Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, which was originally known as Moreton Bay District, lies about five hundred miles north of Sydney, and is reached most readily by coasting steamers; though the railroad long since begun, has been nearly completed between the two cities, and may possibly be open by the time these notes are printed. It has a population, if we include the immediate suburbs, of fully fifty thousand. Until 1860 it was an appendage of New South Wales, but was in that year formed into an independent colony and named Queensland, after the reigning queen of great Britain. The site of the city is a diversified surface, with the river whose name it bears winding gracefully through it about twenty-five miles from its mouth; though in a direct line it would be but half that distance to its debouchment into Moreton Bay, one of the largest bays on the coast of Australia. It was discovered by Captain Cook in 1770, and is formed by two long sandy islands running north and south, named respectively Standbroke and Moreton Islands, enclosing between them and the mainland a s.p.a.cious sheet of water more than thirty miles long and six or eight wide, beautified by several small and fertile islands. On approaching Brisbane by the sea one is puzzled at first to find where the mouth of the river can be, so completely is it hidden by mangrove swamps which skirt the coast hereabout for many miles. A pleasant little watering-place is located close at hand named Sandgate, which is connected by hourly stages with the city. Several small rivers, all of which however are more or less navigable, empty into Moreton Bay, showing that the district of Brisbane is well watered.
It is less than fifty years since Brisbane was opened to free settlers, having been previously only a penal station of the English government.
But of this taint here the same may be said as of Sydney or Hobart in Tasmania,--scarcely a trace remains.
The princ.i.p.al streets run north and south, and are half a mile long, being crossed at right angles by smaller ones. All of these thoroughfares were originally laid out too narrow for the purpose designed. Here one remarks the same system of verandas reaching from end to end of the streets, and stretching over the sidewalks to the edge-stones before the shops, which is observed in all the other cities and large towns of Australia and New Zealand. For a city of its size it is unusually well supplied with churches and places of public worship, of which there are forty-one, embracing all sects of professed Christians. Queen Street is the main thoroughfare and is lined with handsome stores and beautiful edifices, for there is no lack of architectural pretension either in the public or private buildings. Like all of its sister cities in these colonies, Brisbane has an elaborate Botanical Garden, in which the people take great interest; it certainly seemed to approach very nearly that of Sydney not only in s.p.a.ciousness, but in general excellence,--the climate here favoring even a more extensive out-door display of tropical and delicate vegetation than can be obtained farther south. The fine examples of the great india-rubber tree found here were nearly equal to those we have seen in their native forests, where the great anaconda-like roots are often as much above as below the surface.
Contiguous to these grounds and forming a conspicuous object in the landscape is the Parliament Building, a grand structure of cut-stone brought from neighboring quarries. This building has been a very expensive affair, and probably antedates by half a century the absolute requirements of the colony. Still, one pauses to ask himself if it is possible that only a few years ago the present site of Brisbane was a waste of dense jungle, a reeking swamp, a barren hillside. And if it has accomplished so much in the way of growth and material progress in so short a time, what may not be hoped for it in the near future?
There are besides the Botanical Gardens three other "reserves," as they are universally denominated in Australia; namely, Queen"s Park, Victoria Park, and Bowen Park, each laid out in the most liberal spirit and in antic.i.p.ation of a population which the city will undoubtedly realize within a few years from the present time. The ample water-supply of the town has also been partially antic.i.p.atory; but what an immense advantage it is to Brisbane! The sparkling liquid is brought by an excellent system of pipes from the hills near Enaggera Creek, seven miles distant from the city. Here a large reservoir has been created by throwing a dam across a narrow part of a deep gully, and thus a large body of water securely preserved. This water is both palatable and wholesome. An intelligent spirit of enterprise is evinced by the citizens, and everything goes to show that this is destined to be a populous and prosperous centre. As to the climate, it is simply perfect, the mean temperature being set down at 69.
Ipswich, about twenty-five miles from the city, on the road to the Darling Downs, has a population of ten thousand. Gympie, a gold-mining town a hundred miles north, has about the same number of inhabitants.
Maryborough, on the banks of the Mary River, is another thriving town equally populous; and Rockhampton, near the mouth of the Fitzroy River, is a town of similar size and importance. Charter"s Towers, Croyden, and Table-Top are each productive gold centres; and there are many others which might be named, as showing the populous and important character to which Queensland has already attained. Of the gold-producing localities, Charter"s Towers is perhaps the best developed and the richest. The particular "claim" at this point, known by the name of the "Day-Dawn," is thought to be the most valuable, and has turned out a very large aggregate of gold. Through the country, inside of the coast-range, there runs a broad belt of gold-bearing quartz more or less near the surface, but which requires organized capital to improve it effectually. At first the localities are worked by a few hands for the surface yield, and the excavation is continued as far down as can be done without elaborate hoisting apparatus. Then the claim is apt to be abandoned, or left to be eventually improved and worked by machinery aided by wealthy organizations.
To the west of this mineral belt are situated the endless rolling downs and prairies of the province, covered with herbage suitable for the support of countless herds and flocks, and where some fourteen millions of sheep are now yielding meat and wool for export, and where some four millions of cattle are also herded. The real greatness of the country is to be found in this agricultural capacity, this pastoral interest. Gold will attract adventurers, but the substantial permanent population will be found west of the auriferous range of mountains.
The pursuit of gold-mining has been called the triumph of hope over experience, since notwithstanding the rich rewards so often attendant on this pursuit, by it more seekers mar than make their fortune; and when once a man has engaged in it, he seems to become utterly unfit for any other occupation. Nevertheless, so great is the infatuation pertaining to gold-mining, that when one seeker, broken down by ill-success, ill-health, and perhaps the contracting of bad habits, is finally forced to abandon the pursuit, his place is quickly taken by fresh recruits, over-credulous and ever increasing in numbers.
We spoke particularly of Charter"s Towers as being a remarkable mine in its productiveness. We mean comparatively so, as those at Gympie are also of great promise. The "Lady Mary" claim in this district is known all over Australia for its profitable yield. The Mount Morgan mine near Rockhampton, on a branch of the river Dee, is thought by some to be the richest gold mine in the world; nor should it be supposed that the auriferous fields in Queensland have all been discovered. It is the same here as among our own rich gold and silver leads. Take those of Montana for instance; no one who knows anything about that Territory believes that one lead has been found out of one hundred that are in the hills awaiting the prospecter"s pick: yet Montana has sent within the last year,--1887,--the extraordinary sum of thirty-five million dollars in gold and silver to the mint.
An extremely pleasant trip may be enjoyed up the Brisbane River and Bremer Creek, on which latter stream Ipswich is situated. It is twice as far by water as by land, but the sail is delightful. The visitor often gets a charming view of the city from the river, while at the same time pa.s.sing suburban residences, flourishing farms, banana-groves, cotton-fields, sugar-plantations, orange-orchards, and the varied scenery which borders the river"s course. If one has time for but a single excursion from the capital of Queensland, let him go to Ipswich by the river. We would also advise him not to miss the trip from Sydney to the town of Parametta up the river of the same name.
The unreasonably high rates demanded as wages, we were told, had the effect of crippling many industries at Brisbane, and especially of hindering the successful development of agriculture, farmers in many instances being unable even to harvest their crops. This is a natural sequence of the mining attractions of the country. Queensland is probably as rich as any portion of Australia in other mineral deposits as well as in gold, abounding in copper, silver, tin, and coal, so that mining, first and foremost, absorbs the attention of large numbers at the expense of other enterprises. The immediate need of this province is more population and more laborers. We were told that liberal inducements were held out to acceptable people to come hither from the old country, but just what these inducements were it was not so easy to ascertain.
It is for the common interest both of England and her South Sea colonies that the rough, rude men who throng to the gold-diggings of those colonies should be in a measure counterbalanced by an influx of well-disposed and intelligent people, with such domestic a.s.sociations as will insure their responsible and good citizenship. Families, where they can be induced to emigrate, should be offered the most liberal inducements, especially if they are persons possessing a knowledge of farming,--these would be a most valuable addition to the colony.
Government can well afford to give to such desirable emigrants a free pa.s.sage, and land on which to settle without a cent of first cost to them. The high rates of pa.s.sage and the price charged for land in these colonies have together acted as prohibitory measures to new settlers going thither. There are millions of acres of good land in Australia and New Zealand which lie idle, and will continue to do so for a century to come, unless proper persons are induced by liberal terms to go and occupy them. There is a certain cla.s.s in England and Great Britain generally to whom the agents of the colonies can well afford to be liberal and open-handed, and there are others upon whom all such liberality would be worse than thrown away. To cause a steady emigration from the old country the conditions must be made at first entirely for the benefit of the new-comer, and in the end his presence will redound to the permanent good of the colonies.
The cultivation of wheat is growing more and more general in Queensland, but the staple productions may be said to be wool and sugar. Coffee, tobacco, and cotton are also grown, but only to a limited extent, though the acreage devoted to the latter is said to be annually increasing. The laborers upon the plantations, and indeed the colored laborers both in town and country, are composed largely of South Sea Islanders, imported hither from both the near and far islands on the very objectionable Coolie principle which so long prevailed in Cuba.
These laborers are engaged to serve a certain period,--say five years,--for which time the employer contracts to pay them six pounds sterling per annum, feeding and housing them in the mean time; and at the expiration of the term agreed upon he promises to return them to their island homes free of all cost to themselves. Of course this system is open to unlimited abuse, as was proved in the West Indies and elsewhere, resolving itself into a species of actual slavery. Besides which, under the guise of securing contract labor it has been proved that natives were forcibly abducted from their homes by unprincipled sea-captains, who realized a large amount of money per head for pa.s.sage and for procuring the stolen islanders. One instance of this sort was related to us in detail, where a small coasting-vessel brought a large number of natives from an outlying island of the Feejee group, whence they were forcibly abducted, and treated with as much cruelty as formerly characterized the slave trade between Africa and Cuba. Even when imported under the fairest scheme that could be conceived, the ignorant "Kanacks," as they are called, cannot enforce their rights, and rarely ever see their homes again after having once left them. The contracts entered into between employers and these men are little more than a farce on the part of the princ.i.p.als, and are probably never consummated. It is gratifying to know that this iniquitous system of Coolie labor is becoming a thing of the past. Freely expressed public opinion has nearly abolished it, although its evil results are by no means yet outgrown.
It is clearly apparent to any observant person that the pastoral and agricultural interests are paramount to all others in Australia. This is amply proved by the published statistics of the past five years. Few persons not especially interested to inquire have any idea of the large amount of fresh meat shipped thither in refrigerator steamers, or of the aggregate amount of wool and flour exported thence to England, India, and China. The tenure upon which farm-lands are held in Queensland, as already intimated, seemed to us to be not a little confusing. In order to make men good citizens their land should be to them a freehold; that is, the t.i.tle should be solely vested in themselves. The laws relating to this matter differ in the several colonies.
The semi-tropical climate of Queensland permits of the cultivation (as we have already stated) of pineapples, cotton, arrowroot, bananas, coffee, mangoes, and the like. The cotton is of the long and best staple. The planters here already compete with those of the West Indies in the product of the sugar-cane, three varieties of which are especially adapted to this climate; namely, the Burbon, the purple Java, and the yellow Otaheitan. It must not be forgotten that two thirds of this colony is within the tropics, stretching northward until it is separated from the Equator by eleven degrees only. Three tons of sugar to the acre is no uncommon yield upon the plantations of Queensland, and this too where the machinery used in the grinding and reducing is of a poor character. Were more modern methods adopted, the aggregate result would not only be much increased in quant.i.ty, but also in quality. The machinery used for this purpose in the Sandwich Islands--all brought from the United States--is infinitely better adapted to the purpose, besides being actually more economical in the long run. Some of the Queensland planters have taken pride in demonstrating that intelligent white labor is possible, and more profitable, all things considered, than any other. There is one characteristic of sugar-raising here which we should not omit to mention; namely, that several crops can be realized from one planting. The first crop is called the "plant" crop, and those that follow are known as "ratoon" crops, the latter continuing several years. In the West Indies and some other countries a first and second crop are realized from one planting; but the third year requires new planting.
This division of Australia is more than five times as large as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, possessing a world of undeveloped resources of the most promising character. When the great central railroad shall be built,--and it is believed that it will soon be under way,--an immense impulse will be given to Queensland. The sun here shines with a more tropical ardor and a more genial warmth than in New South Wales; the trees are of more varied shapes and of richer growth,--similar, in fact, to those of Central America. The palm takes the place of the eucalyptus to a certain extent, and the woods teem with the bunya-bunya,--a very desirable and ornamental tree, which belongs to the pine family. Here also abound the tulip-tree, rosewood, sandal-wood, and satin-wood, with other choice varieties not found farther south. The tulip-tree and the sour gourd recall the vegetation of equatorial Africa, which many of the natural products here very closely resemble.
We have spoken of the bunya-bunya tree. When it is full-grown it towers two hundred feet in the air; but when young, it throws out branches all about its base close to the earth and to a distance of several yards.
Above these, smaller branches rise in regular gradation to the top, forming a perfect cone of dense foliage. At maturity it produces annually upon its apex a large cl.u.s.ter of fruit, which is nutritious and palatable, being eagerly consumed by both the natives and the whites.
This product is similar to the chestnut in taste and appearance, each tree producing a bushel or more at a time. The bunya-bunya has a sort of mysterious significance with the "black fellows" as the aborigines are called, and no one is permitted to cut down one of these trees. The laws of the colony also forbid its destruction.
The aborigines are oftener met here than at the south, as they prefer to live in the more temperate climate, and where they can have the country more to themselves. They are all nomads, and probably do not number over twenty-five or thirty thousand, slowly but surely decreasing numerically before the advance of the whites. Even when first discovered they were but a handful of people, as it were, scattered over an immense continent. They have still no distinct notion of the building of houses in which to live, or at least they adopt none, though they have the example of the whites ever before them. As a rule they are hideously ugly, with flat noses, wide nostrils, and deep-sunken eyes wide apart. A bark covering, much ruder than anything which would content an American Indian, forms their only shelter, and they often burrow under the lee side of an overhanging rock. Unlike the Maoris of New Zealand, they have no settled abode, and are more nomadic than the Bedouins of the Desert.
The skill of this people in tracking game or human beings is nearly equal to that of the blood-hound. In the early days of penal servitude they were specially employed by the authorities for this purpose, and have been known to conduct a pursuit after an escaping convict for a hundred miles without once losing his trail, and finally leading to his capture. In the more modern conflicts between the Bushrangers and the authorities they proved of great value, not as fighters, but as trackers.
Missionary effort among these Australian tribes seems to have been pretty much abandoned, and by intelligent people is considered to have been a failure. Like all savage races, they are full of superst.i.tions.
They pay little attention to marriage obligations, but buy and sell wives according to their fancy, the women acquiescing with quiet indifference. We were told of one practice among them so ridiculous that we doubted it when first we heard of it. Ocular demonstration, however, proved its reality. It appears that when a youth arrives at such an age that he aspires to be a man, so to speak,--to own property or to marry,--he is put through some cabalistic rites the nature of which they will not divulge. The initiation ceremony ends, however, by the aspirant having one of his front teeth knocked out, or broken off close to the gum. This is accomplished by means of a sharp blow from a stone shaped for the purpose. After this deforming process is accomplished, the youth is p.r.o.nounced to be eligible to all the rights and privileges of the elders of his tribe. Any of these aborigines, therefore, whom you meet is sure to be minus a front tooth. By the bye, it is all important that this tooth-smashing business should be performed at the full of the moon, and it is followed by what is termed a grand "corrobberee," or feast. In old times,--not long ago,--the menu on such occasions was incomplete unless the princ.i.p.al dish consisted of human flesh; but if this practice still prevails, as many believe to be the case, it is indulged in secretly. We were informed that the only way of accounting for the lack of numbers among the children of the aborigines is on the theory that infanticide is still practised by the native tribes.
These savages are as fond of disfiguring themselves with yellow and red pigments as are our Western aborigines. The tribes in the northwestern part of Queensland are at constant enmity among themselves, and being naturally fond of quarrelling, like our Indians, they improve every opportunity to do so, frequently attacking and killing one another for the most trivial causes. Each tribe has its territory carefully marked off, and any infringement by another tribe is sure to end in bloodshed.
It would seem as though everything conspired to wipe them from off the face of the earth. It is a remarkable fact that consumption causes the death of a considerable percentage of the tribes annually. They believe its victims to have become bewitched, having had an evil eye cast upon them; the result is that they redouble the incantations which they consider to be necessary to remove all illness.
The Australian blacks have a plenty of legends of the most barbaric character, but by no means void of poetic features. They believe that the earth was created by a being of supreme attributes, whom they call Nourelle, and who lives in the sky surrounded by children born without the intervention of woman. They entertain the idea that because the sun gives heat it needs fuel, and that when it descends below the horizon it procures a fresh supply for its fires. The stars are supposed to be the dwellings of departed chiefs. The serpent is believed to contain the spirit of a real devil. To eat the kidney of an enemy, it is thought, imparts to the one who swallows it the strength of the dead man. Any number above five these blacks express by saying, "It is as the leaves,"--not to be counted. The white man"s locomotive is an imprisoned fire-devil, kept under control by water. The lightning is the angry expression of some outraged G.o.d.
One singular tradition which this people have is to the following effect: In the beginning there was no death. The first created men and women were told not to go near a certain tree, in which lived a sacred bat. The woman one day approached the tree, whereupon the bat flew away; and after that came death. One would be glad to know if this fable antedates that more familiar and not dissimilar one of the Garden of Eden.
The period of the total extinction of this race cannot be far distant.
Queensland is the only province where the Australian aborigines are still an element worth taking into account. Statistics show that they are dying at the rate of ten per cent per annum! The author asked an intelligent citizen of Brisbane what could be the cause of such mortality. "Oh," said he, in an airy way, "fire-arms and fire-water are doing the business for these black fellows." A remarkably comprehensive temperance lecture embraced in a single line, formulated by an old chief of these natives, occurs to us in this connection. He was one of the Brisbane tribe, and on a certain occasion said to a Government agent: "One drink is too much; two is not half enough." To taste was to drink to excess; abstinence with these people as with many white men is easy enough, but temperance in the use of spirits impossible.
The natives will accept work from the whites when driven to do so by want of food. Some of them work well and are liberally paid for it; but to insure this, liquor must be carefully kept from them. A single gla.s.s demoralizes, a second draught intoxicates. A drinking native is of no use to himself or any one else; and if he can get the means he rapidly drinks himself to death. The women are undersize as compared with the average of white people; but the males are athletic, excelling as axe-men and bullock-drivers, while on the sea-coast, when they work at all, they are good hands at the oar. Their hair is not curly like that of the Africans, but straight and silky like that of the Malays, and they have the long, attenuated limbs of the Hindu race.
As in all barbaric countries invaded by the whites, the native race fade rapidly away. Mr. Anthony Trollope depicted the true relative conditions of the races here when he said: "It was impossible to explain to the natives that a benevolent race of men had come to live among them, who were anxious to teach them all good things. Their kangaroos and fish were driven away, their land was taken from them, the strangers a.s.sumed to be masters, and the black man did not see the benevolence. The new-comers were Christians, and were ready enough to teach their religion if only the black man would learn it. The black man could not understand the religion, and did not want it, and to this day remains unimpressed by any of its influences. But the white man brought rum as well as religion, and the rum was impressive, though the religion was not." He adds significantly: "There was much spearing on one side and much shooting and hanging on the other."
The extent of the country is suggested by the fact, as given to us, that the natives in the far interior of the north, while they doubtless have heard of a white man have never yet seen one. Efforts have been freely made by philanthropic a.s.sociations to ameliorate the condition of these blacks, but it seems impossible to turn them from their nomadic habits,--their instincts leading them to seek support as hunters, and after the manner of their forefathers, rather than by any more civilized pursuit. We were told of an instance of a young native lad of ten years, who was taken from his wild life by the mutual consent of all concerned, and brought to Brisbane to live with the whites and be educated. Great effort was made in his behalf, to render him in every respect comfortable and contented. He was placed at a suitable school, where he gradually developed an unusual degree of intelligence, showing much apt.i.tude at learning, and becoming a favorite with both pupils and teachers. He lacked for nothing; was dressed like his a.s.sociates and pleasantly domesticated. He remained several years among the whites apparently well satisfied with his surroundings, and great hopes came to be entertained that he would become thoroughly civilized, and exercise in manhood a strong influence for good among his native people. Finally at the age of nineteen he was suddenly missing, and no one could say what had become of him. After months of search, he was discovered to have returned secretly to his former home and a.s.sociates, and was there found as naked and nomadic as the rest. No inducement could prevail upon him to return to a life among the whites.
There is a brief romance connected with the story of this youth which is not without interest. It appears that the young native, who was a fine specimen of his race, became warmly attached to the lovely daughter of the white family with whom he made his temporary home. The girl was about his own age, and it is believed that her refining influence over him was the secret of his remarkable studiousness and rapid progress in learning. After he was discovered among his own people, the young lady acknowledged that they had regarded each other with tenderest affection, and that the youth would long before have returned to his tribe but for her restraining influence. He regarded her with too much honest affection, however, to suggest even her going with him to share the hardships of his savage life, but told her that he grew hourly more restless and miserable, and that he _must_ seek his native wilds. This girl was too sensible to argue against the manifest destiny of both their lives, and with a first and last kiss they separated forever. No one can say how it was with the savage youth, whose eyes had been opened to all there is of n.o.ble and good in civilization; but doubtless he was finally consoled by some dusky maiden of his tribe. As to her whom he left behind, her true woman heart was sorely tried; and after hiding her sorrow for some five years she died unmarried.
The most singular weapon possessed by these aborigines is one which originated with them, and is known as the boomerang,--of which every one has heard, but which perhaps few of our readers have seen. It is a weapon whose special peculiarities have caused it to pa.s.s into a synonym of anything which turns upon the person who uses it. It seems at first sight to be only a flat, crooked, or curved piece of polished wood, about twenty or twenty-four inches long (though these instruments vary in length), and three quarters of an inch in thickness. There is nothing particularly striking about this weapon until you see a native throw one; in doing which he carefully poises himself, makes a nice calculation as to the distance from him of the object he designs to hit, raises his arm above his head and brings it down with a sort of swoop, swiftly launching the curved wood from his hand. At first the boomerang skims along near the ground, then rises four or five feet, but only to sink again, and again to rise. As you carefully and curiously watch its course, and suppose it is just about to stop in its erratic career and drop to the ground, it suddenly ceases its forward flight and rapidly returns to the thrower. Sometimes in returning it takes a course similar to its outward gyrations; at other times it returns straight as an arrow, gently striking the thrower"s body or falling to the ground at his feet. It is thought that no white man can exactly learn the trick of throwing this strange implement, and few ever attempt to throw one,--or rather we should say, few attempt it a second time; nor can the native himself explain how he does what we have described. "Me! I throw him, just so,"--that is all the answer you can get from him. We were told that the most expert of the blacks will not only kill a bird at a considerable distance with the boomerang, but that they cause the bird to be brought back to them by the weapon. This last degree of expertness we certainly did not witness, nor do we exactly credit it; but we can vouch for the first, as we have described it.
The common weapons possessed by the aborigines when first discovered by the whites--besides the boomerang, which can inflict a severe if not fatal wound--were heavy war-clubs curiously carved, wooden spears tipped with flint, and many others made of sharpened stones. In throwing their wooden spears they were wonderfully expert,--an art which they still cultivate and willingly exhibit to strangers. A bullet from a rifle speeds not more surely to the bull"s-eye than do these spears when thrown by the hand of a native; but the singular skill which can impart such magic to a weapon like the boomerang, might well be supposed to prove effective in launching a straight spear to its mark. All these weapons constructed by the Australian natives are elaborately finished, and so polished, indeed, as to surpa.s.s the effect of varnish, in every way showing great care and patient labor in their manufacture. But though possessed of such skill in the construction of weapons, they appear to have none in the building of houses. In no part of the world have we seen people so poorly lodged, for even the Digger Indians of California afford themselves some sort of secure shelter while these people have none.
Ethnologists tell us that these blacks belong to the Ethiopian race,--the lowest, probably, of all the human family. That they form a special type is very clear to any one who has been among them. The conviction forces itself upon one that they must be the remnant of some ancient and peculiar people, of whom we have no historic record. It is believed among well-informed persons in Brisbane (as we have already intimated) that cannibalism is still secretly practised among some of the tribes. Those living in northern Queensland are so isolated as to have adopted but few modern tools or domestic utensils, but they still have their stone knives and axes. As a people they are very far behind the Maoris in intelligence, and are ever ready to adopt the vices of the whites but not their virtues. Great care is taken to keep fire-arms away from them, which effort is by no means successful, as there are plenty of adventurous white men--themselves outlaws--who will sell arms and ammunition to the natives whenever it is for their own advantage to do so. These tribes are quite pugnacious, and are known to have killed many of the Chinese who have landed at the north, near Torres Strait, whom they doubtless devoured. The old Brisbane tribe, known to have numbered not many years ago some twelve hundred, is now absolutely extinct, not a word of its language even being spoken by a human being. Within a wide sweep of Sydney and Melbourne the aboriginal tribes have virtually died out.
As regards morality, or virtue, among the black women, they would seem to have no idea of the significance of such terms. We learned one curious fact relating to the burial of the dead among the natives, which is that they always place the body in the ground in an upright position.
Their religion seems to be a sort of demon worship. "Good G.o.d take care himself; bad G.o.d [devil],--look sharp for him!" There is some cunning if not philosophy in this sort of reasoning. Like many other savage people, especially those inhabiting tropical regions, they have no idea of harvesting, or of storing food for future use. If they have enough to eat at the present hour, that is all-sufficient.
When Australia was first taken possession of by the whites it seems to have been, if the term is in any instance admissible, a G.o.d-forsaken land; certainly the most dest.i.tute of natural productions of any portion of the globe. We can well believe that before these blacks came hither,--perhaps a thousand years ago,--this land was untrodden by human beings, though scientists are by no means agreed upon this point. No species of grain was known to these natives; not a single fruit worthy of notice grew wild, and not an edible root of value was produced. The only game of any size was the kangaroo and a few species of birds. Now the trees, fruits, vegetables, and game of all regions have become domesticated here, and have all proved to be highly productive, whether transplanted from tropical or from semi-tropical regions. While we write these lines, one most palatable and peculiar product is recalled, namely, the pa.s.sion-fruit. The gorgeous flowering species is familiar to us all, but the fruit-bearing vine grows in Australia to perfection.
When ripe it is egg-shaped, and about the size of a hen"s-egg, being eaten in much the same manner. The top is cut off, leaving the skin as a sh.e.l.l from which the luscious contents are eaten with a spoon. The flavor is a most agreeable sub-acid.
We have intimated that appearances lead to the conviction that both Australia and New Zealand were uninhabited about ten centuries ago; and yet it would seem as though the South Pacific must have been peopled by races of a certain degree of civilization in the far past. On the Marshall and the Gilbert groups of islands, as well as on the Kingsmill and the Ladrones, there are prehistoric stone monuments which were never constructed by savages. On Lele, near Strong"s Island, there are elaborate stone fortifications overgrown by tropical forests, the walls of which are twelve feet thick, underlaid by caverns, vaults, and secret pa.s.sages. Here also is a quadrangular tower forty feet in height. The tradition of the present inhabitants is that a great city once existed on this site, of which they know nothing. Ruins are also found in the Navigator"s Islands, the Marquesas, and even the Sandwich Islands, whose origin is as much a mystery to the present inhabitants as to the inquiring stranger. Was there once in the far-away past a great Malayan Empire existing in the Pacific Ocean? There is a Peruvian tradition that in the olden times strangers came from the great South Sea in ships to the west coast of America, for commercial intercourse with the civilized race which existed there.
In visiting these various by-paths of the globe, one realizes that there are problems as to the antiquity of our race the solution of which reaches far beyond any of the most ancient records of our present civilization. We have seen in the Boulak Museum at Cairo objects of Egyptian make which were doubtless six thousand years old; and the Sphinx, situated ten miles away, where the city of Gizeh once stood, must antedate that period. But among these South Sea Islands are prehistoric ruins and monuments which are believed to antedate the Sphinx. The same may be said of the buried columns that have been overgrown by the forests of central Ceylon to the depth of a hundred feet. To our humble perception, so far from bringing man"s origin more into accordance with the Darwinian theory, these facts widen the gap, and render it still more doubtful.
CHAPTER VII.
Morning in the Forest.--Flying Foxes.--A Startling Snake-story.--Geographical.--Want of Irrigation.--Droughts.--Immense Sheep-Runs.--Seeking a Shepherd Life.--Wonderful Gold Nuggets.--A "Welcome"
Discovery.--Wool is King in Queensland.--The Chinese Population.--Education in Australia.--Peculiar Banking Business.--Waging War upon Kangaroos.--Journalism in Australia.--Proposed New Colony.
A drive of a few miles inland from Brisbane carries one through pleasant villages and among farms, plantations of sugar-cane, orchards, and fields of pineapples, beyond which one enters the forest. The banks of the rivers and creeks are generally covered with a dense semi-tropical growth of vegetation, while the forest stretches for many a mile into lonely districts. A great variety of trees are found here, some of primeval growth and large size, belonging to the blue-gum species; others, like sa.s.safras, pine, and cedar, are fragrant and delight the senses, being surrounded by a thick undergrowth of marvellous luxuriance. The jungles in India or the islands of the Malacca Straits are not more dense than some of the wooded districts to be found in Queensland. These retired spots are filled with bird and insect life, but with few animals. c.o.c.katoos and parrots, in gay colors and gaudy combinations, are the prevailing representatives of the feathered tribe. There are also numberless wild pigeons, in great variety, uttering a ceaseless, low, brooding note which seems to be in exact harmony with the sylvan surroundings. The bell-bird, cat-bird, and laughing jacka.s.s announce their presence in unmistakable utterances, all serving to keep the senses on the _qui vive_.
The early morning was the hour chosen for our visit to one of these forest glades, while the dew was yet upon the gra.s.s. Our companion--a resident full of enthusiasm and intelligence, and withal a good horseman--hurried us into the saddle to reach the woods betimes. "At noon," said he, "you might hear a leaf drop anywhere hereabout, for at that hour, bird, insect, reptile, even the flies and mosquitoes of the Queensland "scrub," take their siesta; but in the morning and the gloaming they vie with one another in their vocal demonstrations." The morning was cloudless; the advancing day was already tempered by the warmth of the sun, but in the shade of the trees there was a cool fragrance and only a dim cathedral light.
Flying foxes greatly abound in this vicinity as well as in other parts of the country, often appearing in surprising numbers, especially on moonlight nights. They prove most destructive to choice fruits, and are said to be an increasing nuisance. The leaves of the gum-tree seem to form their princ.i.p.al food; but at times they visit a cultivated section in such marvellous numbers as to sweep away every green leaf and tender shoot in the gardens and fields, like an army of locusts. The natives and Chinese eat them, but the more civilized inhabitants would as soon eat rats and mice. These flying foxes are unable to take flight from the ground, and when they are found there can easily be captured. Neither can they run rapidly, but waddle toward the nearest tree-trunk, which they ascend rapidly by means of their long, sharp claws, and from the branches of which they throw themselves into the air, where they skim about like a bird on the wing. They are rarely seen until evening, always performing their depredations by night. It is a remarkable fact that these peculiarly awkward creatures, whose legs seem utterly unavailable for ordinary service, unless it be for climbing, will carry large fruit, weighing nearly a pound, long distances to their nests.
During the day they retire to secluded places in the woods, where they sleep hanging head downward from the branches by the natural hooks attached to their shoulders. As with common bats, which they resemble in some respects, secluded caves are a favorite resort of the flying foxes.
We are reminded in this connection of another remarkable animal found here, called the flying "possum,--a creature which does not actually fly, but which "shoots" across a considerable s.p.a.ce through the air, between tall trees or elevated objects like cliffs, by means of expanding a loose skin or membrane formed on both of its sides, and which connects the front legs with the hind ones. This creature, like the kangaroo, is indigenous, and only found in Australia.