ABORIGINAL TRIBES OFDUNGOG, PORT STEPHENS AND

GRESFORD(By GORDON BIDNNETT)

Bmndy. the 'last of his tribe, rwas a Dungog ,identity(Re-printed. 11964)

CHRONICLE PRINT.· PUKEO'S

The Earliest Inhabitants

ABORIGINAL TRIBES OFTHE DISTRICT

THE BLACKS OF DUNGOG, PORT

STEPHENS AND GRESFORD

By GORDON ,BmNNETT

Dungog and district looms lal'gely in the history ofthe early settlement of New South 'Wales for manyreasons. Some historians have been lee to beileve thatthe ,earliest settlement north of the Goal River, (orNewcastle, as we know it to-day,) commenced at !PortStephens, when the Australian Agricultural Com'Panyfermed its famous settlement in the early (ays of thefirst two decades of the nineteenth century. This ideais, however, erroneous. for the country Was originallyopened UIP northwards frvm Green HiUs (Morpeth),and Dungog was the ultimate Hmit of settlement forten years or more. III ~he'Se ,articles I do not 'Proposeto deal with the history of the d~strict and its develop­ment in so far as is concerned the EngHsh populationand the mixed agglomer"tiol1 of races and classes thatsubsequently helped to fill the vacant spaces 'betweenHunter's River and the headwaters of what is now,known 8)S the Manning. h'either is it my intention todeal in any way With the penal settlements, or thepenal conditions that 'prevailed in those l'ar-off days.

'IrniPelled by a spirit of anthropological curiosity Ihave !been tempted to make some researches concerningthe !people that inhabited the districts wherin the":Chronicle" circulates long. before the clank of theleg-iron was heard in its primeval forests and long be­fore 'modern civilisat;on "\'.iped out of existence thoseuncultured sawages to 'whom I refer. It is the resultof my inquiries that I desire to 'Publish in the hope thatthere are some that may be interested in learning whatclass of 'People dwelt :JIang the hanks of the Williams

and on the foreshores of (Port Stephens in those dayswhen the battle of 'Waterloo was something to betalked of as a current event. and when malefactorswhere hanged by the neck to the limros of the gum-treewhose roots Iillay yet be seen near where the DungogPublic School now si.J.pds. Necessarily my investiga­tions have included tllJ3e different tribes of aborigineswho 'were allied to, or c,1rmected with by totemism,those that inhabited the Dungog and Port 'Stephensdistricts,and if reference is made ocoasionaHy tolocalities distant ,from that centre where the headwatersof the Williams emerge to the flats of the lower land itmay be taken that the ,anthropological data that Ihave garnered 'warrants the excursion.

I may say at the outset that mo'st of my ref~rences

are from Howitt's very complete work regardmg theaborigines of the eastp.rn ci,stricts of the continent. Inaddition rperhaps the most accurate particulars aretaken from data collected by the .Jate Dr E. McKell.arMcKinlay, that dis:tin~'uished scie~tist, anthro'!?olDglstand medico, that made Dungog hIS home durmg thebest part of the first half of the >last century. I hadthe good fortune to obtain access to many papers colla­ted by this learned gentleman, ,whom, as ,a boy, I canperfectly remernber, and I have considered. them. to beof such interest to Dungog folk that I make thIS myexcuse for presenting them in this form. .

In the far-off days ·of the first decade of the nme­teenth century, the l,cality that we know as Dungogwas called by the 'primitive, inhalbitants "'IUnkok" or"Tungog", both of whieh words mean, i? the .Acwabakaldialect,the place of :hinly wooded hIlls. 'l?he blacksliVing in the distrid that extends from Just. aboutwhere Brookfield now is to the headwaters of thechichester and the Williams belong-ed to a tribe kn()l>ynas the Gringai. They 'Wpre distributed over the dIS­trict in >local groups known as ",Nurra" an? were loca­ted at distances aboLlt eigjIt uules apart m w1.Iat ~hehistorians of those days termed villages. The mI~-i1?~asof these rude aborigines were of the most pTlmItIvedescription, being merely a few sheets of bark placedagalnst a convenient log, or bushes roughly plantedalongside some huge f:>rf'5't ~a~t. A census taken byDr McKinlay -in the ,early thIrtIes showed that. t1.Ierewere about 250 blacks m :the valley of the WIlhms.Across the range, on the watershed of the P~ters?n,was another, and an importnt Ibranch o~ !;hIS. tnbewith ,whom the natives of the Dungog dIstrIct mter-

3

married, and Dr McKinlay and Mr J. W. Boydell recordthat these tribes married also with those of the tribeson the Gloucester watershed. Below Dungog, and ex­tending to Lake Macquarie, the Awabakal tribe wasthe most important and their language is recorded ininteresting treatises written by the Hev. L. E. Threl­keld. Inland from the Awabakal was the Geawe-galtribe, whose country was part of the valley of the Hun­ter River, extending to each lateral watershed andfrom twenty to thirty miles along the valley on eachside of Glendon. These aborigines spoke the languageof, and intermarried with those of Maitland, less fre­quently with those of the Paterson River and rarelywith those of Mussel Brook. They Were always indread of war with the Kamllaroi, a fierce and warliketribe, who followed down the head-waters of the Hun­ter from the Talbragar to the Nunmurra waters, andeven occasionally made raids as far as Jerry's Plains. Asection of the Kamilaroi occupied the upper watersflowing into the Hunter and Goulburn, and the -easygap from the west probably afforded them ready accessfor their raids. The fear that this race inspired in thenatives of localities adjoining their boundaries reachedas far as Dungog, and twenty years ago when "Brandy"was the last of his tribe in the district he would oftenmention, with apparently genuine fear, the possibilityof a raid by the wild blacks from the west.

FAMILY ORGANISATION.From Port Stephens to the Queensland Lorder, a

stretch of many hundreds of miles, there were numElr­ous tribes of blacks speaking dialects that were basical­ly connected with that of the Gringais about Dungog.Very little has been recorded of their organisation, be­liefs or customs, and apparently no true history ofthem will ever be written ..

With the aborigines of Australia tae m:trriage cus­toms are the most interesting. Rude and uncivilisedthough they were, there was a rigid social organisationthat has been the wonder of students of thE-ir mode ofliving. Intermarriage of families was strictlY forbid­den, and incest was a crime punishable with death.Each child, at birth, was placed in a certain class ortotem, and could only marry some perSOn from an en­tirely different class or totem, their panrcular classifi­cation being indicated by It distinguishing name. Mostof the Gringai were named Kumbo, nut there weresome Ipai, Kubbi and Murri among them. Dr McKin­lay, in one of his notes, regrets that he was not able to

4

obtain sufficient information to tabulate their clallssystem under the sub-class, or totem rules, but he saysthat there were certain facts that were suggestive.One familY of Kubbi took their names from theirfather, and not from their mother. Another familyconsisted of an Ipai married to a Kubbitha. In anothercase Kubbi was married to a Kubbitha, and again inanother case a Kubbi married a Kubbitha, and theirchild was of the Kumbo sub-class. Two explanations,says the learned savant, may be suggested. These mar­riages and descents may indicate a complete breakingdown of the old Kamilaroi organisation in a mannersimilar to that apparent in other coastal tribes, or itmay have been the result of breakin.r, up of the tribeunder our civilisation. The only point that seems to beworth much consideration is that the child's name wasthat of the father, or of a sub-class which. together withhis, represented his class. There were also totems inthese tribes, 'for instance such as Black-nake, Blackcrow, Eagle-Lawk, and Stingar:ee.

MARRIAGE.Marriages were arranged by the pareelts and kin­

dred, and a wife was chosen from a neighboring tribe;for instance a man living at Gresford obtained a wifefrom the Hunter River. The woman about to be mar­ried made a camp and a fire, to 'which the man was leclby his father or any old man of the tribe. After theyhad camped together the ceremony was complete.Capture of women from . other tribes and elopementswere common. In regard to the captured women. ifshe belonged to the same sub-class or tOtem as the cap­turer, he would have to let her goor yield her up tosomeone of a different class. In regard to elopements,if a man and woman of the same class ran off togetherthey were punished by death if captured. If they didnot belong to the same class the man 'had to fight someof the members of the tribe. and if he were successfulin vanquishing their best fighting men in single combathe could retain his bride.

A man was not permitted to speak to his wife'smother and could only do so through a third party.Before the advent of the whites to the district it wasdeath for a man to speak to her, and for many yearsafter settlement was first established the punishmentwas a temporary banishment from the camp.

Mr R. Dawson, in 1830, writing of the PortStephens tribes, said that they generally took their

5

wives {rom other tribes if they could find opportunitiesto steal them. The consent of the female was nevermade a question of the transaction. When the tribesappeared to be in a state of peace with each other,friendly visits were exchanged, at which times the un­married females were carried off by either party. Thefriends of the girl never interfered, and in the eventof her making any resistance, which was frequently thecase, her abductor silenced it by a severe blow on thehead with his club while carrying her off: He kept herat a distance till her friends were all gone, and then re­turned with her to his tribe. But if the girl had noobjection to her suitor or .had no one else in her eyethat she liked better, she agreed to become his gin,thus rendering abduction unnecessary. The husbandand wife were, in general,. remarkably constant to eachother, and it rarely happened that they separated afterhaving considered themselves man and wife. When anelopement or the stealing of another man's gin tookplace, cit created a great and apparently lasting uneasi­ness in the husband, which is not altog~t.aer unnatural.

CHIEFS, OR HEADMEN.As with all savage tribes, there was one, or more, in

a community that was in a position of authority. Inregard to the southern tribes of the Kamilaroi, locatedto the north of Maitland, Dr McKinlay states that in1830 he made some investigations and found that therewere two or three head-men in each division of thetribe. Their position was one of influence and authori­ty and depended on the valor and strength of the indi­vidual. None of these positions wele hereditary and aman that distinguished himself as a warrior or oratorwould became a leader by force of character. His son,if valiant, would be highly thought of. These head­men, or the oldest of them, settled the disputes of thetribe and decided what white men were to be killed ifa raid were to be engaged upon. The bora, or initia­tion ceremonies were also arranged by them. In thePort Stephens tribes there were no chiefs, but certainleading characters had more influence than othersamong the communities when matters of common in­terest were being discussed, or arrangements made forimp'Ortant ceremonies or warlike excursions. No onewas invested, however, with, or assumed any authoritywhatever in the tribe.

SETTLING ARGUMENTS.In the settlement of quarrels in the Gringai (Dun-

6

gog) tribe those of a personal or private nature weresettled by the individuals with any weapons near athand. In cases of offences against the tribe or tribalcustoms, the offender had to stand Qut in the open,armed with a shield, or heilaman, while a certain num­ber of spears, according to the gravity of the offence,were thrown at him. If he could defend himself suc­cessfully, well and good, and he was adjudged to havebeen proved innocent. If he could not, he was eitherseverely injured, or killed outright. One pleasant prac­tice for the settlement of little differences was for thetwo aggrieved parties to take hits at each other's headwith a waddy, turn about, and the one that held outlongest was acclaimed the victor to the sound of muchnoise from the assembled tribe.

MEDICINE-MEN AND SU?ERSTITICNS.

Naturally in a· race where religion has no place inthe sQ,cial condition superstition and fantastic beliefsin the existence of evil spirits prevails toa great extent.The aborigines of Australia were no exception to thisrule, and some of their beliefs are interesting to themodern reader. It may be taken as a generally accep­ted fact that the blacks of this country did not believethat death could be encompassed by natural causes,and this notion obtrudes itself in all the tribes, fromthe Arunta in the Northern Territory, to t1:e relics ofthe pristine Papuans that were left high and dry inTasmania countless centuries ago. Sickness was at­tributed to the influence of a medicine-man of anothertribe or someone of the local community who was cap­able of exercising witchcraft. Thus whenever a nativedeveloped a serious pain he usually hurried to themedicine-man of the tribe and learned from the wizardwho was responsible. Sometimes the uoUDle was at­tributed to a spirit, but if the ancient doctor had aparticular enemy he encompassed a neat revenge by at­tributing the nefarions powers of witchcraft to himthus generally involving him in death. Needless to saythe medicine-men were greatly feared.

Among the tribes in the Williams valley it was notuncommon for the medicine-men of hostile tribes tosneak into a camp at night under cover of the darkness,or a cloud, and with a net of peculiar construction gar­rotte one of the tribe, drag him a few hundred yardsfrom the camp, cut up his abdomen obliquely, take outthe kidney and caul-fat and then stuff a handful ofsand and grass into the wound. The strangling net

7

was then unwound, and if the victim wel'e not alreadydead he 'would iDe a ghost mside twenty-four huui:s.SC':ne are said to have ·.':'lFvived the operadon for threedays. The fat so stolen wa, gLeatly prized and was di­vided among the adLlLi wno amlOmted theil' bodieswith it, and genemlly canitd portions with them in thebelief that the prowess and vrrtues of the deceasedwould pass to them. His bad attributes remained 'withthe cOIpse.

Around Dungog the blacks believed. when a man 'be­came ill with a wasting sickness, that one of thesemedicine-men had crbpt,n under cover of darkness andremoved the kidney fat "vlthout the 'painful opemtiona'bove described. They r:alled their nocturnal cpe" ation";kroji" or "koradji," and were in great tenor of them.They also believed trnt the koradji were possessed ofwonderful supernatural powers and besides bringingdisaster to others could efrect cures of all manner ofills among theIr own tri':('~. It may be taken general­ly that sickness of all kinds was belleved to be causedby the incantations and I11agic of the koradjis or medi­eE.e-men of hostile tnbes.

At 'Port Stephens an observer witnessed the treat­ment of a sick hlackfuDo'W by a koradji. The witchdectol' wound round the body of the patient a cord ofopossum fur and then pas:ec1 it round the hody of afemale relative ,or fnenc1, who held the end in herhands. She then passed the cord to and fro ra;pidly be­bween her l!ps until t.he 'bluod flowed. This was caughtin a bowl over which the gin held her head and it Iwasbelieved that the evil maZic that caused the diseasepas3ed up the cord into 1he 'body of the operator andthence with the blood into the Ibowl.

Among the triibes that extended inland from PortStephens it was also believed that thekoradjis, or grad­jis, as they were ca,led had curative !powers thatenabled them to suck out the evil magic projected intoa man by a hostile operator. They would place theirlips on the affected sput, and .afte.r incantations, wouldproduce the thing of evE in the form of a ;piece of'stone or charcoal. In one case noted by ,Mr. Boydell, atGresford, a 'blackfellow was under the belief that whenprussing a grave the ghost of the man that had beenburied had magically thrown a pebble at him and heconsidered that he was (jJeTeby marked for death. Akoradji, however, relieved his anxiety by sucking theE,~Ot and producing the pehble that was the cause ofthe mischief. In anOUle r instance a koradji extracted

8

the pain from a 'boy's foot !which had Ibeen ·burned, andit took the form of a piece of charcoal.

These medioine men also claimed to posses's power­ful influence over the 'weather, and could make rain,create stOI"m3 or bril1g on a drought. In the tri'be atPort Stephens the koradjis used to drive away the rMnby throwing fire stichs it' the air and at the sametime 'puffing and shouting. The tribesmen were greatlyafraid of 'blood falling into lakes or rivers lest greatstOI'IDS should result and other eviLs be 'brought about,not the least of which would Ibe the destruction OIffish.Among the Kamilarol, if a black saw a whirlwind herushed into a tree ,and clung to it until the lblast haddied a;way remembering "that blaokfellows have beencarried up by them and never came back". If a Grin­gai were on a journey and it seemed ,as though nightwould overta!ke him he would place a stone in the forkof a tree Ibelieving that he would then 'be certain to ifin­ish the trip 'before darkness dosed in. Like all othersof his tribe he had a fear of travelling in the dark.The Yuin believed that the thunder was the voice ofDaramulum. The Gringa: had a great dread of thun­der and 'beNeved it to be the d~monstration of theanger of some sUipernatural being rebuking them forsonie impropriety. This IH'ling they knew as Coen.

GRAYES AiND FUNEJRAL CUtSTO:MlSDeath ,among most savage trilbes is a matter of mys­

teryand wssociated always with the sUIPernatural.Arrnongthe Gring,ai it was Ibelieved that the ~host.ofa deceased took up its ,abode near 1Jhe grave ill whIchthe body was buried and was able to injure strangerswho incautiously ventured near it. The BiJga;mbul be­lief was that people after death went to and fro, theshadows of what they were in life. These glories theycalled "matu".

Throughout the Gringai country Dr. McKinlay lo~at­ed Inany places where Ir,lmbers of Iblacks were ibuned.and ISalW interments at least after the year 18130,so that IWIhat he described {was probably a continua­tion of 'a very old custom. The dead were carriedfrom miles around to be huried in these places. Mostof the older hands in Dungog 'can remember 1Jhe oldaboriginal cemetery near Mr. Wi:l1iann Aiblbott's homeat Violet Hill and at the rear of the Rectory, and Ihave very. vivid recollections of having heard manyold residents descriil>e a.boriginal burials there. Dr.McKinlay furnishes some VEry interesting notes inthis category.

·He describes that at Gresford when tIle grave, whichwas very neatly dug with the rudest implements, 'wascqnsidered to be of sufficient depth a man got into itand tried it by lying down at full length. The body,nicely tied up in bark, was carried to it by friends ofthe deceased. Before being lowered into the gravethe medicine man, standing at the head, spoke to thecorps to find out who caused its death, and he receivedanswers from the other medicine men at the foot. Allthe articles of the deceased were buried with him, andevery black present contributed somethIn~ to the col­lection. All the things were placed at the dead man'shead, and the grave was then filled in.

The following was the practice at Dl1ngog, and re­lates to the cU!ltoms that the learned scientist andmedico noted about the year 1830. Venerable men,and men of disinction were buried with much cere­mony, but ordinary members of the tribe, and females,were disposed of in a .perfunctory manner. The bodyof a man belonging to a strong family and with a bigfollowing would be buried in the manner that he thusdescIibes: The 'body was doubled up, heels to hips andface to knees, and the arms folded. It was thenwrapped in sheets of ti-tree secured by cords of string­bark fibre. A hole was dug in easy soil in a wellshaded locality, about two-feet deep and circular. Thebody was dropped in sideways and after a stone hatchetand a club were placed beside it the grave was filledin and the ceremonies ended. The g!'ief dillplayed atthe funeral of a venerable. and honored man was un­questionably great and genuine. The lamentation atthe grave and the chopping of heads. and burning ofarms was something not easily to be forgotten. This

though violent, was not of long duration, and bythe wounds were healed the sorrow ende!!.

At Port Stephens the body was neatly folded in bark!l.Iidwas placed in the grave at flood tide-never at theebb, lest the retiring water should bear the spirit ofthe departed to some distant country. Before placingthe corpse in the grave two men held it on their shoul­ders while a third struck the body lightly with a greenbough at the same time calling out the names of theacquaintances of' the deceased and others. The beliefwas that when the name of the person that had causedhis death was spoken the body would shake and causethe bearers to drop it, or to stagger. If the personresponsible were thus discovered the tribe would seekrevenge.

10

The doctor relates a-n·· interesting story of an oldcouple that lost by death an only daughter of whomthey were very fond. _...fter ehe died the parents builttheir hut over her grave close to the shore of the har­bor and lived there for many. months crying for herevery evening at sunset. They then removed their huta few yards away and remained in it until the grasshad completely covered the grave, whe:... tiley left andnever visited the spot again.

It seems probable from the information availablethat the Gringai natives belonged to the port Stephenstribe, for there are indications to show that the~ heldthe same belief that if the dead were not buned atflood tide the ebb would carry the spirit away. Thisis marked about Clarence Town, Seaham and Paterson,and recorded by Mr Boydell. All believed that thespirit lingered at the grave for some time.

THE GREAT SPIRITS.Information as to the tribes further r.urth along the

coast is very fragmentary. Dr McKinlay, who appar­ently was a great traveller in those c;:;.ny Co.j·:> , wroteof these almost unknown people in 1830 and said"that they believed in evil spirits whu disported them­selves in the night, but also in a master spirit, in someunknown habitat, who ruled their destinies." The i~­vestigator, however, was nev~r able to .learn f!om .lll,Srude informants the name gIven to thIS mystIc delt} ,but they always indicated his whereabouts by J?oint~n.gto the sky. They were convinced wa .. th~s splntsettled them in their country, apportioned theIr hunt­ing grounds gave them their laws !md instituted theceremony of "bumbat," or "bora." To the anthropo­lo"'ist it is clear that Dr McKinlay gathered as muchinformation from them as it was possible for them toimpart to one uninitiated into their ceremonies, or toone not a "bumbat," their name for those that hadbeen through the ceremonies. The blacks of PortStephens, being of the same great tribal community asthose at Dungog, 1:elieved in an ev!. being "Coen,:'who could take the fOTm of birds, and possibly of a111­mals. Any mysterious noise at night was attributedto "Coen," and they never moved after dark without afire-stick to keep him off.

In this connection it is worth noting what Dawsonsays of "Coen" when writing of his visit to Port Ste­phens prior to 1830. He says: "They (the blacks) areafraid of "Coen," an evil spirit of the woods, whichthey say "crammer" (steals) blacldellows when

11

"nangry" (asleep) in bush." Speaking of a thunder­storm he says: "I could, however, learn nothing fromthem except that it was "coen" who was very angry,and was come to frighten them, but the origin or mo­tives of "coen" I could not now, more than on formeroccasions, get any other explanation than that he wasin form a blacldellow and an evil spirit who delif.'htedin tormenting and carrying them away when he ~ouldget opportunities."

I (the writ~r) !e~embering questioning "Brandy,"the last of Grmgal tnbe, on this subject together withthe lat.e Mr John Robson, some sixteen years ago, andaccordmg to my notes maEle at the time coen was re­sponsible for the storms, floods, droughts and firesand had carried off niany blackfellows for offence~against tribal laws. Mr Robson, who had an extensiveknowledge of aboriginal ·lore extracted a story fromthe old fellow relating to the carrying off of a lubrawho had spied 011 the secret bora ceremonies. Accord­ill.g to our informant, who declared that he was an eye­wltn~ss of the occurrence, . the gin was walking nearthe nver when coen came III a crash of thunder and afiash of lightning, hurled the branches of trees overher and then carried her off. It is not unlikely thatthe unfortunate gin was killed by the limbs of a treethat had been struck with lightning, for according to"Brandy" none of the tribe ever went near the spotafterwards.

Some further light is thrown on coen by what Threl­keld says in his work on the language spoken at LakeMacquarie. He says: "Koin (coen) is an imaginarymale being who has now, and has always had, the ap­pearance of a black; he resides in thick bushes orjun~les, and he is seen occasionally by day, but mostlyat lllght. In general he precedes the coming of nativesfrom distant parts, when they assemble to celebratecertain of their ceremonies, sudl as the knocking outof teeth in the mystic ring, or when they are perform­ing some dance. He appears painted with plpeclay andcarries a fire-stick in his hand; but geI>~rany it is thedoctors (a kind of magician) who alone perceive himand to whom he says 'Fear not com~ and talk.' Atother times he comes wheR the blacks are asleep andtakes them up, as an eagle his prey, and carnes tnemaway for a time. The shouts of the surrounding partyoften makes him drop his burden; otherwise he con­veys them to his fireplace in the bush where he de­posits his load close to the' fire. The person carried

12-

off tries to cry out, but cannot, feeling almost choked;at daylight Koin disappears, and the black finds him­self conveyed safely to his own fireside."

This appears to indicate that Koin is identical withthe Coen of the Gringai, and the Baiame or Duramulanof other tribes along the coast, for he holds the placein the ceremonies which the latter has in the othertribes of the south. Old men of the Yuin tribe havestated that their ceremonies, almost rimilar in form,extended right up to Newcastle-that is to Awabakal,or Lake Macquarie blacks.

WILD BLACKS.Along that extensive stretch of coast between the

Port Stephens blacks and those known as the Chepratribe, somewhere about the vicinity of Port Macquarie,early anthropologists hud little opportunity of pursuingcomplete investigations. As a matter of fact whenDawson and Dr McKinlay were prosecuting their re­searches they applied the name Chepra to all thoseaborigines inhabiting the coastal areas north of theStroud district. The savage characteristics of thesetribesmen deterred explorers and settlers in thoseearly days, and grim expeditions of extermination werefrequently conducted from the settled districts againstthe uncivilised natives. The story of the big massacreon the Manning watershed was receutly reprinted atlength in the "Chronicle," the facts having been gar­nered by that industrious historian, Mr F. A. Fitz­patrick, of the Wingham "Chronicle."

In my possession I have some old records of the A.A. Company at Carrington, and of the late CaptainThomas Cook, of Auchentorlie, Dungog, that throw aninteresting light on the condition of the country in theearly twenties. As some of these records relate to themagisterial work of Capt. Cook, who was commandantof the whole of the country north of Newcastle at thatperiod, it is interesting to piece together, from the frag­mentary reports and documents, the stories of some ofthe wandering tribes of blacks that occasionally swoop­ed down on the settled districts. One statement, re­corded in the stilted handwriting of Capt. Cook him­self, describes how a band of blacks stole a child, thedaughter of a Mrs Easterbrook, whose husband was aclerk of the A. A. Company at Stroud. They disappear­ed in a northerly direction but were pursued by a partyof armed soldiers and assigned servants and overtakensome twenty miles away. Eleven blacks were killed

13

and the child recovered. Writing his official report onthe matter Capt. Cook said: "The native blacks arevery savage in this locality and it is-necessary that wes~ould all carry arms when travelling. In companyWIth the clerk of the peace, Mr Duncan F. Mackay, Iwas molested only last week by wild blacks betweenDungog and Stroud and discharged my musket at sev­eral who threw spears at us."

In passing I might mention that I have several lett­ers, dated 1829, written by this early day magistrate~o the Coloni~l Secretary, ~?e Hon. E. Deus Thompson,In one of WhICh he states It is an arduous task thatMr Mackay and myself are called upon to performeach month, to wit, to walk to Stroud from Dungog forthe pur1?ose o! administering justice, and as the way isbeset WIth WIld blacks, who frequently molest andthreaten us, I have the honor to apply for the use oftwo saddle horses from His Majesty's stores at Parra­m~tta." .By.a lucky chance I learned the outcom.] ofthIS applIcatIOn from a letter written by Mr Mackay?everal months later. That first C.P.S. at Dungog said:

On .be~alf of Capt. Cook I respectfully withdraw thea~plIca~lOn !or the services of two saddle horses fromHIS MaJesty s stores. We are both greatly indebted tothe courtesy of the officers -of the Australian Agricul­tural Company for the use of two mules on Which weare enabled to perform the journey with expeditionsafety. 'l.n <t comfort." ,

R~verting to these wild blacks, the Chepras, DrMcKmlay records that they believed in supernaturalbeings whom they called Maamba. These spirits weresupposed to dwell in the bodies of the medicine men,_or the "boogerum" as they designated them, and raisedthem to frenzy when the ceremonies were being per­formed.

INITIATION CEREMONIES.Perhaps the most important occasion in the life of a

blackfellow was the initiation, or "bora" ceremonies.By means of weird rituals and weirder ceremonies hewas told of the laws of his tribe and received a know­ledge of the mysteries of life from the elders of thetribe. Certain painful operations wele frequently per­formed on his body, he fasted, he went through strangeperformances and chanted stranger songs, and-wasmade a man. It is a noteworthy fact that throughoutthe whole of the continent the "bora" ceremony is themost important feature in the life of every tribe.speech, habits, marriage, customs. totems, may differ,

but the essentials of the "bora" ceremonies are. alikeamong the blacks of the Barcklay Tablelands, m thecentre of Australia and the Gringais that. a centuryago lived and hunted in the hills and gulhes aroundDungog.

I have frequently heard many of the old hands aboutDungog assert that they had been ,,::itn~sses of theinitiation ceremonies in Burnt Gully, u"mnd the ho~­pital but I seriously doubt their statements. It isqUit~ true that the blacks of the valley, an(i. f!"om theGresfOrd side, were in the habit offoregathenng thereon important occasions to hold corroborees, and thesepageants were undoubtedly witnessed by many of theresidents of the town in those days. In fact less thanfifty years ago corroborees were held there, as can beborne out by numbers of townfolk who were bOK1l a.n~girls that period of time since. In regard to the bOla.ceremonies, however, I questioned "Brandy': on thISmatter very carefully many ears ago, and haVi!Ig ~omeknowledge of aboriginal customs in . other distrIcts Iwas able to speak to him with a certam a~ount of :;u­thority on the subject. From thi~ last re.hc of a tnb:I gathered that the actual ceremomes were always pei­formed at the back of what is now the town common,several miles from Burnt Gulley. In support of mysurmise that these old hands never witnesse~ the ;~h?leof the ceremonies, there is no trace of a bora nnganvwhere in the near vicinity of the ~own nor a!lycarved trees. These rings. several of WhiCh I J;ave Ill­spected in different parts of the western distncts.. arewell defined and resemble those made by a small Circusinside its tent. There are numbers still to be seen allover Australia that must date back to the early partof the last century, and rain and time have ~evereffaced them. It is clear enough, therefore, that If theceremonies were actually practiced as close to Dungogas the old settlers aver traces of these rings would stillbe visible. No one to my knowledge, has ever see~I .oneclose to the town. I might say tha~ in all a~JOrIgll1altribes circumcision is practiced, and III ma!Iy ll1stancessub-in'cision. Other mutilations are sometIme!> record­ed, but the more general is scarring of the head, armsand torso.

A GRESFORD "BORA."The following particulars relate to that portion of

the Gringai tribe in the Gresford district and nearerto the Hunter and were recorded by the late Mr Boy­dell. Describing the procedure vf initiation he wrote:

15

"A large assemblage is called together to celebrate theceremonies. The boy to be made a man is painted redall over and is taken to the centre of an earthen ringwhere he si~s facing the track that leads to anotherring about a quarter of a mile distant. The women,with their faces covered, lie around the large ring.An old man steps up to where the boy is sitting, andblowing in his face, bends down. Two other old mentake him by the arms and lead him to the other ring"Where he sits down, all the time keeping his head bentand looking at the ground. The women now rise upand having sung and danced, go away 10 another campand take no part in the ceremonies until their termina­tion. The trees that grow near to both of the circleshave been carved and the boy is tal,en to each of them.He looks at them for a moment, when the old men givea great shout. He is then taken away to a place somemiles distant, still keeping his face to the ground,even when eating. Here a large camp '" made and theboy learns dances and songs, and is for the first timeallowed to look up to see what is going on. He is kepthere in this manner for about ten days, bt.ing placedby hiI:Iself in lonely and secluded places, while at nightthe men make hideous noises at which he must notshow the least sign of fear on pain of death. Afterthis dme they take the boy to a large waterhole wherethey wash off the red paint and on coming out he ispainted white. When the men return to camp thewomen are lying down by a large fire with their facescove.red. The old men who took the DOY away bringhim back at a run towards the fire, the other men fol­lowing, clattering their boomerangs, but not speakingor shouting. The men form a ring around the fire, andold man runs round inside the ring bea.mg a shield(heilaman). At this signal the boy's mother, or someother woman, comes out of the company of the womenand taking the boy under the arm lifts him up, rubsher hands over him and then goes away. The fire hasby this time burned down to red coals and the men,including the novice, extinguish them by jumping onthem with their feet. The boy now camps in sight ofwhere the women are and is allowed to eat food whi~h

was forbidden to him, such as kangaroo, snake, etc.The bull-roarer is called by the Grl.o..lgai "torikotti,"and is used in these ceremonies. The young man isnot allowed to marry until three year:" nfter the initill.­Hon."

OTHER BORA CUSTOMS.Concerning the blacks in the Port Stephens district,

16

Howitt provides some interesting facts. -In this-localitythe blacks when making a "bumbat," that is, wheninitiating ~ boy, remove a tooth. This is done by oneof the old men placing his bottom tooth against theboy'S upper tooth and by giving a sudden jerk snapp­ing off the "bumbat's" tooth. This practice is alsocommon among many tribes and was observed amongthe coastal blacks to the north of Stroud and Dungog.The reason thereof, however, has never been discoveredby investigators. ..

The bull-roarers, or "tOI ikotti," played a somewhat. important part in the ceremonies of initiation, and

were supposed to represent the voice of Coen, or someother potent spirit who infiuenced the lives of the abo­riginals. They were made from a fiat piece of hard­wood; from twelve to eighteen inches long, and notchedat the side and frequently carved. They were attachedto a piece of fibre and on being whir~ed rapidly ~a:,eout a roaring drone that was . the VOIce of the SPIrIt_They were particularly sacred, and were never shownby the owners to anyone. If a woman heard the soundof the bull-roarer it was supposed to mean death toher. Among the Gringai,as with other tribes, an ex­traordinary mystery attached to pieces of quartz crys­tal. They are possessed only by the "koradjis," ormedicine men and were supposed to have come intotheir possession through the instrumentality of a sl?irit.Sometimes the sl,irit dropped them by means of lIght­rii;lg into a poo~, or on top of a hill, and informed t~e"koradji" of thlltact. At an initiation ceremony one ISpresented to a "tumbat," or novice, and it is wrappedup with the grCl..:est solemnity, caution and secrecy,and concealed in his belt. If a woman saw one bychance her brains were knocked out with a nulla.Women, therefore, were always in great dread of see-ing one of them.

PORT STEPHENS "BUMBAT,"An interesting description is furnished by Dr McKin­

lay who writing in 1830 to a Sydney friend, explainstha't he accidentally came across an initiation cere­mony when proceeding through the bush. He was notdiscovered for some time, and as he had been an eye­witness of the proceedings, and claimed to know some­thing of the customs in other districts he .was per­mitted to remain during certain parts of the ceremony.He writes: "A number of blacks were camped at thefoot of a hill, the camp being in the form of a half­circle. round an oval,. - cleareli spaGe, about thirty or

1,forty feet in area. The edges of the space were raisedabout nine inches. This cleared space was connectedwith the top of a hill, and another cleared space byanarrow path. The women were not allowed to go upthis path or to approach the top of the hill at allWhen going to the creek for water they were carefuito look some other way. . On more than one occasionwhen riding past the camp I heard most extraordinarynoises ,Proceeding from the top of the hill, a kind ofhellowmg or booming sound, continUing for a lom~

time, then sinking away at times, and then swell1ngout as loud as ever. The blacks would not tell mewhat it meant, so I determined to see for myself. Itherefore rode carefully round the hill, and up theother side from the camp. I found that a conical firewas burning in the centre of a cleared space, similar tothe one at the foot of the hill. Round this fire radiat­ing from it like the spokes of a whe~l, and painted likeI'keletonR were a number of naked blacks on theirfaces. Within the cleared space, and on one Ride' of it,was a rough figure painted red,. made of wood, formedby a stake driven in the ground with a eros;:; piece fora::-ms and the top dressed up with grass and bark inthe style used by thebla-cks when prepared for hunti~gThe blacks were so absorbed in what they were doinithat I sat· some time unobserved. When they did seeme, they seemed much annoyed. One or' oUr ownblacks came to me and said that he did not mind .be­cau,se I was 'Gimba,' but the up-country blacks w~uldnot go on with the ceremony while I remaimld. I thenrode away, but In a few days after he told me that Icould see the great finishing ceremony. I rode to the('am~ at the foot of the h111 and saw a large fire burn­Ing III the centre of the wide, cleared space. The boom­ing noise from the top of the hill was also going on,ll.nd grew louder and louder and at last was succeedellby great ShoutR and yells. Then about two hundredpainted blacktellows R.ppeared over the brow of theh111. They were all armed with boomerangs, shieldsand spears, which, they clashed together In time as the~ran. They were in two divisions, and kept crossingand recrossing the path, interlacing as they met at arun, while descending the hill, and yell1ng at the top oftheir voices. The effect was very startling, especiallyto my horse, which took fright. Arriving at the footof the hill they- threw their weapons on the ground.and springing On to the clear space, danced on the firewith their ·bare feet t111 it was extinguished, all the

18

time bearing up amongst them the youths who, were;being made 'bumbat.', ',"This part of the ceremony being over, the PortStephens blacks accompanied by the 'bumbats' ran upthetJ,'{les'Uke monkeys and breaking off small branchesthr~w ,'them ,down 6n 'the ground; where they were

'eagerly scrambled for by the woriJ.en, whoput th.em intheir':i'i~ts;'~'The up-country blacks took no part III thebranch'breaking, and one of them told me that theyneveriUd tn~t ,sort of thing in his part of the country.T-hisc6nclu'ded the first part of the ceremony. and thewomiln 'were not allowed ·to see the next part. They

'-' were inade to 'lie down,'and','were covered with blan-,kets 'and bar1\:; and a blackfellow'was placed over themas a guard, waddy in hand. ,At " this stage of the pro­ceedings BO,me'o'l'the up-cou~tr~'blacks:objected to ~y

·being present ",ith a gun;forl,·had"a.:>m~ll onewlt~me; 'One of our blacks aSked ·m~;t(tJtlv:e1t.up,and Itwould be allright,butJdid not q9"-s~~·~nil:wentaway."

,·~'.rHE DUNdQG CERE.~ONt~~::S·D~ McKitll~Y: bec~~;~'of the fact·, tb.~t h~"te;;Jdett in

Dungog, h:ad: a.P1pleopportunity for 'GIOiWi~v,estiga.tionof the habits and customs of the Gringat,tnbe.. ,and al­thoUgh:t:b~·'iri.i'9rmatiOnthat he gathered indi,c~Jes.tliathiarude informants withheld ,much or wnat w;as im­portant,his o~servationsnetokeRed a shrewd and,sym­pathetic judgment. He describes what he saw.andascertained about the ceremonies in ,an' interestingnote, and ,writes as follows: "The juvenilemalespfthis:(the DUngog) tribe were, fr.om the age of about twelve y•• ,tp.eighteen, allowed to accompany' their parents and .friends,in hunting excursions, and assisted in the'inci-

" dental fag.ging necessary about .:'.1he 'camps. In the.. ,~ourse o,f time ,they were, therefore, thoroughly disci­, plined and.pr,o-perlY trained. When th'eyare consider­,i0~d ready to. be ma.de';cfull members of·the tribe the

elders hold a convention 'and',.' -decide, ':l,Jn' a 'bumbat'being,neld, gelierallywhen' there' are three or four,youths to ,bednitiated. .'" , ''. "Messengers, are despatched to, summon tribes fromfar and near, and on their return ,full· preparations aremade for, the celebration, a placebein~Fselected and aday appointed..... As part of the ceremonies', the aspir­ants undergo the ordeal of having an upper fronttooth flitherbitten ,off or kJ:iocked out with a stick

,,' prepaJ:ed for tne occasion. It. is said' that the youth'smother is. custodian of the tooth and takes great care

, of 'it. As everything relating to these ceremonies is

19

kept very secret this is only heresay. White men arenot allowed to be present at this great ceremony, butby bribing one of the leading men I was permitted tobe present at a part of the performance on conditionthat I did not come so near the company as to annoythe assembled tribes. On the eventful morning I wentto the place indicated where I found about two hundredof the tribesmen differently, but tastefully, painted inred, white, and yellow, and armed to the teeth. Theywere in groups here and there in a little valley. Onriding about I noticed a large gum-tree deeply carvedwith hieroglyphics, which I was informed was a recordfor future generations that a bumbat had been celebra­ted in that locality. A circle of eighty to ninety feet indiameter was dug, or scratched, on a level piece ofground, leaving a space of four or five feet undisturb­ed to enter the circle by, In the centre of this circlethere was a fire of moderate dimensions and attendedto by one of the men. Shortly there was a stir whena detachment entered the circle, and with dancing,~'elling, and gesticulations, and brandishin~ of arms atint.Jrvals, all made a rush to the fire, yelling, andjUll',ping on it until extinguished, when they retired.The spot where the fire had .been being now cool; theembers and ashes were levelled ana boughs werebrought and disposed of in the middle of the circle.Then two men proceeded to the camp of the females,two or three hundred yards' distant, and marchedthem and the children with their heads prone tc thecircle, where they were made to lie down and becovered up with boughs, rugs, bark, and whatever wasat hand. This being done, the whole force of the as­sembled tribes came up, running, shouting, and strik­ing their shields with their clubs, and using a roarerwhich produced the most fearful and unnatural sounds.A sort of warlike pantomime was then enacted and thewomen and children closely covered up, were frighten­ed out of their wits, and cried out lustily. Suddenlythe fearful noises ceased, and all the men rushed outof the ring, and seem to be engaged in a most fearfulfight, spears and boomerangs flying about in hun­dreds. This, I was told, was the end, but to m", it nowseems clear that it was the beginning of the ceremon­ies, being the time when the contingent-s have arrived,and before the final part when the boys who are initia­ted are taken from their mothers. However,it didnot tally with what I had seen elsewhere, or had beentold by natives whose confidence I had won."

20

It is difficult at this late date to secure positive in­formation concerning the ceremonies in their variousstages. From what has been observed in other partsof Australia, particularly by Sir Baldwin Spencer andhis co-adiutor, Mr Gillen, it is certain that the moreimportant and secret parts of the "bumbat" were neverwitnessed by either Dr McKinlay, or the others thathave written concerning the Gringai or the PortStephens natives. Mr Scott, who was also an observerin those early days, more particularly of the Maitlandhlacks, states de:Enitely' that he learnea rrom nativeinformants that there were secret ceremonies concern­ing which it was unlawful to speak to an uninitiatedperson. These. he asserts, were of such a characterthat a blackfellow would not reveal tnem to an out­sider. This is readily understood hy the latter dayRtudent who has read Snencer ant:' Gillen, Lalig-loh­Parker, Howitt, Lang, Waitz, Matthews and othersand has gained Rome idea of the sexual license thatprevailed during these ceremonies. The circLmcisionceremony was undoubtedlv a part 01 Cte ritu~l of tlJeGring-ai, and I have had this confirmed by "Brandy,"and by many of tlJe old settlers on the river who weremore than ordinarily ohservant in the earlv days whenthe natives were plentiful in and around Dungog.

MESSENGERS.

The carrying of messages from one tribe to anotherin the earlv davs was an important matter for '.he abo­riginals. This'was done particularly when the tribeswere being summoned to a bumbat, and in differentdistricts different methods were observed. The prac­tice of the Kamilaroi tribes may be taken as -that ofthe tribes that lived nearest to Maitland some seventyor eighty years ago. In each clan there was one manwho was a herald and had an official designation. Hewas well known in all the adjoining tribes and couldgo with safety between them, even when they were atwar. When sent as an envoy to the enemies' camp hemight have to wait for a night to bring back a mes­sage from them. 'While there he made a camp by him­self a little distance from their encampment. Theseheralds, being well known, did not need to carry anybadge Or emblem of office, but if a black were employedas a white man's messenger, the me~sage was writtenon a piece of paper which was fastened in the end of asplit stick. Carrying this before him he might passsafely through the enemy's country because he was

21

seen to be the white man's messenger, and if any harmwere done him the tribe of the white man would beangry.

With the Gringai, wrote Mr Boydell, a messengercould pass in safety from one tribe to another. A red­colored net was worn round the forehead if the mes­senger were on an errand to summon the tribes to­gether for a bumbat, or for any other great occasionsuch as a council of war. It was custo'mary for a mes­senger, when within sound of the camp that was hisdestination to give a particular coo-ee. Immediatelythis is heard the whole tribe gathered together to hearwhat he had to say. but not a word was spoken to himuntil he thought it proper to deliver his message.Sometimes, for the sake of effect probably, the heraldwould sit silent for hours. 'Vhen, however, he unburcdened his mind his eloquence was wonderful and hewas listened to with the greatest attention. No mes­sage sticks were used in this tribe.

OTHER CUSTOMS.

The manner in which the Grin1!"'l.i communicatedthe:r movements to following friends was noteworthy.Dr McKinlay relates an interesting anecdote in thisconnection that is worth repeating. He wished to seesome blacks that had been camped near where Brook­field is now, but when he reached their settlement hefound it deserted. His black boy said that he would seewhere they had gone, and going to the camp showed aspear stuck in the ashes of tlie fire with a corn cob tiedon the point. The spear was leaning in a certain di­rection, and the boy explained that they had gone to aplace in the direction the spear pointed ill order topick corn, but they would be back ~nortly. Thisproved to be the case.

Speaking of the Port Stephens aborigines, Mr R.Dawson describes a meeting with some strange blacks.He told those that were with him, "to make the signof peace with them which they did by waving the righthand over the head and then pointing to the ground.No return was made to this, and on repeating the signan answer was returned in a loud and as it seemedmenacing tone. The natives of each party harranguedeach other in turns, and then the strange blacks placedtheir spears against a tree and gave an invitation tojoin them." This account is very characteristic ofsimilar meetings observed by anthropologists in theQooper's Creek country.

Personal adornment among the natives of the Dun­gog and Port Stephens districts was not spoken ofmuch by the early investigators. The attire, so it isnoted, nsually consisted of a kangaroo skin tied roundthe middle with a belt of fibre or sinews. Charmswere worn round the neck and consisted of shells,seeds, pieces of quartz, etc. When it became the cus­tom to carry blankets they usually pinned them acrosstheir chests with a bone nose-peg. When not in usefor this purpose the peg was kept in the cartilage of thenostrils which were pierced for the purpose.

A curious practice obtained among these tribes, thatof flattening the children's nOEe by the mother to im­prove its appearance. This was usually done immedi­ately after birth by the mother or some of the oldwomen of the tribe, and as the practice is commonamong blacks in all parts of the continent it caT'. be ac­cepted that this marked feature of the aboriginalphysiognomy is thought to be beautiful.

Along til', coast. and particularlv about Par:Siepht'l1s it. was the custom of the females to have oneof their little fingers amputated. Mr Rohf\rt Dawsonf'rates that a mother amputates the little finger of theright hand of one of her female children as soon as itis born in token of its appointment to the office offisherwoman to the family. Other observers speak ofthe practice as being general, but supply no reasonsOne may, therefore safely accept Mr Dawson's state­ment as being correct, and that the mutilation has aspecial significance.

In regard to the food supply of a camp, Dr McKinlayf1tates that the aborigines lived well and happily aboutDungog. In the early days of the settlement they hadnot come into very clo~e contact with civilisation andhe speaks of them'as refusing to eat bread when it wasoffered to them. They lived for the most part, hesays, on opossums, kangaroos, wallabies, birds andfish. The chase was a big part of the lives of themales, and strange to relate the spoils were usuallydivided equally among the various members of thetribe. The meat was cooked in the most primitivefashion. A 'possum or kangaroo would be placed ontop of a glowing fire and when half cooked one of theolder men would remove it and proceed to dismemberit. The flesh was never more than half roasted-indeedit was sometimes almost raw. The men took theirshare first and the women and children made a meal ofwhat was left. Birds and fish, however, were cooked

23

by being plastered with mud and placed amid hot coalsor' in .a hole packed with heated stones. In this waythey were·deliciously cooked, and indeed the doctor re­ates that he frequently dealt with his own game and

fish in this manner. . ".Much, no doubt, could be added to,.the foregoing

that' would be of" more than, passing irifj:ire'st to resi­dents of this district, such as stories of the aborigines,as they were known to those still, alive who spent theirchildhood more than half a century ago on the banksof the Williams River. Uany of these tales and anec­dotes have' been'"collected by me at various times, andit is my purpose to .publish them at some later date.Iha,ve' therefo,re not includedal1ything of what. mightbe termedmodl'lrn history in my articles, it being mydesire to recorcl such facts regarding the blacks as wereobsen:ed when;they were',unused' to the ways' of whitemen, and were.:still imb-lIed .withi the beliefs ,and ,-were

. still followingj;hetra.ditions and.,custom" or their fore­fathers. Th€re ~fU1Pmj left now,"oLtJle, populous tribe'~hat on~e inhabi:ted, tile 'district, ·and ,the sole surviving

.. niJic, poor, unfortupate."Brandy.',.',:pa,ssedto"the care of:'.• tp"€, greaLs,pirit,Coen,' more tllan, fifteen years ago., ,: .,Tl:\e!lefewfacts, ther.efore.. maYo'; serve ,tl' enlighten the

p,r~ellt inhabitantsl!-!LtO':·,wha.t. were tae conditionswh~p. t1l~ clank of thEl Jeg~iron and the ring .of. the sett­le(saxe was,. first heard' . among', ·the-wooded. hills ofpi(}tur.esqu~,·pungog... '; '. ,,,.,"In"the next succeeaing. 'chai;lteI's::: dealing,'with the

abQ.l.'iginaIS· of tlI:e'Dung.Qg, Gresfoi'd ··aori'd Stroud dis­.,,' trials. I propose- to set·:dawn a 'feW·'facts that I have

gatllered 'from certain ",'official sour.ees,regarding inCi­dents that occurred in the", early: -Jd'aYs in connection

"with their relations with the' 'flrstcwhite settlers. Thenarrative will necessarily be:'disjoirlted, but will, I be­lieve,'contain ,sufficient of interest· to' warrant its pUb~'licatiD-n. I may state that much 'of'Iilylliaterial hasbeen gleaned from th:e'reeords of the Mitche:l Library,and':from a few do·cuments·that I·have' come across in,oth>er ,quarters. No doubt, throughouttne" Dungog andStr.oud districts an assidUOUS collecto'l WOUld find moreofficial papers that wouldi throw ~a :good deal of lighton these first days of ,settlement in.thenorth, but I willleave it to him to c,9~t,fnue my iny~!!tiga:tions.

One of the earliest records of a'conflict, between thenatives and white settlers occurs 'in 1833 when JohnBear, who had 640-acres on the 'Ul!perWilliams River,complained to the ,bench,,'of magistrates at Dungog

that an aboriginal named Mully had assaulted one of,his assigned servants with a spear and stole half a bagof flour. Bear's property is described as being boundedon the west by Windeyer's grant, and on the south byThompson's grant, and would I suppose, be somewhereabout where Bendolba is now. The result of the caseshows that the black-fellow had serious provocation,as the assigned servant had carried ott his gin by force,and that stern, but just, magistrate, Thomas Coolt.dismissed the charge against Mully and sent the con­vict to the treadmills at Parramatta for a month.

It was about this time that Thomas Hanna opened astore at Dungog and was also appointed as postmasterat a salary of £12 per annum. I might state that in theearly thirties it cost 1/6 to post a letter from the Wil­liams to Sydney. and Capt. Cook. in one of his lettersto the Colonial-Secretary. Mr Macleay. points out thatthe charge was altogether insufficient. The mailswere dispatched by horseback to Green Hill' (Mor­peth) and conveyed thence by sloop to Svdnev, thetrip taking ov~r a week. There was a regular service.however, and it. was a busy mail day in Dungog everysix weeks. Harking back to Hanna's store, the com­modities therein. although probably of limlted' quantityand range. proved a source of attraction to the blacksand a raid was mnde on the premises during the dark­ness of a July night in 1833. Entrance to the premise!"was effected by the siml)le process of lifting the roofoff, which, being of bark, offered no serious obstacleto the marll,uders. They got away with several bags offlour, a mURket. two axes, and a number of blanketsllnd holts of winsey. A hue and cry Wad rais~ nextday and two ('onstables succeeded in effectin.g thearrest of Billy Foster, Cocky and Tommy's Martha.'rhey were brought for trial but manal/:ed to escapefrom the lock-up and were never seen afterwards. Areward of £2 was offered by the authorities for theirapprehension, but I can find no record of its ever hav­ing been claimed. Probably they went norta amongthe wild blac1<s on the Manning, or joined anotherwandering tribe of the Grmgais around Gresford.

In 1839, the distribution of blankets to the abo­riginals was in full swing. and on April 17th of thatyear Capt. Cook addressed the Colonial Storekeeper atSydney with a request that the regular supply shouldbe, forwarded at once. He says "the blacks are be­ginning to inquire seriously about them. and if theyare not yet sent off please let the 200 !or Port

Stephens be shipped ty the A. A. Company's sch'Joner'Lancing LOll,' lliH1 Lhe lJIlY ror Dungog by the .si.eaIlle:·Maniand for Clarence Town on the ,first Saturday of,neXL month."

in ""saiL! to the mail sen-ices between Dungog andSyune.r. 'wnlcn at tnl.S unle ',,-cre COHslde.aolY llllJ!l'vvedOWHlg lO SLeam lJacKeLs IJ21l1g eluployea oeCweeH LTleenH111S al'd. we me [1'Ol'011s, a lener wrLten by Capt.~uok, on Dec',4W, Ldl:J, is \"corIh recormng. He ad­ale",,,ed hlmselr to the 13011. E. Deas 'lnohIp6on and~ald: "As tne postmall rUl1Hing beLweeil HaYIrhJnu' Ter­race alid thlS place (Dm,gog) tWIce a weeK must iea:vea mall ac Cla.ellce Town each triJp up and Clown and tocaLCh a tOld onen Impa~ssble ac hOod twa., all~ 'V:herehe nas trequently beeu mOJested. by ·wild bJacks I domyself the nOllOUl' re3Il"ctrully to suggest that th~ pU:Utnow plylllg on the Lower Williams, it not bemg ne,ces­~ary a6 herewrol'e, be. lfmoved to Ciarence 'lown lorthe benetit of the ,pllJJ;Hc at that quarter. This wouldconfer a real benefit to all in the dIstnct seem"" tllat ab.~sh :arnage could be then fOl'med without muchdLllculLy or ekpense Co CSlTY passengers or goods (1i­,;~ct rrom the ':r,n0unta<ns north of Dungog to Raymond1er. ace, affordmg a l~estmg place eve,ry sixteen miles,Dungog bemg that dlstance from the Unde1"bank Es­tate. It would also lessen the danger from the blackswho are at times, very mCllacing." The Captain',s let~ter was tangled in the led-tape that existed in eventhose days, for it is subsequently recorded that his 1e­q.UGlst was refused owIng k the fact that the rerula­bans would not peI'Init the /punt to be removed~. In January HMO the nb?riginals went through a bad

bme, .and the records mdicate that their natural foodsuppli.es '~ere beCOnllllg E'xtmct. Capt. COok applied toth.e Colomal StorekeepEr tor a grant of flour to be dis­tnbuted among the natives, and when asked if ar­rangements could not be made. to secure sufficient10?ally he stated in re}Jly that there was 'but one flourmlll an~ one threshir:g mill in the district, besides oneflour =11 and two tlu-cshing mills on the AustralianAgl'lcultural Company's estate at Stroud. He ,pointsout, howe,,:er, that these mills were for private use onlyand .s~pphes could not :be drruwn f.l'o<m them for theabo,ngmals. That he had a ,soft spot in his heart forthe ,rude natives is evidenced by his voluminous cor­respondence OJ?- the subject, and the pertinacity withWhIC!' he as.salled the authorities in Sydne.y until thereqmred rehef was furnished.

In August of that year Capt. Cook wrote as followsto the Hon. E. Deas '.lhompson: "I do myselt tile .hon­our to TetW'n a list of the aboriginal natiVes who shar­ed m the munllcence of H.ls lliXceHency the Governor'spresent of blanKets and to state that every attentionwas paid to cilaracter in selectIng the recilplent. AtPort ",tephens one hundreclmore iclanketscouicl havebeen well 'bestowed. The blacks in that part of thecOlOny aJle num.erous and are almost all well diSpusea:'The list, uniorcunately, is missing.

:Shortly after thlS tl1ere was a 111.0Ve toa,bolish, orreatnct, the dlstnbution ot blankets to the natives.In u;ply to anolllcial letter 'from:::iydney, !l;apt. Cookwrote: I do myself the honour to acknowledge rece:iJptof your letter of Sept. 11th, 18,40, ,relative to the tu­ture distribution of blanl~f'.ts to the aboriginal nativesof Port stephens and r'ungog districts, and in restnct­ing those present to thls part of the district, His Ex­cellency's commands shall 'be stnctly obeyed. Theblacks in this quarter al'e generally honest and quiet,,and if they do at any time ,purloin 'poultry or producefrom the settlers, it is not f'or their own comfort anduse that they do so but to please the white fellows onsomtl distant stations who cohabIt wIth their gins.Eighty blankets could be issued here to 8JS many usefuland deserving blacks, mak,ng an ,addition of thirty tothe former complement Ibestowed 'on us. I thereforehoptl that when the seu,son again comes round theGovernor will kindly mder that quantity to !be sent

here.In Novetr!ber, ,1840, the whole district was in a stateof turmoil owing to the ,a,ppearance in Bl'ookfield of"a band of ,mounted and armed bushrange,l1S". Ac­cording to the official records they stuck up theUnion Hotel, and Mr. Chapman'S, at Wallarobba, andextra troopers were requisitioned from the authorities.Capt. Cook, referring tv the matter in one of his lettersto the Colonial Secretary, explains that he armed twoaboriginal natives with rnJ,'kets, he having instructedthem in the use of firearms at his estate" Auchentorlie.Unrortunately for the Captain's good opinion of theblacks these two had no sooner obtained the guns andammunition than they made off to join the bushrangersand wertl not recaJptured until several weeks later.The description of the C3Jpture indicates that thenatives profited little by their course of mus'ketry in­struction at the Captain's home for they are recordedas having fired thirty shots at the constaJbles and in-

27

Dicted no injury to an on T' .escapade also throws:n e: hl'n~ pUlllshment for thecharacter of the rema k ~rterestmg sidelight on thethe laws in those trou~l~se l'.a~an that a;dministeredon the matter Capt Co k t )is. Reportmg officiallytutored savages are' no 0 s ated th~t "these rude, un­am myself, and I the/~~ore deservm?, of blame than Iseverely and informed t~re admolllshed them bothprived of participation in e~ that they .would be de­blankets. It was unwise 0 e future dlstri.bution ofweapons into their hands an~ tfY part to. glve lethalpossession was too great fo th le temptatlOn of theirtrust that my lenienc wi r e. abOrIginal mind. Iclemency of His Exc~len~ly~ee~:it~ the approval andremarkable expositions of j~ t' ~s li'> one of the mostthat I have ever encountere~ lce e~pered with mercyfor the kindly spirit of thO 'd.an? ~t speaks volumesregime. IS Isclplmarian of the old

In February 1841 th bl 1time of famine' and O'ffi.e ac rs experienced anothersupplieE' was so slow th~~a~~e~p~nse to req.uisitions forself to direct Mr Abbott 1: f ook took It upon him­for supplies to be given 'to ct~e constabl~, to arrangethe modest account fo e m?~t destltute. 'Whenthe auditor-general M~ t~'lll?rovlsl~ns was submittedCaptain to task f~r the 1 lam Ll~hgow, called theThe reply disclosed that twe:~aU!hOnSed expenditure.fed for three weeks for th y-mne blacks had beenonly ten shillings had be:nsu~lo~/l lls 4d, whereasCaptain Cook states that tha 0 ed for the purpose.trifling for such seasonal.> e .amount charged "isdians," and he eventuallyl~:rurPi'ePdhehs.to our sable guar-. IS point.

The blanket distribution nl .Captain in April, 1841 for I ~ Id ti:'°ubled t.he gallantlows on the 9th of tha't m thn at he wntes as fol­to the Hon E D on . He addressed himselfStroud this'we~k ~a:aJ~~mpson as .follows: "Being atof the aboriginal natives ?Ppo~tUl1lty of hearing sometheir blankets which t11 mquire most anxiously formornings and' evenin s·~ s~em to prize greatly. Themountains and I fea/th egm to get chilly on theselittle shelt~r in the shapat funl~~s the blacks get someing they will get disco:t a a anket or other cover­here and have hitherto be:~tedi t

Theyare numerous

of the men ro . qu e and harmless manypany's out-s1at~~~; U~~~li~odthe .overseers at th~ Com­present from His Excellency Iep~:~ed of their wontedcontinuing so I rememb WI not answer for their. . er some five or six years ago

going out with a party in search of nine pirates who,on being closely pursued at sea, had scuttled the vesselthey stole at Sydney and landed on the beach at PortStephens and were made an easy capture by the as­sistance of two female aboriginals who, thems~lves,told me they had tricked the white felloWS knowmg Iwas in quest of them and because the Governor hadgiven them blankets. I do not think that the total

·withdrawal of Sir George Gipps' wonted munificencetowards that iJiteresting race may operate on some '!n­forseen occasion to the disadvantage of tI,e distnct.At all events I would recommend a Sllpply of blank~tsfor the use of the women and childre!1 wh;o otherwIsemust be left naked and comfortless-It bem~ a stand­ing order of the Commissioner of the A. A. Companythat no black girls be harbored at the huts of the com­pany's estate. If then, His Excellency the Governorwould consent to send even one half (say 100) of th~former quantity I shall take care that they ~re propeI­ly distributed among those most deservmg and ~ngreatest need of such a boon. The blankets ~ould sbllup to time for distribution on May 1st by belD~ put onboard one of the steamers at Sydney and lan~ed at Ray­mond Terrace whence they could be brough. to Stroudby one of the Company's pack bullocks."

In June of '41 a black fellow named B()bby met. witha violent end near Stroud. From the record~ It ap­pears that Bobby with another black named DlCk, al)­proached the hut' of an assigned servant who wasknown throughout the district as "Cranky," and askedfor some flour. The response was. a gun-shot andBobbv was killed outright. The murderer was. appr~­hended at once, the crime having been commItted msight of a number of the officers of the Company, andhewas brought before Ca.pt. Cook. Commenting onthe case to the Attorney-General in ~ydney, Capt Cookwrote: "I feel v,~ry keenly. over thIS case as the mur­dered aborigina was of excellent character and hasdone me many' aluable services. The murderer, fromhis nick-name' ;ranll:Y" made me at fiir~t think ~hathe might at tin 3S labor under an aberratIOn of mmd,but no great ab, ormality ever having been noticed inhis conduct or t ehaviour I fear that U~e deed has alto­gether emanated from a naturally VIolent and ungo­vernable temper." In a subsequent letter Capt. Cooknotes with pleasure that the death penalty h;ad ~eencarried out and that "Cranky" paid fully for hIS cnme.

At this stage I might mention that after 1835 this is

the only record of a black having met his death by vio­lence at the hands of a white man in either the Dungogor Stroud districts, and in '42 Capt Cook speaks in con­gratulatory terms of the general attitude of the whiteinhabitants towards the natives.

There was an important law case in August, 1841in which the integrity of an officer of the A. A. Com~pany was involved. A blackfellow was the principalwitness against him, and in order to see justice doneCapt. Cook took an unusual course in making an en­deavor to get the aboriginal to realise the nature of anoath. Writing to Mr J. Moore Dillon, the Crown So­licitor of the time, he says: "Mr Therry haVing approv­ed of my suggestion as to the propriety of instructingBilly, the aboriginal native, whose statements appearamong th~ original depositions of this case, I requestedthat he mIght be put under the care of the clergymanat Stroud, when the Revd. Mr Cowper, of PortStephens, kindly offered his services. After persever­ing for some time he gives me but little hope of suc­cess, the blackfellow, though otherwise intelligent,· be­mg averse to instruction. I therefore despair of hisbeing made conscious of the obligation of an oath so asto be sworn at the trial in September." This furnishesanother example of the innate sense of justice in theold army officer, who rather than accept the hearsaYof a native endeavored to bring to the rud_ mind arealisation of the basis of Christianity in order thatthe prisoner standing his trial should have every ad­vantage. After his experience with the two blackfel­lows who made off with his muskets, Capt. Cook keptan eye open for armed aboriginals. On November 2nuhe wrote to Matthew Chapman, then owner of "TheGrange," Wallarobba, as follows: A complaint havingbeen made to me that two blacks, "Possum" and"Cocky," were found near your place on Sunday lastwith arms in their possession contrary to law I have torequest that, as it appears they acted under yourorders, that the culprits be sent in on Friday next orat farthest, Friday week to answer for the offe~c'l;and that you appear personally to give the necessaryexplanation. No white or black can now carry firearmson a Sunday for pleasure or profit with impunity.The fine is not more than £5 nor less than £2." It mavbe now related that Mr Chapman appeared in persoilat the Dungog court and explained that he had lentthe arms to the blacks for the pU~Qse of shooting wal­labies. The aboriginals were admonished and Mr,Chapman ,was fined £4.

30

The authorities at the end of ·'1841 were a~ai~unkdecided about issuing blankets., ~nd Cap~l~oo°f~rmade a strong appeal for 50 for ung~g an· d . "ThatPort Stephens. Concluding his letter e s.al '. ._

sa?le, but i:I~;I~s~:~~~~:J,.ar;hr~~~;~~~~l~i;~~~e~~sd~r~c~:n~1t;lof goods lately~n the bush near 'i;.llaro~~~

d brought them to tillS place. These mgs~~en left, there is no doudbt, .t?:ed thi~~~~h~ao~~~~s~:~iveal'. They are now a Vel 1

:'G~~l~~:'~as a robbery at the home" o~n~~h~r::t:I-logue, Clal'e~~~1~'~~i)~~~~~~. 9t£"~'rl~~~~e stated thattel' was repol od~ stolen was a quantity of rum and thata~l~l~u~~e~oofblacks in the neighborhood had beer:~ound in a state of intoxication he conduded that they

_were the culprits and asked that they should be :~rested and brought to justice. Capt. Coolr,. always echamnion of the natives, declared. ~hat It was m?rothan iikely that some runaway eonVlCLS were the gUIlty)ersons' as clothes and arms that had been st?len .were~lOt found with the blacks, :md th~t. the hqUOl wa~probablY dven them to divert SUSpIcIOn. The ~a:~e twas investigated, and subsequent ev<:nts p:-ove athe surmise of the magistrate was qmte COl rect'

illThe

con~icts were captured and went to the tread-m s.In May 1842 the blacks of Dungog received their

fifty blankets, but a supply ~or Port Ste;~~~~:~~:~=fused altogether. A suggestIOn was sel .( uarters that the half hundred should be equally dI­l' d d between the natives at both eentres, but Capt.~IO~k refused to do this. He said "it is scar.celY wort~while taking two bites at a cherry, and I WIll not b~art' to it" Just at thi8 time some blacks w~re lll­

~tru~entai in capturing five runaways at carnnftoll;nd this was nsed in a fu~tber plea for the .nat ves.The Captain persisted in havlllg the full supply and heagain WOll.

A CHAPTER FROM THE MANNING.I have previously mentioned that v~r! littl.e was

I-nown in the very early days of the abongmals III J~Ie.Manning district by the resident.!! of the Dun.gog IS­trict, and any contact with the northern nat~e~w~s

II with officers and men employed by t e . .~~~p:ny at Stroud and Gloucester. From the reportsof Capt. Phillip Gidley King, the Rev !"1r cow~erta~~~Dr I\Iclntosh, all of Port Stephens, It may e

31

that the tribes to the north ,were generally more fierce'and warlike, than tho3e in the settled districts. Grim'stories have been told recently by old residents ofwholesale slaughter of aboliginaIs in the forBes asreprisals for assaults and murders, and none of thesene,ed be repeated by me. This serves to illustrate,he-wever, that the teI1'perament ,of the triJbes differedconsiderably, as little or anything of the 'kind is re­corded as haVing happened llibout Dungog. In 1848,matters I,ve,re somewhat suious in regard to the blacksa:'bout the '11,1anning as the foIlowing letter, addressed tothe Hon. E. Deas Thompson will show. Ca.>pt. Cookwrote under date of January 10th: "I feel called upon,and do my.self the honour, to state to you for the. in­formation of His ExcE'llency the Governor, that thereare now residing on the Tlfanning River upwards offour hundred persons without ~rotection or instructionof any kind and 'governed solely by 'Lynch Law'. Andthe aborigines there being contaminated and embolden­ed by such example have lately ibecome most trOUble­some at the different stati'ons in the vicinity. Theykill sheep and spear cattle without concealment andw~en spoken to threater, the lives of the shepherds.SO_:le time ago I despatched two of the mounted policet,.) ";Jut ~n force a warrant issued by Mr. G. Rowleyagainst three black-fellows who assaulted and beat aman in c,harge of sheep who Iwas endeavouring to pro­tect his master's proj,Jerty .These salble thieoves, beingapprised of the approach 'of the troopers collected tothe nurnber of thirty or forty, and having amongstthem -at least a dozen m.uskets and plenty of ammuni­tion, which the settlers most imprope,rly supply themwith, they resisted. The soldiers (one of them thebrave Corporal Worsley) were fain to retreat, whichthey effected with difficulty and not until several shotswere exchanged, the trooper's cartridge 'hox wrenchedfrom his person and his arm wounded with a toma­hawk. This unfortunate circumstance, having giventhe blacks more courage, has caused their dep~ada­

tions to become more formidable so that several res­pectable persons who have stations on the Manninghave lately called on me and beseeched protection. Icould only ,refer them to Capt. King, the Commissionerfor the A.A. Company. '\',,"ho, I believe, was in corres­pondence ,with you on the subject. It 'would ibe worsethan useless to send back the small party of mountedpolice that are stationed at Dungog, but if an officer'scsmmand were directe':l to proceed thither to scour the

bULh for a few days, and if possible capture the offend­ers for whose a.pprehensiol1 a magistrates\\iarrant hasbeen issued, it wOUld l1a va a good enect 'by sLnkmgterror into the savage mind. I would lecommend earn­estly the adoption of some such measure that peaceand safety may be restored."

The above letter COllV<lY" some s11ght idea of whatthe pioneers o~ th~ MaIming ~nd .Glouce~t~r"~stri.ctswere encountermg m the late fOl tIes. It IS mLeL estIIl;gto learn the outcome of this position from GaptamCook, which, I may arId, was suppo,rted by a stronglYworded re,presentation from 'Capt. King, but unwr­tunately, as is the case with many of. the reco~d.s ~hatI have inspected, the most important lmks areIDlssmg.In March of that year a force comprising twenty-sixsoldiers, in charge of Capt. Reynolds (or a n~m: thatI dec1phered as such) left Newcastle f.or ,carrmgl'Jll toproceed under the direction of Capt. Kmg t? the Mann­ing to "inflict such punishment on the natrves as maybe deemed salutary". I have found out that the ~x­pedition arrived at F'ort Stephens and was suppl1ed'with "adequate ration" and the services of a number ofmules" but beyond that the records are silent. Wheth­er th~y ever reached the Mannin,g is a m~tter forconjecture, but I take it that both CaptaIns Co:okand King 'would certainly \have seen that they c::rnedout thei,r work once they had embarked on therr ex­pedition of punishment. Perchance there are some ofthe old hands about the Gloucester and Manning thathave heard of the result of this foray of armed forcesand can supply some further particulars. I wouldgladly welcome any info!'mation on this source.

In April, 1848, Capt. Cook is still battering at thedoor of headquarters over the blankets for the 'abo­riginals, and he wrote a str~l)IglY worded prote:,tagainst the withdrawal of the Issue. I gather that III

the previous year the supplies were cut off altogetherfor he s.a.ys in one of his letters "the with~rawal of the(bounty proved fatal to many of the gms and overthirty children. I plead with His Excellency that heshould sanction a return to his aforetime generouscustom as it will afford that houseless race much realcomfort and encourage them to do weH and be moreserviceable to the whites, from ,whom of late yearsthey have been more estranged." J?uring the fol:ow­ing year Capt. 'Cook took a very deCIded stand ovel thesupply of blankets and rati~ns to the bl~cks, and fromthence onwards it appears that the conSIgnments came

33

regularly to hand. Port Stephens, about this time,was separated from the Dungog dlstrict in regard tothe supply and 'capt. King cont:illued the fight until hebecame Governor when the aboriginaLs were well caredfor on the company's estate,.

There is a record of a pretest by Capt. iCook againstthe practice. of oflicers of the A. A. lContpany armingparties. of ,blacks [01' the purpose of clr~ving ottmarauding bands from the hosWe districts to thenor~. He coIll!Plains that frequently the iblacks retaintheIr weapons and use tlle-m with suchcalelessness inthe vicinity of settled districts as to endanger the livesof the settlers. One incident that prompted this com­!plaint. is described :by him in a private letter to theColonial Secretary in which he described a narrowescape that he had from death by gun shot. A black­fellow was shooting at a Ibird in a tree when the gune:Jqploded and :portions of the barrel knocked off theCaptain's hat. He attributes the !Whole t1hJi.ng to ex­treme carelessness, bert !his spirited !protest :was oflittle avail.

Tner3 ~e. numerous other stories of the aboriginals?f th~ ~tnct that are lV\orth pUibIishing, but as myInvestigations werre only carrier up to '1849, I willleave those dealing With a later period until some fu­ture date. In. the m~antime I would strongly urgethose old resIdents that have reminiscences of theearly days to commit their stories to writing so thatfut:rre histol1ians may have 'Something tangible to goon if they aver attempt to collate a uniform history ofthe aboriginals.

!Before concluding I might, as a matter of interest,set OIllt the wording of ar. advertisement that appearedin the Government Gazette on November .17, 1834. Ihave not lbeen able to find any trace of the ,crime ,andthe notice speaks for itself. It reads as follows: ,Sixty!Pounds reward. Whereas the undermentioned blacknatives stand charged on oath W!ith having committedrape and robbery at tlle farm of John Lynch, at Sugar­loaf Creek, Williams River district, on Wednesday, the5th inst.; Notice is hereby given that ,any person whoshallaJPprehend, or cause to be apprehended, andlodged in any of His Majesty's Gaols the whole oreither of the said offenders,shall receive a reward often pounds for each of them who shall be secured: Themen are Young Pric~. Charcoal's tBrother or DickyCharcoal, Bill Or MIserable Billy, Mickey, JernmyJackass, and Joe the Marine.

CHRONICLE PRINT. DUNGOG: