Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owe - Volume 1 by John MacGillivray (recommended reading txt) 📖

above-mentioned, there is another supernatural being, which has a corporeal existence. It appears in the shape of a man, and loves to grapple with stragglers in the dark, and carry them off. So much is the arlak an object of dread, that a native will not willingly go alone in the dark, even a very short distance from his fire, without carrying a light. Some have assured me that they had seen this arlak, and one man showed me wounds said to have been inflicted by its teeth, and I have no doubt of his having firmly believed that they were produced in this manner.

AND INSTITUTIONS.

Although in each tribe there are three distinct classes, possibly ranks, or perhaps something analogous to the division in other countries into castes, yet there does not appear to be anything approaching to chieftainship. There are a few elderly men, however, in each tribe, who, having acquired a reputation for sagacity and energy, exercise a certain degree of authority over the younger members, and generally manage important matters in their own way. Yet very few of these principal men are of the highest class, the manjerojelle-the middle is termed manjerawule-and the lowest manbulget, but I could not succeed in making out what privileges, if any, are enjoyed by the superior classes. The members of all three appeared to be upon a perfect equality.

Polygamy, although one of their institutions, is little practised, as few men have more than one wife at a time. The betrothal of a female takes place in infancy, and often even before birth. A few half-caste children have been born, but they do not appear to thrive, although this does not imply any want of attention on the part of the mothers.

These natives are fond of social enjoyment. Their evenings are passed away round the fires, with songs generally of a low, plaintive, and not unpleasing character, time being kept by beating one bone or stick upon another. They have besides what may be called a musical instrument-the ibero-a piece of bamboo, three feet in length, which, by blowing into it, is made to produce an interrupted, drumming, monotonous noise. In their dances I observed nothing peculiar.

LAWS OF PUNISHMENT AND REVENGE.

In illustration of their laws relative to punishments, and to show their identity with those of other Australian tribes, I may mention a circumstance which came under my own knowledge. One night about ten o'clock, hearing an uproar at a native encampment near the hospital, I ran out and found that a young man, named Munjerrijo, having excited the jealousy of another, of the name of Yungun, on account of some improper conduct towards the wife of the latter, had been severely wounded, his arm being broken with a club, and his head laid open with an iron-headed fishing spear. As the punishment was considered too severe for the offence, it was finally determined, that, upon Munjerrijo's recovery, the two natives who had wounded him should offer their heads to him to be struck with a club, the usual way, it would appear, of settling such matters.

Like the other Australian tribes, those of Port Essington are frequently at feud with their neighbours, and quarrels sometimes last for years, or, if settled, are apt to break out afresh. In these cases the lex talionis is the only recognised one. I may give an example.

ACCOUNT OF NEINMAL, AN ABORIGINAL OF PORT ESSINGTON.

A Monobar native (inhabitant of the country to the westward of the isthmus) was shot by a marine in the execution of his duty, for attempting to escape while in custody, charged with robbery. When his tribe heard of it, as they could not lay their hands upon a white man, they enticed into their territory a Bijenelumbo man, called Neinmal, who was a friend of the whites, having lived with them for years, and on that account he was selected as a victim and killed. When the news of Neinmal's death reached the settlement, some other Bijenelumbo people took revenge by killing a Monobar native within a few hundred yards of the houses. Thus the matter rests at present, but more deaths will probably follow before the feud is ended. Both these murders were committed under circumstances of the utmost atrocity, the victims being surprised asleep unconscious of danger and perfectly defenceless, then aroused to find themselves treacherously attacked by numbers, who, after spearing them in many places, fearfully mangled the bodies with clubs.

In some of the settled districts of Australia missionaries have been established for many years back, still it must be confessed that the results of their labours are far from being encouraging. Indeed no less an authority than Mr. Eyre, writing in 1848, unhesitatingly states as follows: "Nor is it in my recollection," says he, "that throughout the whole length and breadth of New Holland, a single real and permanent convert to Christianity has yet been made amongst them."* From what I myself have seen or heard, in the colony of New South Wales, I have reason to believe the missionary efforts there, while proving a complete failure so far as regards the Christianising of the blacks, have yet been productive of much good in rendering them less dangerous and more useful to their white neighbours, without however permanently reclaiming more than a few from their former wandering and savage mode of life, and enabling them and their families to live contentedly on the produce of their own labour. I am not one of those who consider that the Australian is not susceptible of anything like such permanent improvement as may be termed civilisation, although it appears to have been sufficiently proved that his intellectual capacity is of a very low order.

(*Footnote. Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia etc. by E.J. Eyre volume 2 page 420.)

Many of the Port Essington natives have shown a remarkable degree of intelligence, far above the average Europeans, uneducated, and living in remote districts-among others I may mention the name of Neinmal (the same alluded to in the preceding paragraph) of whose character I had good opportunities of judging, for he lived with me for ten months. During my stay at Port Essington, he became much attached to me, and latterly accompanied me in all my wanderings in the bush, while investigating the natural history of the district, following up the researches of my late and much lamented friend Gilbert.* One day, while detained by rainy weather at my camp, I was busy in skinning a fish-Neinmal watched me attentively for some time and then withdrew, but returned in half an hour afterwards, with the skin of another fish in his hand prepared by himself, and so well done too, that it was added to the collection. I could give many other instances of his sagacity, his docility, and even his acute perception of character-latterly, he seemed even to read my very thoughts. He accompanied me in the Fly to Torres Strait and New Guinea, and on our return to Port Essington begged so hard to continue with me that I could not refuse him. He went with us to Singapore, Java, and Sydney, and from his great good humour became a favourite with all on board, picking up the English language with facility, and readily conforming himself to our habits, and the discipline of the ship. He was very cleanly in his personal habits, and paid much attention to his dress, which was always kept neat and tidy. I was often much amused and surprised by the oddity and justness of his remarks upon the many strange sights which a voyage of this kind brought before him. The Nemesis steamer under weigh puzzled him at first-he then thought it was "all same big cart, only got him shingles** on wheels!" He always expressed great contempt for the dullness of comprehension of his countrymen, "big fools they," he used often to say, "blackfellow no good." Even Malays, Chinamen, and the natives of India, he counted as nothing in his increasing admiration of Europeans, until he saw some sepoys, when he altered his opinion a little, and thought that he too, if only big enough, would like to be a soldier. The poor fellow suffered much from cold during the passage round Cape Leeuwin and was ill when landed at Sydney, but soon recovered. Although his thoughts were always centred in his native home, and a girl to whom he was much attached, he yet volunteered to accompany me to England, when the Fly was about to sail, but as I had then no immediate prospect of returning to Australia, I could not undertake the responsibility of having to provide for him for the future. I was glad then when Lieutenant Yule, who was about to revisit Port Essington, generously offered to take him there-while in the Bramble he made himself useful in assisting the steward, and, under the tuition of Dr. MacClatchie, made some proficiency in acquiring the rudiments of reading and writing. At Port Essington, the older members of his family evinced much jealousy on account of the attention shown him, and his determination to remain with Mr. Tilston, the assistant-surgeon, then in charge, and endeavoured to dissuade him from his purpose. While upon a visit to his tribe he met his death in the manner already recorded. His natural courage and presence of mind did not desert him even at the last extremity, when he was roused from sleep to find himself surrounded by a host of savages thirsting for his blood. They told him to rise, but he merely raised himself upon his elbow, and said: "If you want to kill me do so where I am, I won't get up-give me a spear and club, and I'll fight you all one by one!" He had scarcely spoken when a man named Alerk speared him from behind, spear after spear followed, and as he lay writhing on the ground his savage murderers literally dashed him to pieces with their clubs. The account of the manner in which Neinmal met his death was given me by a very intelligent native who had it from an eyewitness, and I have every reason to believe it true, corroborated as it was by the testimony of others.

(*Footnote. See Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia etc. by Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt page 309 for an account of his death.)

(**Footnote. Wooden tiles generally used for covering the roofs of houses in Australia.)

FATHER ANJELLO AND HIS LABOURS.

Even Port Essington was destined to become the scene of missionary labours. A party of three persons, sent out by the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, one an Italian Roman Catholic priest, the others lay brothers of his order, embarked at Sydney, some time in 1847. The vessel conveying them unfortunately struck on a reef near the Northumberland Isles during the night, and Father Anjello was the only one of his party saved, and reached Port Essington in a most destitute condition. Nothing daunted, however, he commenced his labours among the blacks, by first acquiring the native language,* in which he ultimately became so proficient as to understand it thoroughly. A hut was built for him at a place called Black Rock, near the entrance of the harbour, at the distance of 14 miles from the settlement. Here he collected together as many of the children of the Limbakarajia tribe as he could induce to remain in the neighbourhood. He endeavoured to instruct them in the elements of his religion, and taught them to repeat prayers in Latin, and follow him in some of the ceremonious observances of the Roman Catholic Church. Like other children this amused them, and so long as they were well fed and supplied with tobacco, everything went on as he could