Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

they have much ado to understand the privileges due to it, | and the rather because they have been too humbly sought to before."

On inquiring into the demands of the company, Sir Thomas Roe soon discovered their impolitic nature; he succeeded in obtaining redress of some of the grievances of which the company complained, as far as related to the arbitrary conduct of some of the Mogul's officers, and, after considerable delay and difficulty, he concluded a treaty, in which permission was granted to trade and establish factories in any part of the Mogul dominions, Bengal, Sindy, and Surat being particularly mentioned.

In a letter from Sir Thomas Roe to the East India Company, dated 24th November, 1616, he gives much sensible advice. He says, "Concerning the aiding the Mogul, or wafting his subjects into the Red Sea, it is now useless, yet I made offer of your affections; but when they need not a courtesy, they regard it as a dog does dry bread when his belly is full. The King has peace with the Portugueses, and will never make a constant war, except first we displant them; then his greatness will step in for a share of the benefit, which dares not partake of the peril. When they have peace they scorn our assistance, and speak as loud as our cannon; if war oppress them, they dare not put out under our protection, nor will they pay for it. You must remove all thoughts of trading to their port, any otherwise than defending yourselves, and leaving them to their fortune. You can never oblige them by any benefits, and they will sooner fear than love you. Your residence you need not doubt, so long as you tame the Portugueses; there fore avoid all other charge as unnecessary. At my first arrival I understood a fort was very necessary, but experience teaches me we are refused it to our advantage. If he would offer me ten, I would not accept of one." Sir Thomas then gives evidence that a fort would not assist the trade. "Secondly," he says, "the charge is greater than the trade can bear, for to maintain a garrison will eat out the profit. An hundred men will not keep it, for if once the Portugueses see you take that course, they will use all their endeavours to supplant you. A war and traffic are incompatible. By my consent you shall never engage yourselves but at sea, where you are like to gain as often as to lose. The Portugueses, notwithstanding their many rich residences, are beggared by keeping of soldiers, and yet their garrisons are but mean. They never made advantage of the Indies since they defended them. Observe this well. It has been also the error of the Dutch, who seek plantations here by the sword; they turn a wonderful stock; they probe in all places; they possess some of the best, yet their dead pays consume all the gain. Let this be received as a rule, that if you will profit, seek it at sea, and in quiet trade; for, without controversy, it is an error to affect garrisons and land wars in India. If you made it only against the natives, I should agree to it; but to make it for them, they do not deserve it, and you should be very wary how you engage your reputation in it. You cannot so easily make a fair retreat as an onset. One disaster would either discredit you, or engage you in a war of extreme danger and doubtful event. Besides, an action so subject to chance as a war, is most unfitly undertaken, and with most hazard, when the remoteness of the place for supplies, succours, and counsel, subjects it to irrecoverable loss; for where there is most uncertainty, remedies should be so much the nearer upon all occasions. At sea you may take and leave; your designs are not published.

"It is not a number of ports, residences, and factories that will profit you; they will increase charge, but not recompense it. The conveniency of one with respect to your sails, and to the commodity of investments, and the well employing of your servants, is all you need."

Sir Thomas then points out the most desirable ports for the company to frequent; gives some advice respecting the merchandise to be sent for traffic, and then refers to the treaty which he had just concluded. He says, "Articles of treaty on equal terms I cannot obtain. Want of presents has disgraced me, and yet by piece-meal I have got as much as I desired at once. I have recovered all bribes, extortions, and debts made and contracted before my time till this day, or, at least, an honourable composition."

Sir Thomas then gives some advice to the company, how to deal with the Dutch and Portuguese. Of the former he says: "I have done my best to disgrace them, but could not turn them out without further danger. Your comfort is, here are goods enough for both."

"I will settle your trade here secure with the king, and

reduce it to order, if I may be heard; when I have so done, I must plead against myself, that an ambassador lives not in fit honour here. I could sooner die than be subject to the slavery the Persian is content with. A meaner agent would, among these proud Moors, better effect your business. My quality often for ceremonies either begets you enemies, or suffers unworthily. I have moderated according to my discretion, but with a swollen heart. Half my charge shall corrupt all this court to be your slaves."

*

*

"The best way to do your business in this court is to find some Mogul that you may entertain for a thousand rupees a year, as your solicitor at court. He must be authorized by the king, and then he will serve you better than ten ambassadors. Under him, you must allow five hundred rupees for another at your port, to follow the governor and customers, and to advertise his chief at court. These two will effect all; for your other small residences are not subject to much inconveniency."

The permission of the company's servants to trade privately seems to have been even at this early period a source of abuse. Sir Thomas advises the company "absolutely to prohibit it, and execute forfeitures, for your business will be the better done. All your loss is not in the goods brought home; I see here the inconveniences you think not of. I know this is harsh to all men, and seems hard; men profess they come not for bare wages; but you will take away this plea if you give great wages to their content, and then you know what you part from; but then you must make good choice of your servants, and use fewer."

While the company's agents were thus pursuing a lucrative trade in the East Indies, they sought to make it still more profitable by obtaining a share in the traffic of the Spice Islands. By their connexion with Sumatra and Java, they had hitherto procured abundance of pepper; but they were excluded from cinnamon, cloves, nutmegs, and the finer spices. "The spices, from their novelty," says Mr. Mill, were at that time a favourite object of consumption to those, the supply of whose wants is so naturally, but thoughtlessly, regarded by the dealer as peculiarly profitable, the rich and the great; and the commerce, brilliant as compared with that of other nations, which the enterprise and diligence of the Dutch now carried on with the East, almost entirely consisted of these commodities." Agents were therefore sent from Bantam to Amboyna, Banda, and other islands, but the opposition on the part of the Dutch effectually obstructed the English trade in this quarter. A factory was therefore established at Macassar, under the idea that, although at this place rice was the only commodity, it might serve as a central port at which the spice trade might be established.

In this year, 1616, the factory at Surat began to experience some of the troubles common to unsettled governments. From the probable death of the emperor, his three sons were collecting their adherents, and preparing to contest the succession; from this circumstance the transit of goods through the provinces to Surat was unsafe, and the trade became every day more precarious. At the port of Surat, however, trade was flourishing; but the factors earnestly begged the company to check private trade, "because individuals in the fleets undersold the company, and that no further licences should be granted by the court to private traders, because, when any misfortune happened to them, that is, when their projects or their credit failed, they either became a burthen on the company, or embraced the Mahomedan faith to keep them from starving."

In the year 1616, also, the trade of the company commenced with Persia. Although Sir Thomas Roe was opposed to this trade, it was resolved to send several kinds of English goods, particularly broad cloths, in exchange for Persian silks, which had hitherto been sent through Turkey to Europe. Sir Thomas did not object to this part of the plan, but his good sense led him to denounce the original proposition, which was to maintain a fleet at Ormus, to protect the Persians against the Portuguese; because, he said, it would exhaust the whole profits which could arise from the trade, and because, in the restoration of peace between Turkey and Persia, the silk trade would naturally revert to its former channel by Aleppo. Besides this, the expenses of conveying the silk by land to a port in the Persian Gulf, thence to be conveyed to Surat, would render the cost of the silks in England higher than that at which they would sell if brought from Aleppo. Notwithstanding this sensible advice, agents were sent to the court of Persia, grants of privileges were obtained, and a trade was opened;

but a very brief experience sufficed to show its small im- | to the Durbar, where the Mogul daily sits to entertain portance. strangers, receive petitions and presents, give out orders, and to see and be seen. The Mogul every morning shows himself to the common people at a window that looks into a plain before his gate. At noon he is there again, to see elephants and wild beasts fight, the men of rank being under him, within a rail. Hence he retires to sleep. At noon he comes to the Durbar afore-mentioned. After supper, at eight of the clock, he comes down to the Guzelean, a fair court, in the midst whereof is a throne of freestone, on which he sits, or sometimes below, in a chair, where none are admitted but of the first quality, and few of them without leave. Here he discourses of indifferent things very affably. No business of state is done anywhere but at one of these two last places, where it is publicly canvassed and so registered; which register might be seen for two shillings, and the common people know as much as the council: so that every day the king's resolutions are the public news, and exposed to the censure of every scoundrel. This method is never altered unless sickness or drink obstruct it; and this must be known, for if he be unseen one day without a reason assigned, the people would mutiny; and for two days, no excuse would serve but the doors must be opened, and some admitted to see him to satisfy others. On Tuesday he sits in judgment at the Jarmeo, and hears the meanest persons' complaints, examines both parties, and often sees execution done by his elephants."

The last of the four voyages projected in 1613, was accomplished in 1617, when the company's agents reported that Surat was the most commodious station for procuring the cloths of India, though nothing could be disposed of there in return, except China goods, spices, and money; that large quantities of Indian-wove goods might be sold at the two factories of Acheen and Tekoo, in Sumatra, in return for gold, camphor, pepper, and benjamin; that Bantam afforded a still larger demand for the wove goods of India, and supplied pepper for the European market; that Jacatra, Iambec, and Polania agreed with the two former places in the articles both of demand and supply, though both on a smaller scale; that Siam might afford a large vent for similar commodities, and would yield, gold, silver, and deer-skins for the Japan market; that English cloth, lead, deer-skins, silks, and other goods, might be disposed of at Japan, for silver, copper, and iron, though hitherto the English cargoes sent to this place had been badly assorted, and the trade was on the decline; that on the island of Borneo, diamonds, bezoar stones, and gold, might be obtained at Succadania, although the trade had been ruined by the ignorance of the first factors; but at Banjarmassin, where the same articles were found, the character of the natives was so treacherous, that it would be expedient to withdraw the factory; that the best rice in India could be bought at Macassar, in exchange for the wove goods of India; and that at Banda the same goods could be sold, and nutmegs and mace procured to a large amount, could peace be established between the Europeans trading to it.

Mr. Bruce remarks, "though these accounts of the experiments which had been made to establish trade in the countries within the company's limits, do not specify the amount of the charges, either in the enterprises or in the settlement of factories; yet these charges must have been great, and must be considered as having exhausted a large proportion of the East India Company's funds, under their obligations to the crown to establish English trade in the East Indies, under their charter and exclusive privileges.”

Our frontispiece represents the front of the original East India House, in Leadenhall Street. During many years after the first formation of the company, business was transacted at the private houses of the directors, and general courts were held at the halls of various incorporated companies. The first governor was Sir Thomas Smith (who was ambassador to Russia in 1604); at his house in Philpot Lane the affairs of the East India Company were principally conducted until 1621, when the regular establishment was at Crosby House in Bishopsgate Street, then the property of Lord Northampton. Here it remained until 1638, when the company removed to Leadenhall Street, to the house of Sir Christopher Clitherowe, at that time governor. In 1648, they removed to the adjoining house, (the one represented in our cut,) then belonging to Lord Craven. A total change of this front was made in 1726, when a new building was erected; this continued in existence seventy years, when, in 1796, the present structure was commenced.

The remainder of our space may be appropriately occupied with a few extracts from the Journal of Sir Thomas Roe. The history of the East India Company will be continued in another Supplement.

The independent character of our ambassador appears in a favourable light, not only in his letters from which we have quoted, but also in his Journal. On preparing to visit the Mogul for the first time, he was told by one of the officers that as he approached the sovereign he must touch the ground with his bare head, "which I refused," says Sir Thomas, "and went on to a place right under him, [the Mogul was seated in a gallery with a canopy over him, and a carpet before him,] railed in, with an ascent of three steps, where I made him reverence, and he bowed his body. So I went within, where were all the great men of the town with their hands before them like slaves. The place was covered over head with a rich canopy, and under foot all with carpets. It was like a great stage, and the prince sat at the upper end of it. Having no place assigned, I stood right before him, he refusing to admit me to come up the steps, or to allow me a chair. Having received my presents, he offered to go into another room, where I should be allowed to sit; but by the way he made himself drunk out of a case of bottles I gave him, and so the visit ended. "January the 10th. I went to court at four in afternoon,

The following is a specimen of the Mogul's method of administering justice :

"On the 23rd, the Mogul condemned one of his own nation upon suspicion of felony; but being one of the handsomest men in India, and the evidence not very clear against him, he would not suffer him to be executed, but sent him to me in irons, as a slave, to dispose of at my will. This is looked upon as a great favour, for which I returned thanks, adding, that in England we had no slaves, nor thought it lawful to make the image of God equal to a beast, but that I would use him as a servant; and if he behaved himself well, give him his liberty. This the Mogul was well pleased with."

"On the 11th March, in the evening, began the festival of the Norose. This is a custom of solemnizing the new year, but the ceremony begins the first new moon after it. It is kept in imitation of the Persians' feast, and signifies in that language nine days, because anciently it lasted no longer, but now it is doubled. The manner of it is thus:A throne is erected, four feet from the ground, in the Dur bar court; from the back whereof to the place where the king comes out, a square of fifty-six paces in length and forty-three in breadth, was railed in, and covered with fair canopies of cloth of gold, silk, or velvet, joined together, and held up with canes covered after the same manner. At the upper end were set out the pictures of the King of England, the Queen, the Lady Elizabeth, the Countesses of Somerset and Salisbury, and of a citizen's wife of London; below them, another of Sir Thomas Smith, governor of the East India Company. The ground is laid with good Persian carpets, very large, into which place come all the men of quality to attend the king, except some few that are within a little rail right before the throne, to receive his commands. Within this square there were set out for show many little houses, one of them of silver, and some other curiosities of value. The Prince Sultan Corome had on the left side a pavilion, the supporters whereof were covered with silver, as were some of those also near the king's throne. The form of this throne was square, the matter, wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl, borne up with four pillars, and covered with cloth of gold. About the edge, over head, like a valence, was a net fringe of good pearl, from which hung down pomegranates, apples, pears, and such fruit, of gold, but hoflow. Within it the king sat on cushions very rich in pearls and jewels, Round about the court before the throne, the principal men had erected tents lined with velvet, damask, or taffety, for the most part, but some few with cloth of gold, into which they retired, and sat to show all their wealth; for anciently, the kings used to go to every tent, and take thence what they pleased; but now it is changed, the king sitting to receive what new year's gifts are brought him. Great presents are offered him by all sorts, tho' not equal to report, yet incredible enough; and at the end of this feast the king, in return for the presents received, advances some, and adds to their entertainment some horse at his pleasure."

JOHN W. PARKER, PUBLISHER, WEST STRAND, LONDON,

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic]

A place of noted fame
Which from the castle there derives its name.
Ent'ring the village, presently y'are met
With a clear, swift, and murmuring rivulet,
Towards whose source, if up the stream you look,
Or on your right, close by, your eye is strook
With a stupendous rock, raising so high
His craggy temples towards the azure sky,
That if we this should with the rest compare,
They hillocks, mole-hills, warts, and pebbles are.
This, as if king of all the mountains round,
Is on the top with an old tower crowned,
An antick thing, fit to make people stare;

But of no use, either in peace or war.-COTTON.

SUCH is the old poet's description of Castleton, of which few villages in England can boast of greater attractions, whether as regards picturesque beauty, or historical interest. It is situated in one of the most beautiful valleys in the mountainous district of Derbyshire, and is chiefly celebrated for its extensive and wonderful cavern, ancient and once valuable lead mines, and Peverel's Castle.

The approach to Castleton by the road across the mountains from Chapel-en-le-Frith is by a steep descent called the Winnats, or Wind-gates, in consequence of the gusts of wind which are always sweeping through the chasms. "Happy was the imagination that first suggested its name, The gates or portals of the winds; since, wild as these sons of the tempests are, the massive rocks which nature here presents, seem to promise a barrier suf

This cavern is noticed in Saturday Magazine, Vol. I., p. 153: VOL. XXV.

ficiently strong to control their maddest fury. Precipices a thousand feet in height, dark, rugged, and perpendicular, heave their unwieldy forms on each side the road, which makes several inflexions in its descent, and frequently presenting themselves in front, threaten opposition to all further progress. At one of these sudden turns to the left, a most beautiful view of Castleton Vale is unexpectedly thrown upon the eye, refreshing it with a rich picture of beauty, fertility, and variety, after the tedious uniformity of rude and barren scenery to which it has so long been confined."

In the Domesday Survey the manor of Castleton is described as "Terra Castelli William Peverell, in Peche.

fers." Mr. Lysons thinks this expression implies that the castle which gives name to this parish was built by William Peverel, natural son of William the First, who had given him this manor amongst other estates after the Conquest. But Mr. King, in his Observations on Ancient Castles, is of a different opinion: he says, "There is not even any tradition preserved of the first the walls shows that it must have been of vast antiquity. building of Castleton; and some herring-bone work in Camden, speaking of the village of Burgh, in Derbyshire, says only, Near this burgh there stands an old castle, upon the top of a hill, formerly belonging to the Peverels, called The Castle in the Peake, and in Latin De alto pecco; which King Edward the Third gave with this manour and honour to John, duke of Lancaster, his son, after he had restored the earldom of Richmond to the king." But he does by no means assert that it was built by the Pevereis, or any Norman; and indeed all that appears from 776

[ocr errors]

the best account that can be obtained amounts merely to this, that in this castle William de Peverel, natural son of William the Conqueror, had his residence, and kept his court; and that he had also another habitation connected with this at Brough, or Burgh, near Castleton, from whence was an ancient road to Buxton, called long before his time, Batham Gate, or the gate leading to the bath. All which plainly imports, that here was a very considerable fortress, the dwelling of some ancient chief, and his train, (for whose use such a road was made,) long before the conquest: and that even William de Peverel found the smallness of this tower inconvenient; so far was he from having built it."

After a minute description of the remains of the castle, Mr. King is inclined to think that it was a fortress and a place of royal residence, during the government of the Saxons. Other antiquarians, however, agree that it is a Norman structure, built by William Peverel; and indeed the traditions of the neigh. bourhood confirm this opinion. Sir Walter Scott, also, in Peveril of the Peak, speaks of "this feudal baron who chose his nest upon the principles on which an eagle selects her eyry, and built it in such a fashion as if he had intended it, as the Irishman said of the Martello towers, for the sole purpose of puzzling posterity." The great elevation of the castle, and the almost perpendicular chasms that nearly isolate the eminence on which it stands, must have rendered it almost impregnable, prior to the invention of gunpowder.

It was, however, probably but ill adapted for a lengthened siege, on account of the absence of any well or reservoir within its walls, from which the garrison could be supplied with water. A weil has been discovered on the summit of Long Cliffe Hill, between which and the castle there is a communication, though now a very dangerous one, across the narrow ridge of rock that overtops the entrance into Peak's Hole. This well is built of the same kind of stone as the castle, and is situated so as to be readily available for the abundant supply of water.

The east and south sides of the castle are bounded by a narrow ravine, called the cave, which ranges between two vast limestone rocks, and on the east is nearly two hundred feet in depth. On the west it is skirted by the precipice which lours over the great cavern, and rears its abrupt head to the height of two hundred and sixty feet. The north side is the most accessible, yet even here the path has been carried in a winding direction, to obviate the steepness of the ascent.

The castle-yard, an inclosed area, extended over nearly the whole summit of the eminence. The wall is nearly in ruins to the level of the area; though, in some few places on the outside, it measures twenty feet high. On the north side were two small towers, now destroyed. The entrance was at the north-east corner, as appears by part of the archway yet remaining. Near the north-west angle is the keep. On the south and west sides of this building the walls are in tolerable preservation; those at the north-west corner are fifty-five feet high; but the north and east sides are much shattered. On the outside it forms a square of thirty-eight feet two inches; but on the inside it is not equal, being, from north to south, twenty-one feet four inches; from east to west, nineteen feet three inches. This difference arises from the varying thickness of the walls, which are composed of broken masses of limestone, and mortar of such an excellent temper, that it binds the whole together like a rock: the facings, both inside and outside, are of hewn grit-stone. In the wall within is a small portion of herring-bone ornament.

The inside, now completely vacant, anciently consisted of two rooms, one on the ground floor and one above; over these the roof was raised with a gable end to the north and south, but not of equal height with the outer walls. The ground floor was about fourteen feet high, the upper room about sixteen. The entrance to the former appears to have been through a doorway on the

[blocks in formation]

The top of the rock where the castle stands is but a narrow plot of ground; nor can it at any time have been sufficiently ample to have accommodated the numerous establishment of a great feudal chieftain: yet in the earlier ages, it appears to have been a place of considerable importance, and the occasional residence of the Peverels, who lived here in great pomp and splendour.

At the period of the Domesday Survey, Peverel possessed this castle, with the honour and forest, and thirteen other lordships in the county. In his time a tournament is reported to have been held here on the following occasion:

Pain Peverel, (half-brother to William,) Lord of Whittington, in the county of Salop, had two daughters; one of whom, named Mellet, was no less distinguished by a martial spirit than her father. This appeared from the declaration she made respecting the choice of a husband. She firmly resolved to marry none but a knight of great prowess; and her father, to confirm her purpose, and to procure and encourage a number of visitors, invited all noble young men who were inclined to enter the lists, to meet at Peverel's Place in the Peke, and there decide their pretensions by the use of arms; declaring at the same time, that whoever vanquished his competitors, should receive his daughand valour. Guarine de Meez, a branch of the house of ter, with his castle at Whittington, as a reward for his skill Lorraine, and an ancestor of the lords Fitz-Warraine, hearing this report, repaired to the place above mentioned, and there engaged with a son of the King of Scotland, and also with a baron of Burgoyne, and vanquishing them both, obtained the prize for which he fought.

The Peverels did not long enjoy their large estates in this county; for William Peverel, a grandson of the first possessor, having poisoned Ranulph, earl of Chester, was obliged to flee, leaving his castles and immense possessions at the disposal of the king (Henry the Second), who, having held them during some years, granted a portion of them to his son John, earl of Morteyne, who afterwards succeeded to the crown. In the reign of John, this castle fell into the hands of the rebellious barons; but in 1215, William de Ferrers, seventh earl of Derby, raised troops for the king, and took it from them by assault; and in recompense for this eminent service, he was appointed governor. ing many subsequent years, the castellans followed each other in quick succession. In the reign of Edward the Third, this castle and forest appear to have been a part of the fortune given with Joan, sister of that king, on her marriage with David, prince of Scotland. About forty years after this event, it was given to John of Gaunt, and thus became absorbed into the duchy of Lancaster.

Dur

The Duke of Devonshire has now the nominal appointment of constable of the castle, and is lessee of the honour or manor and forest of the Peak, of which Castleton was till of late years esteemed a member.

Our authority for some of the particulars in this notice is the History and Gazetteer of the County o Derby, the materials for which were collected by the spirited and intelligent publisher, Mr. Stephen Glover,. and edited by Thomas Noble, Esq. Of this work two quarto volumes have been published, and it is now discontinued, for want of sufficient encouragement. This

is to be regretted, because, from the full and ample manner with which the subject is treated, and the skill displayed by the editor in arranging and digesting the materials, this work promised to be a most valuable local history, complete in every part. While some counties have their histories written in splendid folios, which leave nothing to be desired, others are almost entirely without them; and their works of art and auti

quity, local customs derived from ancient times, historical annals and illustrations, are being neglected, forgotten, and destroyed. Almost any attempt to preserve a memorial of these ought to be encouraged by the public in general, and especially by the local gentry: -the more so when the work like the one before us is conducted with so much skill.

RECENT INTELLIGENCE RESPECTING THE

ABORIGINES OF KING GEORGE'S SOUND, WESTERN AUSTRALIA*.

I.

KING George's Sound is situated very near the southwest extremity of New Holland: the entrance to it is in latitude 35° 6′ 20′′ south, and longitude 118° 1' east of Greenwich. It is very conveniently placed for the purposes of refreshment and refit of vessels to New South Wales or Van Diemen's Land, and it has been supposed to be the only really good harbour in the neighbourhood of the Swan River colony.

King George's Sound was discovered in the year 1792, by Captain Vancouver: it was subsequently visited by Captain Flinders, and the French expedition of discovery, under Commodore Baudin; more recently by Captain King; and since that period it has been frequently resorted to by sealing vessels, the neighbouring coast to the eastward being fringed with a multitude of rocks and islands, upon which many seals of the black-furred species have been found,

The port was carefully described by Captain Flinders, who also published a correct plan of the Sound, from which it appears that besides the Outer Sound, there are two inner basins or harbours, which are perfectly land-locked, and offer every security for ships. The northern one, Oyster Harbour, is fronted by a bar

of sand, on which there is not more than thirteen feet and a-half at high water; and within it is so full of shoals excepting at the entrance, and near Green Island, where small vessels may ride securely at their anchors, or be moored to the shore-that there is scarcely water enough for a boat to approach the beach; the greater part being a bank that dries, or nearly so, at low water, excepting in the drains of two small rivers that fall into the head of the harbour, which are navigable for a few miles by small boats.

In the centre of the Oyster Harbour is Green Island, a small islet upon which Vancouver sowed many garden seeds; but as subsequent visiters could discover no traces of them, they had probably been destroyed by vermin.

sons,

The situation and excellence of the harbour, and the expectation of finding a good country in the interior, induced the government of New South Wales to form a settlement there; and accordingly, at the latter end of the year 1826, a party, consisting in all of fifty-two perwas dispatched under the command of Major Lockyer, of the 57th Regiment, for that purpose. The shoal character of the shores of this harbour led the new colonists to occupy the shore of Princess Royal Harbour, situated at the back or west side of the Sound, into which vessels of a considerable size might enter and ride at anchor very close to the shore in perfect security. The party, therefore, encamped at the base of what they afterwards called Mount Melville, situated on the north side of the harbour, about a mile within the entrance. In many respects, the situation proved eligible; but it was deficient in the most essential thing— good water. There was also a great scarcity of timber; and the soil in the immediate neighbourhood of the encampment proved to be very unproductive, for, on turn

In the Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Volumes of the Saturday Magazine, the reader will find a series of original articles on New South Wales, written by a gentleman who resided during a few years among the scenes which he describes. These sketches refer to the eastern and southern coasts of Australia; the western coast is much less known.

So

ing it up a few inches beneath the surface, it was found to be nothing but a pure white sand, except in bogs and swamps, where the subsoil was of a peaty nature. favourable, however, was the climate to vegetation, that wherever a small supply of manure could be obtained, the crops were not only certain, but luxuriant.

The colonists at first named their little settlement, "Frederick Town;" but this was afterwards changed to Albany." Mr. Backhouse, who visited it in December, 1837, remarks, that though Albany is laid out as a town upon some maps, yet it is a poor place, consisting of a few scattered cottages; "there is no baker's shop in it," he says, "but there are four public-houses."

The friendly disposition and frequent visits of the natives to the new colony afforded opportunities, such as respecting their customs and manner of life, particularly but seldom occur, of collecting interesting information from some of the more intelligent natives, who, by Of these opportunities Mr. Scott Nind, the medical degrees, took up their abode within the settlement. officer who accompanied the settlement, diligently availed municated his observations to Robert Brown, Esq., himself, and, after two or three years' residence, comF.R.S., by whom they were transmitted to the Royal Geographical Society, and published, in the year 1830,

in the first volume of their Journal. Further informa

tion respecting this remarkable people has been recently Phillips, Esq., Governor of King George's Sound, drew obtained from the best authority. In October last, J. up a notice of the present condition of the Aborigines of that colony, their traditions, customs, mode of living by a distinguished individual of this country. The diseases, &c., in reply to certain queries proposed to him source from whence these inquiries emanated, as well. dressed, gives a peculiar value to the Governor's as the position of the party to whom they were adreplies; which have been kindly transmitted for insertion in the Saturday Magazine.

The natives of Western Australia appear to belong to two great families; namely, the TONDERUP and MONsmall-limbed, and the other big-shouldered or broad GALUANAR OF MOONGALHANAR, the one signifying and high chested. A division of these two families. relatives, but whether of cousins or half-brothers and results, probably, from the intermarriage of certain of such marriages become EUBIL-WACKS, or half-Tonsisters cannot be distinctly determined. The progeny derups and half-Moongalhanars. The two great families are again sub-divided, on the mother's side, into Narranghar, Quarrunger or Quarrunghar, Teun-donger, Torronger. This sub-division arises from the mode of marriage; the men steal their wives from some distant tribe, and feel themselves bound to maintain their right to them by force of arms; but if conquered and captured, the wife of the vanquished becomes the wife of the conqueror. But as these thefts are commonly perpetrated upon distant or hostile tribes, the origin and particulars of the custom are very obscure. family is mentioned under the term Balar-warck or In Captain Grey's Vocabulary a great tribe or known to the natives eastward of Swan River. The Balar-wauk; but of this family little appears to be King George Tribes only admit of the Tonderups and Moongalhanars (the Eubil-wauks being a mixture) as the principal or great families with their sub-divisions, as noticed above.

Some of the traditions related by these people respecting their first origin are very curious. One of the natives gave our informant the following story. "When I was in the Moon," said he, meaning before he was born, "first came a swan, very very big, and black; and then came a pigeon and a swallow, there was nothing!-The swan then began to plume itself, and then a great wind came; when it plucked out feathers

« AnteriorContinuar »