. But I think we may take
advantage of their own stratagem, and by pretending to be deceived, we
shall be able to deceive them. Now, Sir," said he to the magistrate,
"will you be ruled by me for this once? I'm an old peninsular campaigner,
and have had some experience in the bush with the Yankees, and I am up to
their manoeuvres."

"With all my heart," said the magistrate; "what do you propose to do?"

"Why this is what I propose. First, do you get into the boat again with
Worrall, as if you saw and understood their signal, and relied upon their
meaning to surrender. When you are sure they have seen you do this, then
come back, as if you had determined on some other plan of receiving their
submission. Now look at the wind! You see it blows from us to them pretty
smartish. Let all of us hoist white flags or boughs of trees; they will
see us from the other side, and they will think we are sure of their
surrendering quietly, and so being deceived, if they mean treachery, we
shall be able to circumvent them. Now you see the wind, as I said, blows
from us to them. We must make a large fire, as if for cooking, and to
make it look as if we had abandoned all thoughts of fighting."

"How will that help us?" said the magistrate.

"Why, you see when we make a good fire, we can make at the same time a
good smoke, and smoke enough to hide us from the view of the
bushrangers."

"And what will you do then?"

"Let one boat go straight forward, making all the noise you can, to fix
their attention, while the other steals round to the side of the island.
We soldiers will go in that, and take them in flank, and then we shall
have them nicely; and while they are engaged with us, you can push on and
land, and so they will be between two fires."

"Good!" said the magistrate; "a capital scheme; that is, if you can make
smoke enough."

"Oh, let me alone for that," said the sergeant; "I learnt that trick long
ago in America; I'll warrant I'll make a smoke that a man can't see a pot
of beer through it."

The sergeant's plan was immediately carried into execution. We collected
a quantity of dead leaves, which at this season of the year are damp and
difficult to inflame. We first made a fire as usual, and then we
proceeded to light others along the shore, taking care to smother them
with dead leaves, which raised plenty of smoke, which the wind carried
over the water in the direction of the island. We then manned the boats,
and pursuing the plan of the sergeant, made as much noise as possible in
pulling over. In the meantime, under cover of the smoke, the second boat,
with the sergeant and his party, made the best of its way to the side of
the island. When we came within speaking distance, a voice hailed us:

"What the devil do you kick up such a smoke for?"

"The wood by the side of the lake is damp and will not burn. We saw your
signal, and we are come to receive your surrender."

"Surrender be ----! More fools you to suppose we were going to give
ourselves up to be hanged like sheep in a slaughter-house. Take that for
your folly."

At these words a volley was fired at us, but we were prepared for it, and
by falling down in the boat we escaped it altogether, the shots, in the
obscurity of the smoke, going over our heads. Without returning the fire,
we immediately pulled off, and when we had got to a safe distance, we
began to fire, to distract the attention of the bushrangers from the
second boat. We continued to fire for some minutes, till the smoke
cleared away, and then we had the satisfaction to see that the boat with
the soldiers had succeeded in getting round a point of land which
concealed them from the sight of the bushrangers.

"The murderous and treacherous rascals!" muttered Worrall, "they deserve
to be punished for this villanous treachery. Lucky we were to escape from
them, but I suppose the Gypsey thought he should secure our destruction
best by this trick."

"Now," said the magistrate, "we may calculate the soldiers have landed.
Let us pull inshore and be ready to second them. Fire as fast as you can
till we get close in, and then let half reserve their fire. There are the
soldiers stealing round! The bushrangers don't see them yet! They little
expect an attack from that quarter! Now, my friends! Fire away!--Keep it
up--There go the soldiers! Give way!--pull--pull--reserve your fire!
There go the soldiers again! The rascals are puzzled! They don't know
what to make of it. Pull away!--Pull away!"

We were not long in reaching the shore, and the bushrangers being engaged
with their unexpected enemy, seemed panic-struck. They fired at the
soldiers, but without vigour and without aim. In the meantime we were
upon them on the other side; and the soldiers, fixing their bayonets,
without hesitating, charged in among them.

We got up to them at nearly the same time, and stopped their retreat.
They were so bewildered by the suddenness of the unexpected attack of the
soldiers, that they made but little resistance, with the exception of the
Gypsey and another man, who, seeing that their game was lost, darted into
the wood. Thinking that we had them safe within the island, we first
turned our attention to the securing of those we had got, whom we bound
hand and foot before they had time to recover from their panic; three of
them lay dead from the fire of the soldiers, and several were slightly
wounded.

"Where's their leader?" cried the magistrate.

"He has escaped for the present, but we are sure to have him at last."

"The boat," said the sergeant; "the boat on the other side--look to it."
It was too late. The Gypsey had been too quick for us. We saw him above a
couple of miles from the shore, pulling with his companion with all their
might to the main land.

"There they go," said Crab--"and all that we have done is of no use, and
I have got one of their buck-shot through my arm; more fool I for going
after them. What have I to do with fighting bushrangers? And there go the
two greatest rogues of the lot; they were the ringleaders and the
stirrers up of all the mischief! and all our work is to do over again.
I'll be bound, before night, they'll commit a dozen murders at least.
Well, this is making a silly end of it--that's my opinion!"

"Corporal," said the sergeant, "lose no time; you must put yourself on
their tracks; you and your party will be enough for those two; I will
take care of the prisoners."

"Put the corporal's party on shore," said the magistrate, to the two
constables, "where the other boat lands. You can then return and tow it
back with you."

Worrall and his fellow-constables stepped into the boat, and the
corporal, making the usual military salaam, departed with his men in
pursuit of the terrible Gypsey. When they returned, we all crossed over
to the main land, much to the joy of our friend Beresford, and the relief
of the Government messenger. We immediately set off on our return to the
Clyde, when to our surprise we learnt that you had not yet arrived. We
feared that you had been killed by the natives, but Crab insisted on
immediately going in search of you, as he said you might be lamed or lost
in the bush.

Information was brought to us that the magistrate's horse, on which you
had started from the lake, had returned home lame, and without saddle or
bridle. This increased our fears for your safety, and we had no
difficulty in mustering a sufficient party to aid you in case of
danger. Thank God we found you when we did.

"It was just in time," said I.

"It was, indeed; but that's over now; and when you get home to your
family you will soon recover yourself, and get things to rights again."

With this we turned ourselves to sleep, and I slept soundly. The morning
light found me refreshed and restored, and I roused up the party to lose
no time in crossing the river. We found a fording-place higher up, and
crossed without accident. Beresford placed himself by my side, and we
strode cheerfully on.

After a sharp march of some miles we passed the Shannon, and I began to
feel myself again...

"What has become of poor Lucy Moss?" said I. "It was you who saved her
life on that awful night! When we left her on our expedition to the lake,
she had not recovered consciousness.--Is she still alive?"

"Miss Moss has to thank your wife for her recovery," said Beresford,
"more than me. But look there! Did you ever see such a shot?--that
cockatoo on the end of the branch of the tree there!"

"Never mind the cockatoo, man," said I; "we have had shooting enough for
one bout; let the cockatoo alone. Well, poor girl, I hope she is grateful
to you for her life, when you carried her in your arms on that terrible
night that we found her lying on the trunk of the tree over the Clyde! It
is not every one that would have perilled his life by scrambling along
that tree like an opossum, as you did; and I remember how very kind you
were! and when we offered to help you, you said the poor girl was not in
the least heavy, and I suppose--but bless the man, what is the matter
with him? you are not going to faint, are you? And what makes you turn so
red in that odd way?"

"It's my arm," said he, "that gives me a twinge now and then."

"Oh!--is it? and who has done it up so nicely? Here's been a woman's hand
in this, I'll swear. Was it my wife that sewed on all these little black
ribands so prettily--eh?"

"It was not Mrs. Thornley who did it exactly "--

"Exactly! What, had anybody else a hand in it?"

"Not particularly--that is, not altogether; but Mrs. Thornley had the
kindness to hold my arm while--while--I think it was Miss Moss who sewed
on the ties."--

"Oh! it was! and who"--

"There's the Clyde at last," said Beresford. "Look,--cast your eyes just
over that bare branch of the high gum tree--don't you see the water? It
can't be more than four miles from us!"

"You seem to be in a particular hurry to get back. Nothing wrong about
your affairs, I hope?"

"O dear, no! The truth is, that--that--I want--that is--that I'm
anxious--"

"Anxious to do what?"

"To see how your men that is, my men--have got on with the hedging and
ditching since I've been away."--

"Indeed!" said I.--

I did not make any further observation to my young friend, who suddenly
quitted my side, but I thought a good deal, and I said to myself--"I've
seen many curious things in my time, but I never knew a young fellow in
such a hurry to see a hedge and a ditch before!"

But I was now drawing nearer and nearer to home, and that feeling put out
of my head all other thoughts. The loud and joyous shouts of our party
proclaimed from a distance their approach and their success. In a moment
I crossed the memorable tree across the river, and found myself once more
in the embraces of my wife and children.



CHAPTER VI.

HE RETURNS TO HIS HOME--SETS ABOUT REPAIRING HIS DISASTERS--HOW TO BUILD
A HOUSE WITH PULVERIZED EARTH--MR. CRAB'S INCREASED IMPORTANCE, AND HOW
SHEEP MAY INCREASE FROM ONE HUNDRED TO TWO THOUSAND--THE BUILDING OF A
STONE HOUSE RESOLVED ON.

IT is now fourteen years since the events which I have related happened;
but I remember them as if they were of yesterday. Taking my wife in one
hand and my eldest daughter in the other, I led them silently to the
humble hut, which now formed our only dwelling. Our hearts were too full
to speak.--I looked round for William; my wife guessed my thoughts.

"William is out seeking for you over the hills towards Sorrell's Lake."

I looked on my other children, and kissed them one by one.

"Let me be alone," I said, "for a little while:--my head is giddy."

I sat down on a wooden bench, and tried to collect my thoughts; but the
revulsion was too much for me! The terrible emotions which I had suffered
had shaken me more than I was aware of; the events of a lifetime seemed
to have been crowded into the ten days' space since I had left my happy
home.

In that brief time how much had I suffered!--I had fought in some
desperate conflicts!--I had been lost for six days in the dreary and
dismal bush! I had been all but overcome in my death struggle with the
natives? Desolation now met my eyes where I had left abundance; and the
blackened ruins of my once cheerful cottage lay in a melancholy heap as I
passed them by!

Overcome by the sudden rush of all these thoughts which at once assailed
me, and over powered with the surpassing joy of beholding those whom so
recently I had never expected to see again, I felt that choking at the
throat which seizes on those who are torn by conflicting emotions:
mine were joy and sadness. I think my bosom would have burst had not
tears come to my relief; I tried to check them as unmanly, and unseemly
at such a moment; but they came thicker and thicker, and in the fulness
and thankfulness of my joy, I sobbed aloud.

My dear wife took my hands and pressed them tenderly; motioning her to
kneel down with me, I raised my heart in gratitude and prayer to that
Being, through whose help I had been sustained in my many perils. Then
summoning my children, I caressed them again, and my dear William soon
after coming in, with all the boisterous gladness of a young heart,
shouted out his joyous greeting.

That evening was one of joy and thankfulness; we did not think of what we
had lost, but of what we had gained. But a sort of brain fever was the
consequence of the excitement to which I had been exposed, which confined
me for many days to my bed.

When I recovered sufficiently to attend to my affairs, I found that I had
in a great measure to begin again the work of a settler in the country;
but industry and perseverance will conquer most difficulties; so I set
about repairing my disasters with a stout heart, and as we all worked
willingly, we worked cheerfully, stimulated by the feeling that we were
working for ourselves, and that every improvement that we made--every
stone that we laid--and every stick that we planted, was on our own land,
and for the benefit of ourselves and our children.

My first care was to look after my sheep; for that was my main stock, and
what I most depended on. I had the mortification to find that my home
flock of merinoes had got dispersed in the bush, but my three other
flocks at their different runs, consisting of about three thousand, were
safe. It took some time to recover my merinoes, for they had strayed
away, and had become mixed with the sheep of various neighbours, but I
got them nearly all together again after a short time. As to the tame
cattle, they were gathered in by degrees, but it cost my horses severe
work to get in the wild herds, with which they were mixed.

The worst part of the business was the loss by fire at home, of
furniture, bedding, books, and, indeed, of almost every thing that the
old cottage and the adjacent buildings contained. But there were no lives
lost, and that was a great consolation.

My friend Moss was re-established in his log hut on the other side of the
river, and I heard that young Beresford was particularly attentive in
giving them the benefit of his assistance in putting their little farm to
rights, and my daughter Betsey, then sixteen years of age, and inclined
to be saucy occasionally, told me very demurely "that Mr. Beresford was
so very kind! that he was there every day, showing Miss Moss how to plan
her little flower-garden, which must be an exceedingly difficult thing to
do," Betsey remarked, "on the other side of the river, as the
flower-garden did not seem to make much progress, although her instructor
was always explaining to her from morning till night something or other
about it."

This was said in such a sly way, that I looked on Betsey with eyes which
betokened some little surprise at her observations, and it suddenly
struck me that eight years had passed away since I first came to the
Clyde, and that my eldest daughter, now sixteen years of age, was
assuming the airs of womanhood.

My son William, too, who had reached his eighteenth year, had lately been
throwing out hints on the propriety of his making a visit to Hobart Town
to purchase razors. I had put a stop to that sort of presumption some
time before by gravely offering him a cart and four bullocks to bring up
a razor for him, but I felt that these pretensions would at no distant
time assume a character which required care and consideration, and that
it was incumbent on me to provide for them in time. These thoughts acted
as further stimulants to my exertions.

It was on a bright frosty morning in that same month of June, 1824, that
I summoned Crab to a cabinet council on the subject of our projected new
house. I was inclined to try a new mode of building which had lately been
introduced in the colony, under the name of pisé building, and which
seemed to answer very well, and in places where brick or stone building
was expensive, formed a very good substitute. The way of raising a pisé
house was this:--

The breadth and position of the wall being determined--we will suppose
the projected house to be forty feet long by twenty feet wide--two
upright poles, of the height of the walls, are firmly fixed in the ground
at each end of the line, having a space between them of about two feet,
more or less, according to the contemplated thickness of the wall; more
poles are fixed in the middle of the line, if wanted, according to the
length of the proposed building. Flat boards, of about a foot in width,
and an inch and a half or two inches thick, are fastened to the upright
poles from end to end of the forty feet, forming a framework--the mould
of the future wall.

For the material of the wall ordinary loam is taken in the state in which
it is usually found, but it is necessary that it should be dry enough to
be sifted through a fine sieve, as on the absence of all stones and
extraneous matter larger than will pass through a fine sieve, the
strength and durability of the wall mainly depend. The pulverized and
sifted earth is now thrown into the framework forming its mould, at first
to the depth of about four to six inches, and afterwards not more than
will form a depth of about two inches. I should say that the foundation
of this house may be of stone or thick plank, and that the foundation
ought to be raised sufficiently above the surface to avoid wet; it may be
the ground itself properly levelled; but such a house so built is not so
durable.

The next operation is the ramming, and it is by the peculiar sort of
rammer used that the solidity of the walls is produced. The rammer should
be any rough pole, about ten feet long, and two or three inches in
diameter; the ramming end of this pole is to be shaped to a sharp point,
and in this shaping some skill is required. If the sloping to the point
is begun too near the end, the instrument will be too blunt, and will
disturb too large a surface of the pulverized earth, so that the fine
particles will not be brought into the proper close contact, and the wall
will not be sufficiently solid; and if the sloping is begun too high up,
the ramming part will be too pointed, and will only make holes, instead
of pressing the particles of earth closely together. The proper medium
must be ascertained by a few trials, and experience will soon teach the
right shape.

Two or more men, according to the extent of the wall, stand within the
framework of boards, and as the earth is thrown in by assistants, they
keep continually ramming in the earth under their feet lightly with their
pointed poles. Care should be taken not to ram hard, and not to attempt
to do the work too fast.

In this way, in a very short time, a capital house may be raised by very
simple means, and with cheap materials to be found everywhere, and not
requiring the skill of a bricklayer or stone-mason; and in a short time
the wall becomes as hard as stone, and of the same apparent solidity, so
that a pickaxe will not make much more impression on a wall so built than
on a block of stone. This was the sort of house that I contemplated
building for our new dwelling.

"This is a bad job, Crab," I began, "but it might have been worse; there
have been no lives lost from this sad fire, that is one great
consolation; but we can't live without a house; the point to be settled
is, what sort of one we shall build. You have seen a good deal of this
new sort of houses at Pitt Water, what do you think of them?"

Now it must be premised, that Mr. Crab had become a very important
personage in the district of the Clyde. At the beginning of 1817, seven
years before, I had prevailed on him to purchase with his small capital a
hundred ewes heavy with lamb, and to put them out "on thirds;" which he
did with an honest settler on the other side, the Launceston side, of the
island.

As the keeper of the sheep was to have one third of their produce to
reimburse him for his care and expense, two-thirds remained for the
owner; and as Crab consumed none, and sold little of the increase,
excepting for the purpose of replacing the wethers with breeding ewes, in
the course of seven years Crab's original one hundred ewes had increased,
notwithstanding theft and all sorts of losses, to two flocks of sheep of
above one thousand each, which he had established on separate runs, to
the eastward of Salt Pan Plains. He had continued to live with me in my
house, and was considered, as he considered himself, a part of the
family, and maintained his authority as the autocrat of the ploughs and
corn-fields.

I must add, that having now attained the age of sixty-eight, he had
become more obstinate in his opinions than ever, and my recent
calamities, which he declared he had all along foreseen and expected,
confirmed him in his conviction of his superior penetration and sagacity.

"What do you think, Crab," said I, "of running up a pisé house? It's
easily done, and we can do it with the men we have got about us."

Crab slowly raised himself from the log of a tree on which he was
sitting, and placing on the rough table of gum tree boards his two hard
and brown hands, he inclined his head a little forwards to me, and with
much solemnity replied:

"And is it possible, Mr. Thornley, that you are thinking of building
another house in this miserable place? Have you not had warning enough,
by bushrangers, and by natives, and by fires, to show you the wrongness
of all that you have done? And eight years ago, in this very place, did I
not tell you what would happen? and hasn't it happened? And now you are
thinking of beginning it all over again! Why, it's a mere tempting of
Providence!"

"Oh, papa," said Betsey, "do let us go back to England. Since all this
work about the bushrangers and natives, I declare I'm quite frightened
and besides, there's not a shop near us, one must send to Hobart Town for
everything; and if one wants a new riband for a bonnet, a bullock cart
must be sent fifty miles for it! The idea of bringing up a new bonnet in
a cart drawn by four bullocks!"

"Nonsense! Betsey," said William; "what do you want with new bonnets up
here, where there are nothing but cows and sheep to see you? ('ain't
there, though?' I thought Betsey muttered). To be sure, it is awkward not
to have a boot maker near, and if you want any trifle done to your gun,
you must take it to town. That certainly is a nuisance.

"Miss Betsey is a very sensible young lady," said Crab, "and I think the
best thing to be done is for us all to go home again to England, and
there we can have a nice little farm, and in Shropshire I know many that
are to be got at a low rent."

"Rent!" said I, "that word would be a settler, Crab, if there was no
other argument against it. Thank Heaven! we have done with rent! Our land
is our own; we are our own masters; depending on our own exertions for
prosperity and fortune!"

"A pretty prosperity has come of it!" said the indomitable Crab. "It's a
very prosperous state of affairs, isn't it, when a man is shot at day
after day by bushrangers, and gets lost in the bush, and is hunted by
natives--and--I ask you, now, master, whether, in your conscience, you
can deny that you ought at this moment to be a roasted man?"

"A roasted man," said my wife. "Good Heavens! Mr. Crab, what odd ideas
you have!"

"But I'm not roasted yet," said I, "and, excepting that clip which the
native's womera gave me on the leg, I'm not much the worse for it. And,
by the bye, Crab, how do your sheep get on beyond the Salt Pan Plains?
Why, you will have more sheep in a short time than you will know what to
do with. What would you do with them in England? It would require a good
bit of land to feed two thousand sheep; and then the rent! No rent to pay
here--eh!"

"Eh!" said Crab--"ah! but it's better to pay rent and have your property
safe, than pay it in the shape of bushrangers, sheep-stealing, and
burning, and such like."

"That's a drawback," said I, "it must be confessed; but still, my friend
Crab, with all these drawbacks, and in spite of all the inconveniences
and disadvantages of this wretched country, as you call it, you have
contrived to make two thousand sheep out of one hundred in seven years! I
am inclined to think that you would not have got together a flock of two
thousand sheep in England in that time, or in any time."

"May be not," said Crab--"may be not; but then in England you can sleep
in your bed without getting up next morning and finding your throat cut,
or your house burnt about your ears. Well, well--a wilful man must have
his way! I suppose you must wait for another disaster worse than this
before you'll hear reason; but the end will come at last, and then you'll
regret you did not take my advice."

"Come, give us your advice about a pisé house, as you have seen some of
them and I have not; will they do?"

"Do! Lord bless you--never think of making a mud-pie and calling it a
house. Who ever heard of patting mud up into a heap, and then setting a
roof on it? Why, it must crumble to pieces, or be washed away by the
first rain that comes. But why talk of a mud house when you have plenty
of stone on your own land?"

"Yes: but stonemasons' work is so very expensive in this country, and
such a house would take so long in building."

"Of course it would; everything is very expensive in this country; but
you should have thought of that before you came into it. But the stone
house that I mean is one which you might build of the same sort of stone
that the old chimney of the cottage was built of; only to be done in a
more sightly manner. Why, you might build a house a hundred feet long for
a few hundred pounds, that would really be a place fit for a gentleman to
live in, and which some new fool of a settler, with plenty of money,
would buy, perhaps, when you went back to England. And I'll tell you what
I'll do," continued Crab, in his enthusiasm: "I've too many sheep by a
great deal for me to look after. I'll sell one of the flocks, and that
shall build the new house for you, and I'll start to Salt Pan Plains
about it this very day."

"Indeed," said I, "you will do no such thing."

"And why not, pray; can't I do as I like with my own sheep?"

"You may do as you like with your own sheep, but you shall not sell them
to build our house; there will be about fifteen hundred pounds due to me
in another month, which I shall not lend again, so that I shall have
plenty of money for house, furniture, and all."

"Well," said Crab, considering a little, "perhaps it's as well; it will
be all the same in the end, and you would only lose your money by lending
it. Very well; the sheep are sure to increase if you leave them alone. So
now to find a good stone-quarry."

"Let us all go," said my wife, "the day is beautiful. I want to see Mrs.
Moss on the other side of the river, and you can help us over Lucy's
bridge, and leave us at Mrs. Moss's cottage."

"Come, then," said I; "where's my fowling piece? and, Will, do you take
yours."

"Why, what on earth," said Crab, "do you want with your guns? you are not
going a mile from home."

"Perhaps not; but there's no harm in taking them with us."

"My fowling-piece is dirty," said William; "but here's a musket clean,
with the bayonet all ready fixed; and here's a cartouche-box of
cartridges."

"A pretty place to live in!" said Crab; "to go a-seeking for a
stone-quarry with muskets and fixed bayonets!"

"It's always best to be prepared," said I; "and, to my thinking,
precaution betokens courage, as it shows the calculation of danger, and
the predetermination to face it."

It will be seen that it was well, on this occasion, that we did not leave
our arms behind us.



CHAPTER VII.

STONE-QUARRIES--MANNER OF GARDENING BY YOUNG LADIES IN NEW COLONIES--A
STRANGER--MISS BETSEY SUDDENLY BECOMES SCIENTIFIC RESPECTING
STONE-QUARRIES AND OTHER MATTERS--THE LARGE ANTS RESENT THE INTRUSION ON
THEIR TERRITORIES--WILD CATTLE HUNTING--A YOUNG BULL GETS MADDENED, AND
GALLOPING INTO THE BUSH MEETS WITH BETSEY--THORNLEY SEES HER PERIL AND
GIVES HER OVER FOR LOST.

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND abounds in stone of all sorts, and especially in a sort
of stone which easily splits into flakes; it is commonly used to build
the chimney of a log-house, where bricks and lime are not easily to be
had. It is not so sightly as bricks, but it answers the purpose very
well, and almost anything in the shape of mud serves for a cement. There
was plenty of this sort of stone on my land; indeed, too much of it,
enough to build a town, and on one rise there were so many fine flat
slabs of stones lying on the surface, that it made one long to find a use
for them.

The object of our search was to find a quarry of stone easy to be worked,
near the intended site of the house, so as to avoid the expense and
trouble of carting. But first we proceeded in a body to the other side of
the river, passing in single file over the trunk of the tree which had
now obtained the name of "Lucy's bridge;" Crab brought up the rear, with
a crow-bar over his shoulder, which it pleased him to carry on this
occasion, for the purpose of raising specimens of the stone.

We found our friends busy about their cottage, which, at Mrs. Moss's
request, our diligent neighbour was carefully fortifying. The inside was
hardly large enough to contain us all, so we proceeded in a body to the
new garden, which Miss Moss, with great taste, had planned near the
river.

"Bless me!" said Betsey, "why, I declare Miss Moss has two gardeners to
assist her; there's Mr. Beresford sitting on the log of a tree, working
dreadfully hard indeed, and explaining, I suppose, something or other;
and there's another helping him, only he's too far off to join in the
conversation, with a gun over his shoulder. That's a stranger; I wonder
who he can be!"

Our approach interrupted young Beresford's dissertation on horticulture,
and he came forward with a very red face to greet us, while Miss Moss
immediately began to rake about the earth desperately. "Rather cold
work," said I, "to be idle! The month of June is not the season to sit
still in the open air. A good fire and the inside of a house would be
more comfortable."

"I thought it was very pleasant," said Beresford.

"So it appeared," said I; "but I can't stop to talk this morning. We are
going to look for stone to build our new house. Who is that young
stranger? He is very like you."

"That's my brother. You know I have been expecting him for some months.
He came up here a week ago."

"What is his age? He is younger than you."

"He is nineteen--four years younger than I am. He has got terrible
notions in his head about natives and bushrangers, and nothing on earth
will induce him to part with his gun: he eats, drinks, and sleeps with
it."

As my friend thus spoke, the stranger advanced and saluted us with a very
good air, and I was prepossessed in his favour at once by his modest and
unassuming manner. I am inclined to think that there was another of the
party who regarded him with favourable eyes; but of this I shall have to
speak in its proper place.

"Who's for a walk?" said I. "Come, Beresford, man, don't sit on that log
all day; a brisk walk will do you good."

"I would go with you with all my heart; but the truth is, I have promised
Miss Moss to show her how to trench the ground for Indian corn."

"Trench ground for Indian corn in June! Well, that's a new idea, at any
rate. You don't mean to say that you are going to sow Indian corn in the
middle of winter?"

"Sow it! No--not to sow it, but there's nothing like being prepared in
time."

"Right there," said I; "and as you like to prepare in time, had you not
better come with us and look out for a convenient stone quarry, for it
seems to me you'll soon be wanting a larger house than your present one?"

Miss Moss, at this recommendation, worked away with her rake again with
great energy; but she had the courage to say, "The surgeon, Mr. Beresford,
desired you not to use your arm; and you know he said that any exertion
would be dangerous. But pray don't let me keep you from joining your
friends. I have plenty to do inside the cottage."

So saying, she bid us a hasty adieu, and we proceeded on our walk.
Beresford said he had to speak to Mr. Moss about some sheep; but his
brother, he added, would be glad to accompany us to see the country.

"Well, then," said I, "you can stay with your mother, Betsey, and we will
go on with our search."

"I should like to go with you," said Betsey; "the day is so fine, and I
am so fond of seeing stone quarries."

"Fond of seeing stone quarries!" thought I; "what has come to the hussy;
she never was so interested about stone quarries before. Come, then," I
said, "and don't complain of being tired, for we shall make a long walk
of it, perhaps."

We re-crossed the river and struck into the bush, William going on
before, and I and Crab following sedately behind, while Betsey and the
stranger came after us. We soon came on some stone quarries, but we saw
none that pleased us. There were so many, that we were fastidious about
them.

"I know of a capital lot of stone just on the other side of that little
green hill," said Crab, "if it would not be too far for carting; but it
all lies on the surface, so the distance of cartage would be saved by the
ease of getting at the stone."

"It can do no harm for us to see it," said I, "so let us push on. Betsey!
where the deuce is the girl? Don't loiter behind so, or you'll be lost in
the bush, and your new acquaintance would not be able to help you in such
a strait, I think, eh?"

"Oh, no fear, papa, of being lost in the bush, close at home. I have more
fear of the wild cattle that the men are bringing in to-day."

"Wild cattle!" said George Beresford, "are the cattle then so wild here?
are they savage when molested?"

"Savage!" said Crab, "there's nothing savage about the poor things; but
they are angry at times, and so would you be if you had half-a dozen men
on horseback riding after you for some hours, and cracking their whips at
you enough to deafen a gum-tree! They are wildish a bit now and then, and
when there's a mob of them rampaging along, they can't stand on ceremony.
You must get out of their way, that's all. A little more to the left,
master, if you please;--no need to go over a hill when you can go round
it. There's no end to hills in this country!"

We walked on till we had gone about two miles from home, when we came
upon a splendid lot of stones of all shapes and sizes, and Crab, in his
zeal, began to use his crow-bar to heave up a slab here and there, to see
what was under it. Our new acquaintance, to manifest his desire to render
assistance in our search, took the crow-bar, and worked away with great
vigour in an irregular pit of stones, which looked of an inviting
quality. He had not proceeded far in his task, before he uttered a sharp
cry, and began to dance about.

"What's the matter?" said William; "has the crow-bar fallen on your toe?"

"Toe! it's not my toe! I've been bit by a snake!"

"A snake! It's strange that we did not observe it! But I see; it's no
snake, it's the red ants that you have disturbed, and one has given you a
nip. I'll soon bring some more of them out."

So saying, he took the crow-bar, and, peering about, struck it lightly at
the entrance of the passage several times. Immediately a swarm of these
prodigious ants sallied out, elevating their nippers, and showing signs
of anger and irritation. These red ants are about an inch and a half
long, very bold and fierce in their nature, and they do not hesitate to
attack any intruder on their domains. About four years before this time,
one of my men, who was employed in raising stone about half a mile from
the house, was obliged to abandon the quarry from the numbers and
determined hostility of these courageous and daring creatures.

We, who knew what was coming, got out of the way, but our friend, with
the curiosity of a new comer, waited in the pit, to examine the
appearance and motions of this curious army of ants. He did not stay
there long, however, for the angry ants attacked him in a moment, and,
biting his shins and crawling under his clothes, set him a-dancing in a
manner that did infinite credit to his agility. The pleasure of this
novel sensation was not increased by the loud laughter which accompanied
his capers from all--all excepting my daughter Betsey, whose usual love
of mirth had become subdued, from politeness and in courtesy to a
stranger.

"For heaven's sake, William," she called out, "do help Mr. Beresford;
those horrid ants will bite him to death."

"I'll fire at 'em," said William, "if he will only stand still and let me
pick 'em off one by one. But, never mind, they only bite, and they are
not venomous--at least much--and I never knew any harm come from their
bites. Our Bob has been bitten by them all over, and he's used to them
now, he says, and, upon my word, I think the ants learned to know him,
for they left off attacking him after a bit."

"This will do, Crab," said I; "this is capital stone and plenty of it,
and it's all down-hill, or nearly so, to the new house. So here we will
fix for our quarry. And now we will go home."

"Not home yet, papa; Mr. Beresford wants to see the falls of the Clyde."

"Well, do you and William go with him, and show him the falls; but they
are little worth seeing in June; the spring-time, in September or
October, is the time for the falls, after the rains; then they are a
sight worth seeing."

Leaving the young party to continue their walk, I and Crab turned our
steps homewards, as I expected a herd of wild cattle to be driven into
the stock-yard during the day. When we got home, I found that my wife had
returned. She blamed me for letting Betsey go so far from home, in these
troublous times, as she called them; but I told her there was no fear of
bushrangers or natives in the daytime so near a settlement, and we
followed such occupations as demanded our attention. When the time had
elapsed, however, for Betsey's return home, my wife began to be uneasy at
her absence, and urged me to go in search of her.

"She is gone into some friend's house on the way," said I; "there's no
cause for being uneasy; William is with her, and the falls are not a
quarter of a mile from a settler's house."

But all I could say could not calm my wife's uneasiness, for her late
troubles had made her timid and nervous, till I began to be uneasy
myself.

I took my double-barrelled fowling-piece, and bidding two of my men, whom
I could trust, to come with me, I set out in the direction of the falls.

I had not proceeded a hundred yards before I thought I heard the distant
lowing of cattle, and presently after the cracking of the hunters' whips
apprised me that the herd which I had been expecting all day was
approaching the stock-yard.

Judging that an additional rider would be of use in forcing them into the
yard, I returned to the hut, near which temporary stables had been
erected, and putting a saddle on the horse that was there--the two others
were out after the cattle--I was soon in the midst of the sport.

The forcing the cattle into the stock-yard is the most difficult part of
the task, as they are apt to break away when they scent the enclosure,
and to divide into separate mobs, which it is exceedingly difficult to
get together again, as they fly off in all directions, and become savage
and furious as they are hard pressed by the shouts and whips of the
huntsmen.

In collecting them from their various runs, it is the practice for three
to five or six horsemen to set out together at the earliest break of day.
The horsemen are provided with a roughly-made whip, with a leather thong,
and a peculiar sort of lash at the end of it, made from an old silk
handkerchief, which is the best material for producing a loud crack.

To make this lash, two strips of an old silk handkerchief, about six
inches long, are wetted, and twisted tight separately, and then twisted
tightly together. It is surprising to those who have never tried this
peculiar lash, to hear the astonishing loud crack that it will make. It
is the noise of these cracking whips that frightens the cattle into the
required direction; and without these whips it would be useless to
attempt to drive them.

Thus provided, the hunters proceed to the spots where they divine that
cattle have rested the preceding night, observing especially the brows of
hills sheltered from the wind. When they see a mob of cattle, a dozen,
more or less, they note the spot, and pass on, taking care not to disturb
them, and continue their search after more.

In this way they proceed, spreading themselves over the country, and
going twenty miles, perhaps, from home, noting the different little mobs
here and there on their passage. They then gently urge the mob farthest
off towards the mob nearer home, and then urge the mob so joined to the
next one, and so on.

After a little while, the cattle begin to suspect mischief, and then the
furious riding begins, and the smaller the number, the more difficult it
is to drive them. A horseman takes each flank of the mob, and the rest of
the hunters take charge of the cattle from behind. Every now and then the
cattle break off to the right or left, and then the horseman, with loud
shouts, pursues them, and with the cracking of his whip drives them back
to the main body. Sometimes the whole body of cattle will make a rush to
escape, and then the utmost efforts of the hunters are necessary to
prevent them from dispersing.

The country being in a state of nature, and for the most part covered
with dead timber, the sort of riding may be imagined. Copses are dashed
through, dead trunks of trees are continually to be leaped, for the herd
must be followed and kept in the right direction at all hazards to man
and horse; and whatever the country, it must be taken, up hill or down
hill, up precipice or down precipice.

Sometimes the cattle take a direction round the brow of a steep mountain,
with a wall of turf on your left hand, and a precipice of a hundred feet
or two on your right! No matter; on you must go; hooting, shouting, and
cracking the never-resting whip, and never thinking of the danger till
you have passed it.

Talk of fox-hunting! It is nothing compared with wild cattle hunting! and
as to the excitement, cattle-hunting is ten times more exciting, but, it
must be added, incomparably more dangerous! Besides, in cattle-hunting
you see your game, and a multitude of wild cattle in a state of fury from
hard driving is a grand and imposing spectacle! I say nothing of the
additional enlivenment of becoming the pursued instead of the pursuer,
from some devil of a bull taking it into his head to resent the affront
put upon his independence. Then the chase assumes a very different
complexion, and cool must be the man and steady must be the rider to
escape when the wild bull is determined and inclined to be vicious.

I remember one of my men was chased between the Shannon and the Clyde for
ten miles on end by a furious bullock, who kept his horse at the stretch
of his speed the whole way, till the rider came to a deep part of the
Clyde, when he dashed in, glad to escape from his tormentor any way.

When a pretty good number are collected in this way, they are more easily
driven, as they are in each other's way, and impede each other's motions;
but they are the more dangerous when they make a rush at you. The only
thing to be done then is to ride with all your speed to the right or
left, and keep up with them in a parallel line till their speed is spent;
then the work has to be done again.

On the present occasion, my men had collected a mob of above a hundred,
some of which belonged to other parties, and as it was wintertime, and
the cattle were not exhausted by the heat, as they sometimes are in
summer--for I have known a fat bullock to lie down when thus driven from
exhaustion, and I have not been able to make him get up even by whipping
him--they were in fine condition for a run, and I soon saw that there
would be more than ordinary difficulty in getting them into the
stock-yard, which was less than a quarter of a mile from the building
where I was temporarily residing.

We were five horsemen in all; three of my own horses, and two of my
neighbour's, who, from love of the sport, had joined in the hunt. We had
just got them to the entrance of the yard, where they stood hesitating
and obstinate, when a fine young bull uttered a savage cry, and, darting
between me and another rider, galloped into the plain, followed by the
whole herd.

It was quite a narrow escape for both of us, and we were only just in
time in avoiding the rush of the infuriated animals. But we were too well
used to the work to be baffled, and in a short time we had them all under
command, though it required all the shouting and whip cracking that we
could raise to urge them to the entrance again. As it was, I think we
should have lost them, had it not been for two cows belonging to our tame
herd, which, fortunately, this time, were in front, and they being used
to the yard, cantered in to avoid the pressure from behind, and then
another simultaneous shout on our parts and a renewed cracking of whips
forced them all in; then up bars, and we had them safe.

The young bull, however, did not approve of the trick, and he bellowed
and galloped about the yard in a state of perfect fury, lashing his tail
about, and plunging his horns into the ground till he got quite mad. In
his anger he made a dash at the heavy logs of which the yard was built,
and butting his head against them, he made the whole stockade vibrate
with the concussion. Finding it too strong to break through, he bellowed
and plunged about with increased rage, when suddenly he made a run at the
logs, and with one desperate bound he leaped right over them, although
they were nearly eight feet high, and dashed into the bush.

I admired the rigour and determination of the animal, and as we did not
want him, I let him go his way, when it suddenly struck me that the
course which he had taken was the same which my daughter would be
pursuing on her way home. I communicated my fears to my two men, who were
standing by me, and, instantly seeing the danger, they mounted their
horses without delay, and we proceeded after the furious animal,
intending to head him, so as to turn him away from the path where he
might do mischief.

The short time that elapsed between his escape and my thought of its
danger was sufficient to enable him to get considerably ahead of us. I
took the way to the right, being best mounted, and my horse being fresh,
I put him to the top of his speed, riding over every thing in my way in
my terrible anxiety.

A couple of miles were passed in almost less time than I have taken to
relate it, when my worst fears were realized! I beheld the infuriated
animal, rendered more furious by our pursuit and our cries, with its
horns near the ground, in the act of rushing towards my daughter Betsey,
who, with my son and the young stranger, seemed for the moment stupified
with horror at the suddenness and the imminence of the danger!

The red ribands of the unfortunate bonnet about which poor Betsey had
been so facetious a few days before, as being honoured with a cart and
four bullocks for its special conveyance from Hobart Town, were streaming
in the wind, and whether or not that colour is really hateful to cattle,
I do not know, but in the present instance the raging bull seemed to me
to disregard her two companions, and with an appalling bellowing that
made the woods re-echo, and filled me with a heart-rending fear, which I
cannot describe in words, it rushed to the spot where my poor girl, in an
agony of terror, with eyes fixed and hands uplifted, had fallen on her
knees before him.

The furious brute rushed on, and I had already given up my dear child for
lost, when I saw the young stranger with a bound leap forward between
them;--instantly falling on one knee, and taking a rapid but cool aim, he
fired! The ball with which his musket was loaded struck the animal
between its horns, and the huge bull suddenly tumbled over and over on
the grass, striking down, in its plunging course, our heroic preserver,
and, as I afterwards found, breaking his musket to pieces.

Almost at the same moment I reached the spot, and at the report of the
musket and the fall of the bull, my well-trained and intelligent horse
immediately checked himself, and stood snorting with inquiring ears. For
some seconds no one stirred; the bull lay on the ground dead; my daughter
knelt with her hands clapsed, still in the attitude of fear, and George
Beresford remained motionless by her side.



CHAPTER VIII.

THE STRANGER SAVES HER LIFE--THE SURGEON APPEARS AGAIN--THORNLEY SETS OFF
FOR HOBART TOWN.

THE two horsemen who had accompanied me from the stock-yard now
dismounted, and their advance broke the spell of fear and doubt which for
a moment entranced my faculties. I threw myself from my horse, and
clasped my daughter in my arms. Grasping my hand convulsively, she rose
from her knees, and turned to the spot where our young friend was lying
insensible and pale. Betsey did not speak, but kneeling down by the body,
clasped her hands, and looked up to us appealingly.

"Ride hard to the surgeon's; it's not half a mile off," said William to
one of the men. "Give him your horse to come back on."

In less than five minutes the surgeon was with us. The young man still
remained insensible.

"We must bleed him instantly," said the surgeon. "Raise him up. Hold his
arm out--so. Cut open the sleeve of his coat; no time for ceremony.
There, that will do; he is all right; you'll see he will come to
presently. I hope there are no bones broken."

"Good heavens!" said Betsey, "he will bleed to death."

"No fear of that; do him good; very good blood; body in good state--so it
ought to be at his age. There he is--coming to--beautifully. Now we'll
bind his arm up. Who has got something to bind it with? Ah! this red
riband will do very well. But you'll spoil your smart bonnet. That's
it--and I declare here's young Thornley has got a pannikin of water for
him. You're a thoughtful lad, and no doubt this young fellow will do as
much for you another time."

"Thank ye," said Will; "I hope I shall not have to trouble him. I wish he
had let me shoot the bull, though; but Betsey was right before me, and I
was afraid of hitting her if I fired."

"You needn't be sorry that you didn't kill the bull, Master William,"
said one of the men; "there's Mr. Crab will be in a terrible taking about
it; it was his favourite one of the herd, and a nice, tight, clean-made
cretur he was, poor fellow."

"That's right, Mr----what's his name?" said the surgeon.

"Mr. George Beresford," said Betsey; "he is Mr. Beresford's brother."

"Oh! the brother that's going to be married to Lucy Moss:--well, then,
Mr. Beresford, how do you find yourself? Pain anywhere?"

"I feel a little faint--where's the bull?"

"There he is; but I hope he is not only stunned too; perhaps he'll start
up and give us a poke. Let us examine him a bit.--He's quite
dead.--Struck between the horns! a lucky shot, by George! You have had a
narrow escape, some of you."

"A capital shot, Sir; but Mr. Crab will not like it. I really don't know
what he will do! this bull was such a pet of his! He saved it, between
four and five years ago, from being killed--like. I know I shouldn't like
to be the one to tell him of it."

"Rather an odd animal to make a pet of; but every one to his taste. Now,
my young friend, I recommend you to go home, and go to bed, and lie still
for a day or so. There are no bones broken, but you may have received
more injury than appears at first, and the best way is to guard against
it, to avoid fever and so forth. But what's the matter with the young
lady, eh? Oh! fright; well, it is allowable for young ladies to be
frightened. Let me feel your pulse. There, shake hands with the
gentleman--'your preserver,' as you call him. Proper to be grateful: very
right feeling;--pulse not quite right, though! Odd sort of fluttering!
There--that will do, young gentleman--you needn't be shaking hands all
day! Get home and keep quiet."

So saying, our excellent and kind-hearted surgeon took his leave, and I
with Betsey and William returned home. On my arrival there, I found a
letter for me which had been sent express from Hobart Town, requiring my
presence as a witness on the approaching trial of the bushrangers who had
been captured on our late expedition. As the matter admitted of no delay,
I immediately prepared for my departure, intending to ride about eighteen
miles before night, and sleep on the road. Giving such directions as were
necessary in my absence, I slung my fowling-piece over my shoulder, and
set off on my journey.



CHAPTER IX.

THE FACETIOUS ATTORNEY--COLONIAL MODE OF GETTING RID OF A WIFE--THORNLEY
ATTENDS AN EXECUTION WHICH MAKES HIM SICK--HE RETURNS HOMEWARDS--A CHASE
AFTER SHEEP--ENCOUNTER WITH A BUSHRANGER.

I SLEPT that night at the Green Ponds, and met with nothing remarkable. I
got into town about four o'clock next day, and ascertained that the trial
of the bushrangers was to take place in a few days.

As I had nothing particular to do, I amused myself with walking about,
and I looked at the bit of land that I had bought a month or two before,
and it seemed to me that it would be better if I could have the hundred
pounds which I had given for it in my own pocket again; but I could not
find any one who would give the money for it down; there were plenty who
would have bought it on credit at nearly double the price, but I did not
like that way of dealing; so, after walking over it very discontentedly,
I came back to my inn in no very good humour.

I found a friend of mine, the sheriff, waiting for me, who was terribly
out of spirits at having to attend the execution of four men the next
morning, one of them for sheep-stealing, and two for bushranging; the
fourth man's case was a remarkable one, which, as I find it noted in my
journal, I will relate as illustrative of the manners and customs of the
colony at that period.

I dined with the sheriff that day, and the attorney, Mr. Kasay, who
defended the murderer, happened to be present, and he was very merry with
the story, the more so as the sheriff being out of sorts, the attorney
good-naturedly wanted to raise his spirits with stories of murders and
suicides, and such like.

I shall endeavour to give the story in the lawyer's own words, for I
confess that, horrible as it was, I could not help feeling an inclination
to laugh at the way in which it was told. But lawyers get callous to
scenes of crime and misery from their professional habits, as surgeons
come to disregard the cries of a patient during an operation.

"It was a very bad case," said the lawyer, "as I told my client from the
first; but of course it was my duty to do what I could for him. He
followed the trade of a pork-butcher, and one day, when he had a quarrel
with some other fellow--he was a baker--he took his knife, with which he
was accustomed to operate on his pigs, and, 'more suo' stuck it into his
acquaintance, and ripped him up 'secundum artem.'

"He must have been a clever fellow at his trade, for the stickee didn't
need a second cut; he died, of course, and my gentleman was duly
committed, and all that. I tried hard for him at the trial to get it
turned into manslaughter, on the ground that the sticking was not done
with 'premeditation;' for, as we argued, his knife being in his hand,
which was a sort of implement of trade, he couldn't help, from habit (we
are all creatures of habit), from sticking it into anything in his way
that seemed to want it.

"But it wouldn't do. The judge was as crusty as if he had supped off pork
chops the night before, and the jury were tired, and wanted to get their
dinner. So they soon made up their minds about it, and we were found
guilty, of course. So my man was marched off to the condemned cell to
wait till they were ready to hang him; no pleasant contemplation: but
it's nothing when you're used to it!

"It's curious what a revulsion it makes in a man's feelings when he is
found guilty. I've had many a fine fellow through my hands, who has been
as dashing a chap as you'd wish to see, up to that point, and with all
the impudence of oppressed innocence; but when the foreman turns up the
whites of his eyes--(you may always tell what's coming by their
sanctified looks)--and whispers out that little word 'Guilty!' Lord! what
a change comes over the brave fellow in the dock! but all this is
nothing; I shall come to my story presently.

"You know Parson Jorawaigh? He's the man to stir 'em up! Only give him a
little time, Sir, and he'll make a poor devil turn himself completely
inside out--what the Scotch call 'making a clean breast of it!'

"Well, Sir, my friend the pork-butcher grew very religious after he was
condemned, as I have observed most people do when they are going to be
hanged; and you know the motto among the convicts, 'Never give away a
chance!'

"The parson stuck to him, and, as the gaoler said, put the poor wretch
into such a stew, that he declared privately to him that he would prefer
being hanged--much, very much prefer it--to having any more of the
parson's jaw! But the parson is not the man to neglect his duty, and he
kept walking in to him day after day, till at last he got the 'penitent,'
as he called him to me, to confess! and a pretty confession it was!

"This was his fourth murder! Yes, Sir, positively his fourth! And who do
you think were the victims of the organ of destructiveness, so largely
developed--for it all goes by bumps, you know, now-a-days--in the head of
this modern Bluebeard? His three wives! that is, he confessed to
three--how many more he killed one really can't say; but the parson was
satisfied with his confessing to three, and 'talked' to him no more.

"But the most curious part of the story is the way in which he did it.
Upon my life, I'm not sure that it's right to tell the secret!--there are
so many ready to take advantage of it! But, however, as we are among
friends, I'll trust to your discretion, never to repeat it to a married
man. It was very ingenious! quite original. Well, we live and learn. It
would make the fortune of a man in London for a tragedy--or a farce; only
it is so very dreadful.

"His plan, Sir, was this. His wife got drunk, or he made her so--all the
same thing; when she was in that happy state, what was more natural than
that she should throw herself on the bed, face downwards? and if she
neglected to place herself in that position, why it was very easy to turn
her over, eh? My gentleman then clapped a pillow on her head, and sat
upon it, 'as long,' as he expressed himself, 'as he thought was
necessary!'

"Horrible! isn't it? To think what some men will do to get rid of their
wives! And the rascal confessed, that as he sat there, he used to smoke
his pipe, 'to take off the dulness,' as he said. It's very dreadful to
think of! But really there's something droll in the idea! Not but that I
feel the atrocity of such an act--although the woman was his wife--but it
was a cool trick--very cool!

"When the job was done, as he confessed, he went to the public-house hard
by, and staid there drinking and smoking, till the news came that his
poor wife was found dead! But all seemed fair and square. It seemed that
the woman had got drunk!--natural enough--had fallen down on the bed with
her face on the pillow--got smothered!--natural enough;--the husband did
not express any particular sorrow at the event--natural enough. All
seemed right, and while some pitied him on account of the melancholy
occurrence, others congratulated him on having got rid of a drunken wife.

"So after a short time he married another. She went off the same way. He
was a man of nerve, however, and he tried a third. Same as before. 'The
neighbours did talk,' he said, about this last 'melancholy occurrence;'
but he put on a suit of mourning bran-new, with black crape round his
hat, and attended evening prayer in his neighbourhood, regularly, so he
was considered a model of a husband, but peculiarly unfortunate.

"How many more wives he might have murdered it is impossible to tell, had
not this last misfortune stopped his fun. Parson Jorawaigh says he is the
most penitent lamb he ever had the happiness to save! but for my part, I
don't think much of the penitence of a rogue going to be hanged! And if
the parson has not more luck with his miserable soul than I have had with
his miserable body, I must say that my friend the pork-butcher will be in
a worse mess after he is hanged than before. However, tomorrow he will
have a sheriff's breakfast, eh! old boy, a hearty choke and a caper! and
you will have the particular satisfaction of ridding the world of a
vagabond! Smothering his wives was bad enough!--still there might have
been some excuse for that--but killing a baker was going too far,
particularly in this place, where bakers are wanted."

The sheriff, who was a mild and gentlemanlike man, of great benevolence
of character, and of rather a nervous temperament, did not relish the
vivacious remarks of the facetious attorney. I should be sorry to be the
means of exhibiting the latter personage in any light that might seem
unfavourable, which would be contrary to my desire, and an injustice to
him; for he was one of the best of his tribe; and it is only due to him
to record, that he has often befriended a client in difficulties, by
discounting his bill at sixty per cent, (on good security, of course),
without charging his customary fee of six-and eight-pence for attendance
in the transaction; and so, for the present, I leave him.

The next morning, at the request of my friend the sheriff, I accompanied
him to the place of execution. I had never witnessed this painful scene
before, and I made a vow never to witness it again. I should not perhaps
have made mention of the circumstance in my journal, if it had not been
for the remarkable coolness of one of the sufferers. He was a fine man,
and I could not help thinking it was a pity to deprive a human being of
life for such an offence as sheep-stealing; but the practice had risen to
such a mischievous height at that time, that it was thought imperatively
necessary by the Government to make some severe examples.

That man's death, however, haunted me for months after. I was standing at
the foot of the ladder up which the condemned had to mount, and for more
than a minute I stood side by side of this man, who was the last in the
line, and who had to wait while some mistake about the ropes on the
platform above was remedied. I exchanged some words with him, which very
much prepossessed me in his favour, and he spoke with all the
self-possession of a man going about some ordinary business instead of to
be hanged. The under-sheriff had to draw his attention to the matter in
hand--for the poor fellow was quietly talking with me--by hailing him
from the platform:--

"Now, my good man, we are waiting for you."

"I beg pardon, Sir, I was only talking to this gentleman; I'll be up in a
moment!"

Lightly stepping up the ladder, he joined his associates above, and
presently after, the falling of the platform warned us that all was over!
I went back to my inn, sick at heart, and with a wretched headache. I
threw myself on the sofa, and remained there the greater part of the day.
The next morning, vexed with myself, I did not know why, and tired with
the sight of the town, I set off home, without waiting for the trial of
the bushrangers, as there was evidence enough without me, and glad to get
rid of the business.

I had some money matters to arrange with a settler at New Norfolk, so I
took that road, intending to cut across the country to the Clyde. I
stopped at New Norfolk that night, and proceeded on my journey early the
next morning. There was nothing to prevent my reaching home before night,
though the country was hilly, as my horse was in good condition. I had no
fear of bushrangers or natives, for all the bushrangers excepting two had
been taken; and of natives I never had any fear when armed and on
horseback.

I met with nothing worth noting till I got within about eight miles from
home, when I saw a lot of sheep with my brand on them, which I knew at
once were part of my home flock of merinoes. Impelled by that sort of
acquired instinct which prompts a settler, I think, to go after his lost
stock wherever he comes across them, I followed the sheep, which led me a
pretty dance over the hills.

There were not above twenty of them, but they scudded away like deer; for
lost sheep soon become wild in Van Diemen's Land, and it surprises those
who have not had experience of their habits, to find how fast and how
long they can run; it is quite a chase. Without a dog and alone I had no
chance with them. My hunt after these sheep, however, had drawn me near
one of the steep hills overlooking the Clyde; and as my horse was rather
ragged with the run over the hilly country of that district, I thought I
would give him a little rest and a drink; so, dismounting, I led him by a
circuitous path down to the water, where there was a small patch of rich
grass, and tethered him there. I then reascended the hill to look about
me, for it seemed to me that I had fallen on a little nook where there
was good feed for five or six hundred sheep, or perhaps more, which no
one had taken possession of.

I was scanning the place with a wistful eye, and had advanced to the edge
of a precipice overlooking the river, and about a hundred feet above it,
the better to take in the prospect, when I observed a man emerging from a
thicket of bushes, at some little distance, with a gun in his hand. He
had the appearance of a stock-keeper, and not thinking of bushrangers at
the moment, I supposed him to be some one who had been beforehand with me
in bespeaking a good run.

I felt a little disappointed at the sight, for I had already in my mind
established a stock-hut near the spot, and was calculating how many sheep
it would feed, while the supposed stock-keeper continued his advance
towards me. My fowling piece was lying on the grass, as I had taken it
off to ease myself while I was taking a survey of the country; but in
truth I was not thinking of the necessity of using it, being near the
Clyde, and having no thought of the bushrangers.

In the meantime, the man approached me nearer and nearer, and an odd
manner which he seemed to have of holding his musket excited my
suspicions. I observed him more attentively, and to my exceeding
surprise, and I must add consternation, I recognized the features of the
Gypsey leader of the late gang of bushrangers. I had only time to snatch
my fowling-piece from the grass, when, pointing his musket at me, at a
distance of about fifty yards, he called out to me to lay down my arms!
My gun was already pointed at him, and my only notice of his command was
to cock it, and place my finger on the trigger, ready to fire.



CHAPTER X.

AWKWARD PREDICAMENT--THE BUSHRANGER DECLARES HIMSELF--UNEXPECTED APPEAL.

WE remained in this position for nearly a minute, till I felt my arms
ache with holding out my gun in the attitude of taking aim; I lowered it,
with the muzzle, however, still pointed at the bushranger, and with my
finger on the trigger. At this movement, I observed he hesitated a
little; and then lowered his gun as I had done.

I was at a loss what to do at this extraordinary adventure. I did not
like to be the first to fire, for he might have companions at hand; and I
guessed he was unwilling to run the risk of firing at me, for if he
missed he would be at my mercy.

As I anxiously examined my antagonist, it seemed to me that he had a
wearied and subdued appearance. So far as his rough garments and his
grisly beard went, he looked ferocious enough; but there was something in
his eye which conveyed to me the feeling that he had no mind to make a
fight of it if he could avoid it. Impressed with this idea, I threw my
gun over my arm, and motioned him to do the same.

"Who are you," said I, "and what do you want?"

"Who are you?"

"One who does not wish to do you any harm, even if you are what I suspect
you to be."

"And what do you suspect me to be?"

"You look as if you had taken to the bush; but I don't want to meddle
with you, if you don't meddle with me."

At these words, he advanced towards me--within a dozen yards or so. "I
see," he said, "you are not one of the soldiers--I think I can trust
you."

"Don't come any nearer," said I, "you must excuse me, but the times are
dangerous. You may trust me, but you can't expect me to trust you."

"True," he said.

He looked round, and hesitated for a few moments, and then gazed at me
earnestly.

"You are one of the old settlers?"

"I am; and my farm is on the banks of this river, about a dozen miles up.
My name is William Thornley, and now you know all about me that is
necessary for you to know. Who are you?"

I knew who he was well enough, but I did not think it prudent to let him
know that I recognized him; so I let things take their course.

"Who am I!" said the bushranger. "Ah! that is not easy to say. But,
however, I will show you that I can trust you. You will give me your word
that you will take no advantage of me? Not that I fear it----"

"Oh! I will give you my word not to attempt anything against you--but
what is your object? What do you want with me?"

He made no reply, but laid his gun gently on the grass, and then passed
round me, and sat down at a few yards' distance, so that I was between
him and his weapon.

"Well, Mr. Thornley," said he, "will that do? You see I am now unarmed. I
don't ask you to do the same, because I cannot expect you to trust to me;
but the truth is, I want to have a little talk with you. I have something
on my mind which weighs heavy on me, and whom to speak to I do not know!
I know your character, and that you have never been hard on your
government men, as some are. At any rate, speak to some one I must! Are
you inclined to listen to me?"

I was exceedingly moved at this unexpected appeal to me at such a time
and in such a place. There was no sound and no object save ourselves to
disturb the vast solitude of the wilderness. Below us flowed the Clyde,
beneath an abrupt precipice; around were undulating hills, almost bare of
trees; in the distance towered the snowy mountain which formed the
boundary to the landscape. I looked at my companion doubtfully; for I had
heard so many stories of the treachery of the bushrangers, that I feared
for a moment that this acting might only be a trick to throw me off my
guard. Besides, this was the very man whom I knew to have been at the
head of the party of bushrangers who had been captured at the Great Lake.

He observed the doubt and hesitation which were expressed in my looks,
and pointed to his gun, which was on the other side of me:

"What more can I do," said he, "to convince you that I meditate neither
violence nor treachery against you? Indeed, when you know my purpose, you
will see that they would defeat my own object."

"What is your purpose, then? Tell me at once--are you one of the late
party of bushrangers who have done such mischief in the island?"

"I am: and more than that, I am--or rather was--their leader. I planned
the escape from Macquarie Harbour; and it was I who kept them together
and made them understand their strength, and how to use it. But that's
nothing now. I do not want to talk to you about that. But I tell you who
and what I am, that you may see I have no disguise with you; because I
have a great favour--a very great favour--to ask of you; and if I can
obtain it from you on no other terms, I am almost inclined to say, take
me to Camp as your prisoner, and let the capture of the Gypsey ---- ah! I
see you know that name, and the terror it has given, and still gives, to
the merciless wretches who pursue me--I say, let the capture of the
Gypsey, and his death, if you will--for it must come to that at last--be
the price of the favour that I have to beg of you!"

"Speak on, my man," I said; "you have done some ill deeds, but this is
not the time to taunt you with them. What do you want of me? and if it is
anything that an honest man can do, I promise you beforehand that I will
do it."

"You will!--but you do not know it yet. Now listen to me."



CHAPTER XI.

THE BUSHRANGER'S TALE--HIS CRIMES AND HIS SUFFERINGS--HIS ESCAPE FROM
MACQUARIE HARBOUR.

"PERHAPS you do not know that I have been in the colony for ten years. I
was a lifer. It's bad that; better hang a man at once than punish him for
life; there ought to be a prospect of an end to suffering; then the man
can look forward to something; he would have hope left. But never mind
that; I only speak of it because I believe it was the feeling of despair
that first led me wrong, and drove me from bad to worse. Shortly after my
landing, I was assigned to a very good master. There were not many
settlers then, and we did not know so much of the country as we do now.
As I was handy in many things, and able to earn money, I soon got my
liberty on the old condition; that is, of paying so much a week to my
master. That trick is not played now, but it was then, and by some of the
big ones too. However, all I cared for was my liberty, and I was glad
enough to get that for seven shillings a week. But still I was a
government prisoner, and that galled me, for I knew I was liable to lose
my license at the caprice of my master, and to be called in to government
employ. Besides, I got acquainted with a young woman and married her, and
then I felt the bitterness of slavery worse than ever, for I was attached
to her sincerely, and I could not contemplate the chance of parting from
her without pain. So about three years after I had been in this way, I
made an attempt to escape with her in a vessel that was sailing for
England. It was a mad scheme, I know, but what will not a man risk for
his liberty?"

"What led you to think of going back to England? What were you sent out
for?"

"Why, now, Sir, if I tell you, you will not believe me, perhaps, for
there is not a prisoner that is asked the question who will not say that
he was innocent; and indeed I don't think it is a fair question to ask
them, for how can you expect a man to condemn himself?"

"I should not have asked you if you had not begun to tell me your story;
but if you don't like to