THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
Btbo,
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j'ifarn.
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THE FIFTH CONTINENT,
WITH THE
ADJACENT ISLANDS;
BEING AN ACCOUNT OF
AUSTRALIA, TASMANIA, AND NEW GUINEA,
SHiffc statistical Information to tfce latest gate.
By CHARLES H. EDEN,
Author of " My Wife and I in Queensland," " The Fortunes of the Fletchtrs,"
" Australia's Heroes," &c, &c.
WITH MAP.
PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF
THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION,
APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING
CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.
LONDON :
SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE;
SOLD AT THE DEPOSITORIES \
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AND BY ALL BOOKSELLERS.
New York : Pott, Young & Co.
>#• *
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Printed by Jas. Truscott & Son,
SaiTolk Lane E.C.
PREFACE.
In the following pages I have endeavoured to give a brief
history of each of our Australian colonies, bringing all
the information concerning them, that space would permit
me to insert, down to the latest date. In accomplishing
this, my work has been lightened by the courtesy of the
Agents-General for the several colonies, who have shown
great kindness in supplying me with material that other-
wise would have been most difficult of access. After the
section relating to South Australia had gone to press, I
heard the sad news of Mr. Francis S. Dutton's death ;
and must express my sympathy with the colonists he so
ably represented, who have in him lost both an admirable
servant, and an amiable and accomplished gentleman.
To the excellent "Australian Handbook," published by
Messrs. Gordon and Gotch, I am indebted for much use-
ful statistical and other information.
I must also acknowledge the kindness with which the
Rev. Joseph Mullens, D.D., Foreign Secretary of the
London Missionary Society, met my request for the latest
information regarding New Guinea.
C. H. E.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION.
PAGE
The Six Colonies — Physical Aspect — The River System — The
Murray — Absence of Lakes — The Coast Line— Its Con-
figuration — Bays, Inlets, and Harbours — Headlands —
Islands— B6che-de-Mer Fishing ..... i
CHAPTER II.
GEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE FIFTH CONTINENT.
The Great Plain — Theory that Australia was formerly divided
by the Sea — Extinct Volcanoes — The Blanche Caves . 24
CHAPTER III.
THE ABORIGINES.
Large Number of Tribes — Ignorance of the Blacks — Their
Personal Appearance and Adornments — Weapons — Food
— A " Corrobbory " — Disposal of the Dead — Brutal Treat-
ment of the Women — Absence of all Religious Feeling —
Anecdotes of Educated Natives — Speculations regarding
their Origin ......... 44
CHAPTER IV.
NATURAL HISTORY.
Absence of beasts of prey and larger quadrupeds — Marsupalia
— The Opossum — Koala, or Native Bear — Kangaroo —
Wombat — Bandicoot — TasmanianWolf — Tasmanian Devil
VI CONTENTS.
PAGE
—Native Cat— Tapoa Taf a— Native Dog, or Dingo-
Platypus — Rats — Fishes — Reptiles — Birds — Australian
Jungle Fowl— Bower Bird — Cassowary — Professor Owen's
remarks on the Australian Marsupials— Vegetable Pro-
ductions .....•••••74
CHAPTER V.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
Geographical Position— Its Settlements and Early Struggles-
Convict Labour— Features of the Colony— Ranges and
Rivers — Climate — Agricultural Products— Indigenous Tim-
ber—Mineral Resources— The Pearl-fishery— Population-
Religious Denominations — Education — Letter from the
Bishop of Perth regarding the Aborigines— Exports and
Imports— Revenue— Rate of Wages 106
CHAPTER VI.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
Geographical Position — Never a Penal Settlement — Its Foun-
dation — Reckless Land-jobbing and Financial Embarrass-
ments — Discovery of Copper, and Onward Progress —
Physical Features — Productiveness of Soil — Climate —
Squatters — Cereals — Mineral Resources — Railways — Popu-
lation—The Church of England and other Religious
Denominations — Education — Establishment for the Abo-
rigines — Immigration .....•• 143
CHAPTER VII.
VICTORIA.
Geographical Position — Early Attempts at Colonisation— Its
Permanent Settlement — A Disastrous Period — Separation
from New South Wales — Discovery of Gold — Instances of
Sudden Enrich ment — Population — Climate — Geological
CONTENTS. Vll
PAGE
Formation — Enormous Trees — The Church of England
and other Religious Denominations — The See of Ballarat
— Education — Railways — Wages . . • . .168
CHAPTER VIII.
TASMANIA.
Discovery and First Settlement of the Island — Slow Progress of
the Colony — Its Independence Granted — Physical Features
and Mineral Resources — The " Black War " — The Last of
the Aboriginals — Climate — Population — Agricultural Pro-
ducts — The Church of England and other Denominations
— Education — Exports and Imports — Immigration . .190
CHAPTER IX.
NEW SOUTH WALES.
Its Early Settlement — Geographical Position — Physical Features
— Geological Formation — Mineral Resources — Climate —
Agricultural Pursuits— Fruit-growing — Returns showing
Number of Stock in the Colony — Population — The Church
of England and other Religious Denominations — Education
— Immigration — Wages — Railways . . . .201
CHAPTER X.
QUEENSLAND.
Its Separation from New South Wales — Geographical Position
— Physical Features — Geological Formation — Climate —
Agricultural Products — Mineral Resources — The Aborigines
— Account given of their Customs by James Morrill, a
shipwrecked sailor, who lived amongst them for seventeen
years — Population of the Colony — The Church of England
and other Denominations — Education — Immigration —
Wages — Railways 222
Vlll CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XI.
THE NORTHERN TERRITORY.
PAGE
Its Cession to South Australia — Early discovery of North
Australia — Dampier's Account of the Country and its
Inhabitants — Later Surveys — John McDouall Stuart, the
Explorer — His opinion of the Adelaide River — Colonisation
determined on by the South Australian Government — Land
Sales — Colonel Finniss' Expedition — Its Failure — Mr.
Goyder Founds Palmerston — Harbour of Port Darwin —
The Metropolis — Southport — Gold Discovered — General
Character of the Country — Climate — The Overland Tele-
graph — Rev. J. E. T. Woods on Northern Australia. . 246
CHAPTER XII.
NEW GUINEA.
Its Geographical Position — Early Discovery — Visited by Torres,
Schouten, and Le Maire, Tasman, Dampier, Roggewein,
and Forrest — Description of the Papuans by Forrest —
Captain Cook at New Guinea — Survey of the South-east
Coast by Captain Owen Stanley — Description of the Natives
by Doctor Macgillivray — Dutch Exploring Expedition —
German Missionaries — Mr. Wallace's Theory regarding a
former Junction between Australia and New Guinea —
Captain Moresby's Surveys — Formation of the Island —
Recent Discoveries — Doctor Maclay — Doctor Adolf B.
Meyer — Signors Beccari and D'Albertis — London Mission-
ary Society establish a Mission on the Coast — Ascent of
the Fly River — Extracts from Mr. Lawes' Journal — Mr.
Octavius Stone and Signor D'Albertis penetrate into the
heart of the country by means of the Fly River — Speech
made by Sir Henry Rawlinson ..... 266
THE FIFTH CONTINENT
CHAPTER I.
GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION.
The Six Colonies— Physical Aspect— The River System— The
Murray— Absence of Lakes— The Coast Line— Its Configuration
— Bays, Inlets, and Harbours— Headlands— Islands — Beche-de-
Mer Fishing.
&^di2> • i
J t Y'y i \7f TtV h E vast insular tract of country lying to the
JoijJSl^ Islands, formerly known by the name of
south-eastward of Asia and the Sunda
&
New Holland, but now universally recog-
\\ uh^> nised as Australia, the fifth continent on the
>^ globe, lies entirely in the southern hemisphere, at
least one-third of its surface being north of the
tropic of Capricorn. Cape York, its extreme northern
point, is in latitude i6° 43' S., and from thence to Cape
B
2 GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.
Wilson, the extreme southern point, in latitude 39 9' S.,
the distance is 1,900 miles. Its easterly limit is at Cape
Byron, in longitude 153 37' E., and from thence to Cape
Inscription, on Dirk Hartog's Island, in longitude 1 13 K,
the distance is 2,600 miles. Its entire coastline embraces
a circuit of 8,000 miles, and its total area may be roughly
estimated at 3,000,000 square miles. To the southward
of Cape Wilson lies the large island of Tasmania, formerly
Van Diemen's Land, from which it is separated by Bass's
Straits.
On the north Australia is bounded by the Indian
Ocean and by Torres Straits, the latter separating it from
the large island of Papua, or New Guinea. On the east
it is bounded by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the
Southern Ocean, and on the west by the Indian Ocean.
To form a just idea of its vast proportions, the reader
must regard it as three-fourths the size of the whole con-
tinent of Europe.
Such is the geographical position of Australia, and
without entering minutely into the early voyagers who
touched its coast, I may mention that the great Terra
Australis was first sighted by the Provencals, about the
year 1531. The Portuguese and Dutch both visited its
shores on different occasions, but no attempt at perma-
nent settlement was made until the year 1788, when the
city of Sydney was founded by Governor Phillip.
DIVISIONS. 3
With the gradual opening out of the country by means
of Anglo-Saxon enterprise, I do not profess to deal in
this volume, my sole object being to give the reader an
accurate description of the colonies as they appear to the
emigrant landing there to-day. Where many a noble city
now stands the savage in his scanty robe of skins, the
wild dog, and the emu roamed at will half a century ago.
To trace the process by which the wilderness is peopled
and the desert reclaimed is one of absorbing interest, but
does not come within my province in these pages. I
write of the Australia of 1877, not of the New Holland of
the past.
Australia is now divided into six distinct colonies,
inclusive of the island of Tasmania, each being locally
self-governed, though subject to the imperial sway of
Great Britain. Of each of these separate provinces I
propose to give a brief account, bringing all statistics
down to the latest dates, and in place of taking them
chronologically, I shall treat them as they stand upon the
map, beginning at the west side of the continent. The
names of the colonies are as follows : —
1. Western Australia, including a vast extent of terri-
tory, bounded on the north and west by the Indian
Ocean, on the south by the Southern Ocean, and on the
east by South Australia.
2. South Australia, lying between Victoria, New South
b 2
4 THE COLONIES.
"Wales, and Queensland on die east, and Western Aus-
tralia on the west. This colony runs right across the
continent, being bounded on the north by the Indian
Ocean. The northerly portion of this immense strip of
country is known as the " Northern Territory," and will
be treated of in a separate chapter.
3. Victoria, occupying the south-eastern extremity ot
the continent.
4. Tasmania, an island lying to the southward of Vic-
toria, and in old days regarded as a portion of the main-
land.
5. New South Wales, occupying the southern part of
the east coast, and stretching westward as far as the boun-
dary line of South Australia.
6. Queensland, lying north from New South Wales,
and comprising the north-eastern portion of the conti-
nent.
Before proceeding to describe the colonies, a brief
account of the general aspect of Australia becomes neces-
sary, inclusive of its geology, water system, mountains, etc. ;
for, most of the prominent features being common to the
several political divisions, much repetition will be thereby
avoided.
Our knowledge of the Australian sea-board is very full
and accurate, and the whole of the coast line has been
carefully examined and correctly marked on the charts.
VN KNOWN INTERIOR. 5
It is when we cast our eye on the map and see the vast
extent of country without a name to indicate that the foot
of the white man has ever been set there, that we become
conscious of how much still remains to be done. Every
year, however, sees bands of hardy explorers turning their
faces resolutely towards the interior, and increasing our
knowledge of a hitherto unknown land. Since the con-
struction by the South Australian Government of a telegraph
line across the entire continent, from north to south, a new
base for exploration has been formed, of which many in-
trepid men' have availed themselves, and at this time its
impenetrable secrets may be said to have been wrested
from the desert. The new country encountered by War-
burton, Ross, and Forrest possesses but little attractions to
either the stock owner or the agriculturist, but perhaps at
some future day overland communication between South
and Western Australia may crown the efforts and reward
the labours of the gallant pioneers.
Viewed as a whole, the physical aspect of Australia is
most peculiar, for the country may be regarded as one
vast plain of table land, with an edging of fertile sea
board, varying in depth from one to two hundred miles.
The interior (or table land) is considerably elevated above
the level of the sea, and is studded with groups of moun-
tains, too diminutive and isolated to exercise much climatic
influence on the continent, being neither of sufficient extent
6 PHYSICAL ASPECT.
or altitude to precipitate rain, or to give birth to rivers whose
cheering waters, did they but exist, would fertilise the
desert and convert arid wastes into smiling cornfields and
luxuriant pastures. An ordinary plate, if placed upside
down on a table, would give a homely, but not inapt,
representation of the physical geography of Australia.
The flat bottom would represent the elevated interior,
and the sloping sides the fertile tract lying between it and
the sea, the table on which the plate rests doing duty for
the latter. Of course, such an illustration would be very
rough, for in some places the strip between the range
and the sea narrows to fifty miles, while at others it ex-
pands to over two hundred, but nevertheless it would
serve to give a general idea of the formation of the con-
tinent.
Thus it will be evident that the principal mountain
ranges are those lying parallel to the sea-coast, of which
the chief are found on the east side of the continent,
commencing in the Cape York peninsula at the north,
and terminating in the Australian Alps to the south.
This continuous range is sometimes designated the
Eastern Cordillera, and from it spring all the rivers which
water that part of Australia. With one exception, the
Murray and its tributaries, these streams have their origin
on the outer side of the mountains, and flow into the sea
after a short course of a few hundred miles. Any that
RIVERS. 7
emanate from the side next the interior are speedily
drunk up by the thirsty sand, or form huge marshes, the
breeding ground of the black swan, the goose, and the
wild-duck.
It may justly be said that there is no other country in
the world possessing such a large extent of coastline that
is blessed with so few navigable rivers. By far the most
important belong to the eastern half of the continent, the
western portion being very scantily supplied throughout
the greater part of its territory. On the north coast we
find the Albert, the Roper, the Adelaide, and the Victoria,
some of them giving promise of an easy high road into the
interior, but all running out in a few hundred miles, and
serving only to drain the country seaward of the table-
land. How disappointing these magnificent rivers, which
after a short distance dwindle away to paltry little streams,
and ultimately die out altogether, prove to explorers, is
sufficiently evidenced by all journals of Australian dis-
covery. I will take as an example the finding of the
Victoria River, thus described by Captain Stokes, R.N. : —
"Our preparations were rapidly made, a few days' pro-
visions were stowed away in the boat, and as the western
sky glowed red in the expiring light of day, the gig was
running before a north-west breeze for the chasm in the
distant high land, bearing S. 20 E., twelve miles from the
ship. As we advanced the separation in the range became
8 THE VICTORIA.
more marked and distinct, as long as the light served
us, but presently darkness wrapped all in impenetrable
mystery. Still we ran on, keeping close to the eastern low-
land, and just as we found that the course we held no
longer appeared to follow the direction of the channel,
out burst the moon above the hills in all its glory, shed-
ding a silvery stream of light upon the water, and reveal-
ing to our anxious eyes the long-looked-for river, rippling
and swelling as it forced its way between high rocky
ranges. Under any circumstances the discovery would
have been delightful, but the time, the previous darkness,
the moon rising and spreading the whole before us like a
panorama, made the scene so unusually exciting that I
forbear any attempt to describe the mingled emotions of
that moment of triumph. As we ran in between the
frowning heights, the lead gave a depth of eighteen and
twenty fathoms, the velocity of the stream at the same
time clearly showing how large a body of water was pouring
through. ' This is indeed a noble river ! ' burst from
several lips at the same moment. ' And worthy,' con-
tinued I, ' of being honoured with the name of her most
gracious majesty the Queen ;' which Captain Wickham
fully concurred in by at once bestowing upon it the name
of ' Victoria River.'
"A glance at the map will show that we have not over-
rated its importance, or acted hastily in calling it the
ITS SHORT COURSE. 9
Victoria ; and it must be admitted that as the Murray is
to South-Eastern Australia, so in value and importance is
the great river Victoria to the opposite side of the con-
tinent."
The reader will remark the last paragraph above
quoted, which sufficiently indicates the great importance
attached to their discovery by the surveying officers.
The Beagle herself was moved fifty miles up the great
river, and might have gone even further still. There is
little wonder that her crew thought a water-road into the
unknown interior had been found, and rejoiced accord-
ingly. But further investigation dashed all such hopes
to the ground. A well-furnished and strong expedition
was equipped and sent to follow up the course of the
mighty Victoria — the Murray of the North. They did so,
and what was the result ? Why, simply that the vaunted
river was found to run out in less than three hundred
miles, being, in fact, only a large drain for a patch of
country in the neighbourhood of the coast.
Such disappointments as the above used constantly to
befall explorers, for at that time a theory that the interior
was a vast inland sea was rife, and every watercourse
of any magnitude seemed to its excited discoverers
the path by which that land-locked ocean was to be
gained.
We have grown wiser now, and, knowing that lofty
10 RIVERS.
mountain ranges are absent, recognise the impossibility
of any great rivers in the interior of Australia.
The principal streams on the east coast are the
Burdekin, the Fitzroy, the Brisbane, the Clarence, the
Richmond, the Tweed, the Manning, the Hunter, the
Hawkesbury, and others. On the south are the Murray,
the Yarra-Yarra, and the Glenelg. On the west, the
Swan River, the Murchison, the Fortescue, and the De
Grey. Nearly the whole of the foregoing list consists of
streams short in their course and uncertain as regards
the body of water they carry to the ocean. There is but
one notable exception, which I mentioned before — the
Murray and its tributaries. The Eastern Cordilleras
terminate in a magnificent wall of mountains reaching an
elevation of seven thousand feet, known as the Australian
Alps. On the west or land side of this range the Murray
takes its rise, and is fed by the snows and the constant
drainage of the lofty Alps, to which it owes its existence.
Amongst the main tributaries of the Murray may be
mentioned the Murrumbidgee and the Darling, and its
course is a winding one of fifteen hundred miles in length,
when it terminates in the sea at Lake Alexandrina.
Although it is here and there interrupted by rapids, the
Murray may be regarded as a sluggish river. As a rule
it floods its banks once a year, but both the rise and the
fall are very gradual. Captain Charles Sturt, who dis-
THE MURRAY. II
covered its lower waters, says, " The natives look to this
periodical overflow of their river with as much anxiety as
the Egyptians do to the overflowing of the Nile. To
both they are the bountiful dispensation of a beneficent
Creator ; for, as the sacred stream rewards the husband-
man with a double harvest, so does the Murray replenish
the exhausted reservoirs of the poor children of the desert
with fish."
The tributaries of the Murray drain the eastern margin
of the great plain, the only portion of the continent pre-
senting a fall of land sufficient to allow the streams having
their birth therein to reach the noble river, which, rising
in the Australian Alps, conducts their united masses of
water to the sea. Of the Murray, Mr. Ranken says,
" This river, then, is the only true and permanent outlet
to the drainage — that is to any of the drainages — of an
area of one and a half millions of square miles — at least
half the country. It is the one river system of Australia
only possible here."
The Murray, although a permanent stream, depends
greatly on its tributaries for water, and its depth varies
according to the nature of the season. Of small size at
its source, it soon swells into a fine river, its breadth at
the junction of the Murrumbidgee being from three to
four hundred feet. Here it flows over a clear bed, which
abounds with sand banks, causing the depth of water to
12 THE MURRAY.
vary considerably. Captain Sturt, who first entered the
lower Murray from the Murrumbidgee, and followed its
course to Lake Alexandria, describes it as flowing
through an unbroken and uninteresting country of equal
sameness of feature and of vegetation. /On proceeding
further down the stream entered a limestone country.
The intrepid explorer says, "The river, although we had
passed occasional rapids of the most dangerous kind, had
maintained a sandy character from our first acquaintance
with it to the limestone division. It now forced itself
through a glen of that rock of half a mile in width, fre-
quently striking precipices of more than two hundred feet
perpendicular elevation, in which coral and fossil remains
were plentifully imbedded." On turning to the south-
ward the Murray lost its sandy bed, and became still,
deep, and turbid, the glen expanding into a valley, and
the alluvial flats, which had hitherto been of inconsiderable
size, becoming proportionately extensive. Its breadth
also increased to more than four hundred yards, with a
depth of twenty feet close to the shore. At some dis-
tance from Lake Alexandria the limestone cliffs gave
place to undulating and picturesque hills, beneath which
thousands of acres of the richest flats extended.
Such is a brief description of the most important
amongst the Australian rivers. Those rising in the
mountain ranges, and flowing directly into the sea after a
SUDDEN FLOODS. 1 3
course of two or three hundred miles, are often mere beds
of sand, lined with the tea tree {inelalenca), and she-oak
(Casuarina), until the appearance of huge mangrove flats
indicates that the point where tidal influence is perceptible
has been reached.
It is a common thing to hear people in conversation say,
" The Australian rivers are dry." This is very often the
case, for, as a rule, their course is so short, and the
climate so dry, that, in the summer, they shrink into a
chain of water-holes, though a few days' rain swells them
into roaring torrents, carrying away everything before
them. An instance of the rapidity with which a river will
rise came within my own experience when camped with