Thursday.—Towards four p.m., arrived at the Messrs. Jamieson’s station, Mildura, pleasantly situated on a turn of the river, about fifty miles by water from Macleod’s. Mr. Jamieson, who appears to be thoroughly acquainted with the resources and commercial statistics of the river, which he most obligingly has communicated without reserve to all on board, joined us here with a native servant, in order to accompany the expedition as far as Swan Hill, 600 or 700 miles further. About this man hangs a tale, establishing, I think, a fact, which, though generally credited with regard to native propensities, has not perhaps been thoroughly authenticated. I allude to their cannibal habits. The man, who goes by the name of Mickie, himself tells the story. He says, that, returning on one occasion from Melbourne, where he had been serving as a police trooper, he fell in with some natives of the Loddon tribe, one of whom, following him, and threatening to spear and eat him, he attacked and killed.[12] This effected, he was not content with his triumph, but did actually eat a portion of the man’s body—a part of his kidney fat—which he pronounced good eating, and not unlike pork and duck. Nor does it appear that Mickie was thus prompted for want of food, or from a specific predilection for such a meal; but rather because he imagined that thus would be infused into him his enemy’s strength; and that, moreover, the skin which he lavishly distributed amongst the natives of his tribe, would prove a charm for his fishing nets.

The settlers about the Darling appear desirous of coming under Adelaide jurisdiction. The fact is, they are so distant from Sydney, that they imagine themselves quite neglected by authority, and entirely cut off from all legal jurisdiction. What difference the advent of the steamer upon their waters may cause in their ideas, is yet to be seen. Undoubtedly, it is a source of unmingled satisfaction to all settlers here; indeed, we are told of some who actually meditated the abandonment of their runs, in utter despondency at the impracticability of transporting their wool produce to a port,[13] or even of obtaining the supplies necessary for their subsistence. Dancing on board the Eureka till half-past ten.

Friday.—Took in a quantity of pine wood, about five tons, for fuel; and, after passing Williams’s, arrived at (Carwarp) Messrs. McGrath’s, a station occupied by three brothers; who, from the condition of common labourers, have raised themselves, by their industry, to a position of comparative affluence. They are the possessors of 10,000 sheep on this run, about the numbers which are depastured at Mildura. The weather continues cold, though dancing was kept up for an hour in the evening. The cabin was much crowded at this station; and some of our party addicted to going early to bed, complained a little of the disturbance on board.

Saturday.—Morning cold. Reached Messrs. Keane & Orr’s (native name Kulkyane), where we remained till early on Monday morning. The natives at this station were numerous, and some of them apparently intelligent, but in appearance disfigured, if that is possible, by the circles of white clay which they had drawn round their eyes and noses. This, we are informed, is symbolical of mourning for deceased relatives—perhaps the unfortunate children who are, it is said, so often slaughtered.

Monday.—Steamed on to wooding station, in a picturesque country with high banks.

At four a.m. on Tuesday, September 13th, the Captain reported a comet in sight, which, after considerable incredulity on behalf of some of our party, was at length acknowledged to be a most brilliant meteor. Euston Township (Nowong), so called after the Grafton family, we reached at ten a.m. It is a Government reserve, and seemed a fine clearing, though as yet the settlement is comprised in the Commissioner’s house, an inn, some huts, and a black encampment. Mr. Cole, the Crown Commissioner, received nearly all our party with great politeness, showed the ladies over his quarters—a log house, not impervious to the weather, but otherwise comfortable, if not pretty, which, indeed, none of the stations are; he then produced some wine, eggs, and lastly a salad. Here we obtained a sight of some newspapers, the latest from Melbourne, of the 23rd of the previous month.

The ladies were invited to see two specimens of the “lowen” or “luanna,” a bird resembling in some degree the pheasant of Europe, and also reckoned of delicious flavour.[14] The peculiarity of these birds is, that the hen does not hatch her own eggs, but buries them in layers of sand, whence, after a little time, the process is effected by heat. The Commissioner—whose district contains about 70,000 sheep, 15,000 or 16,000 head of cattle, and nearly 300 horses—complains of the impossibility of completing his establishment of white police, notwithstanding the liberal allowance of the Government to troopers, which amounts to 5s. 6d. daily, in addition to rations and quarters; he is, however, he tells us, to be joined by a European sergeant immediately.

From this point, Euston, there was, until lately, a post to Sydney and back, which, while it lasted, was conducted with rapidity; the floods, however, have been so troublesome, that it has been recently given up. The blacks here were numerous, and two-thirds of them, at least, disfigured with their mourning marks. Some of them were dressed in uniform as police troopers attached to the Commissioner. Mr. Cole, with a Mr. Morey, who has 7,000 sheep contiguous to the Government reserve (twenty-five square miles), came on board to dinner, when our commander’s champagne flowed freely; they afterwards accompanied us up the river some miles. The comet was reported very brilliant about four a.m.

Wednesday.—We reached the station of a Mr. Ross at an early hour. Here some shearers, who were rather the worse of their early potations, were inclined to be troublesome. Captain Cadell turned one of them out of the fore cabin without ceremony; and, shortly after, three of these men, endeavouring to aggravate some of the crew whilst taking in fuel, and to prevent the natives from giving their assistance, received from them a well-merited chastisement, which, though to a looker-on it might appear unnecessarily severe, had yet a well-timed and useful result. Nothing but a rough and summary mode of proceeding would be effectual with such people, whose conduct might destroy the comfort of all decent classes of passengers. They were probably ci-devant convicts, or, as they are here termed, “old lags.” At this station, we heard that 7,500 store[15] sheep had been brought over from Bathurst (500 miles), for the convenience of shearing, and afterwards transshipping the wool clip to Adelaide. We took in a stock of wood lower down the river, and, after passing Mr. McCullum’s station (Wella), where there are 13,000 sheep, pursued our onward course towards Swan Hill.

From the junction of the Murrumbidgee, or rather of the Logan or Wakool,[16] up which we steamed a short distance, the volume of the Murray diminishes, and its sinuosity increases; but the steamer made good progress on her way, anchoring about half-past twelve a.m., on Thursday morning, the 15th September, in mid-channel, with a strong tide running. Here we had lain perhaps an hour and a-half, when all on board were awakened by an awkward lurch of the Lady Augusta, which upset the cabin tables, and created considerable confusion in the dark. Some inquiries were made as to the cause of the unusual position of the steamer (for she did not right herself), but no steps were taken to ascertain the real cause of the accident, and all was attributed to the strength of the tide. Some, however, were not satisfied with this solution, or found sleeping on an inclined plane disagreeable; and, after the lapse of nearly half an hour, it was discovered that the Lady Augusta had made considerable water, which, rushing to one side, had caused the “list” complained of. The pumps were then set to work, as also buckets, and the hold eventually cleared of water. It appeared that some valve connected with the engines had been left unclosed—whence the shipment of so much water. At dawn, we had been passed by a little steamer, called the Mary Ann, which indeed had been seen lying off-shore the previous night. We found her again at the station of a Mr. Phelps. She is an open boat, apparently about fifty feet in length, carrying two masts, and fitted with an engine, by her owner, a Mr. Randall, whose enterprising talent, and skill in navigating his little craft, are highly to be lauded. At this station we found an old “man-of-war’s man,” a Mr. Reynolds, who had been so long away from civilised pursuits, that he said he hardly knew a steamer by sight. He supplied us liberally with milk and butter. I understood him to say that he had been thirty-six years in the Colony. Mr. Phelps’s brother is accounted a large sheep owner in this district, being the possessor of an extensive “run,” and about 17,000 sheep.

Lest the term “run” should not be clearly intelligible to some non-Australian readers, it may be here observed, that it is an extensive tract of country devoted to sheep-breeding, and held on lease from the Government for a term of years. Its chief excellencies are, of course, pasturage and good water; moreover, it must, at least, be capable of carrying 4,000 sheep, or an equivalent number of cattle—extra £2 10s. per annum for every additional 1,000 sheep, or proportionate increase of cattle.

For this run, the owner takes out a licence of occupation, at a rental proportioned to the number of sheep or cattle which the district is calculated to support. The capabilities of the location are estimated by a Commissioner of Crown Lands, and a half-yearly assessment is also laid on all the live stock at the station—a halfpenny per head for sheep, three halfpence for cattle, and threepence for horses. Formerly, the holder had the option of purchasing, at any time, the entire run at twenty shillings an acre; but this law has now been altered and, as some think, amended, by the impossibility, under the present system, of the existence of a race of licensed settlers, or leaseholders, in perpetuity, who might have been likened to the Crown feudatories of the middle ages, and paid an annual quit-rent for their possessions. These landholders are termed in Australia, “squatters.” In these runs, which sometimes equal in extent an English county, and usually about the centre or frontage, stands the homestead, a rude wooden building, with a garden, stores, offices, and adjacent stock or farm yards. A spacious grass paddock, and some smaller ones for tillage, all enclosed with a post and rail fence, with a large shed for shearing the sheep and storing the wool, are also necessary adjuncts of the head-quarters. The two great epochs of pastoral life are the lambing and shearing seasons; the latter duty having been performed annually by a distinct class of persons, who went about from station to station to be hired for this work. Since the gold discoveries, however, this duty has been in some degree performed, with considerable difficulty at times, by the settlers themselves. Independent of the head-quarters or head-stations on these runs, there are usually what are called “out-stations,” with small flocks of from 500 to 1500 sheep, in charge of two shepherds and a hut-keeper; who, whilst the former tend the sheep, looks after the yards, cooks the victuals, and watches by night against the attacks of the “dingo,” or wild dog—the most destructive of Australian vermin.

The cattle grazing is carried on generally in a different part of the run, by a stockman, who is provided with a hut-keeper. The chief requisite here is a firm seat on horseback, and great activity of body, as the cattle are much disposed to run wild, and are often with difficulty collected. Both cattle and sheep were annually slaughtered in great numbers, and boiled down for tallow, which was readily bought up, by foreign merchants, for the London market, and became an article of large export. The price of wool and mutton has, however, now put an end, or nearly so, to this custom. To improve the feed of a cattle or sheep run, recourse is often had to firing the country; and this practice, apparently singular in so dry a soil, is said to be effectual.

As a remarkable instance of the nature of Australian occupations, or the ups and downs of fortune, the list of shepherds given by a writer, in a certain district, is worthy of notice. They comprise “an apothecary, a lawyer’s clerk, three sailors, a counting-house clerk, a tailor, a Jew, a Portuguese sailor, a Cingalese, a barman, a gentleman’s son, a broken-down merchant, a former Lieutenant in the East India Company’s Service, a gipsy, a black fiddler, a dancing master. Of these the gentleman’s son, the Jew, and the barman made the best shepherds.”[17]

This summary of sheep farming—the substance of which is taken from a series of very good papers upon Australia, relating chiefly to New South Wales—is also applicable, in most respects, to the banks of the Murray, and I therefore introduce it here.[18]

Leaving this digression, our first station yesterday (September 15) was that belonging to Mr. Hamilton. It appeared very populous. Towards evening the river became tortuous in the extreme; indeed, with the breadth the Lady Augusta and Eureka occupy upon the water (forty-two feet), steering the vessels, without a check, through the narrow curves and opposing branches, which continually met us at every point, was almost an impossibility. The weather, which had been lowering since morning, in the evening became perfectly tempestuous; and, amidst flashes of lightning, occasional peals of thunder, and sudden gusts of wind, little else was heard but the crashing of the opposing trees, or, in the deep tones of our commander, the often repeated words, “stand by, below;” “stop her;” “turn a-head, slow;” and at length the welcome order, “full speed.” Thus, for some hours, did we advance, dimly lighted by an overcast moon; and the storm at length abating, without any other mishap than some slight damage to the Augusta’s funnel, and the destruction of part of the Eureka’s rails—thanks to Captain Cadell’s perseverance—we were enabled to hold on till two a.m., about which time we made fast alongside the station of a Mr. Coghill.

To-day (Friday, September 16), steamed on, with some difficulty, through the endless sinuosities of the river, now narrowed to an average breadth of seventy or seventy-five yards, but still affording near four fathoms’ depth of water. At some points, indeed, we were delayed a considerable time, from inability to stem the current in so contracted a space, without becoming entangled in the surrounding wood. Altogether, I am inclined to think that the passage of the river for steamers, such as that in which we now voyage, will be difficult above the Murrumbidgee, except during the flooded season, or about five months in the year. To improve the navigation, however, much might be done by the passage up the stream of a small boat (such, for instance, as the Mary Ann) provided with means to clear away the “snags” or sunken trees, to cut the overhanging branches, &c.

In course of time also, canals, were it only a few yards in length, might be formed for the purpose of connecting the stream by a more direct channel, instead of compelling ascending vessels to navigate the continued sinuosities of the river throughout its entire course.

Swan Hill, a green oasis rising amidst what is, apparently, a desert of reeds, is a valuable station, containing some excellent pasture. Indeed, from these very reeds, which are annually burnt, springs up a “second growth,” affording admirable food for cattle; whilst the flats, at present flooded in all directions, are in summer perfectly dry. On the crest of the hill, 119 feet only above the sea, is now building a sort of lock-up, or wooden gaol. Lower down stands the inn, which appears comfortable, and a store, where the prices of goods and articles were denounced by some of our party as extravagant, even for the neighbourhood of the diggings.[19] I heard 2s. mentioned as the price of a wine-glass of brandy, and 1s. 6d. or 2s. a pound for flour; but do not vouch for the correctness of my information.

We arrived at Swan Hill about mid-day on the 17th September, after 112 hours’ steaming from the Darling (a distance of about 600 miles), having left our consort, the Eureka, on the run of a Mr. Coghill, some miles behind, to commence loading wool for the return voyage. There being a police force here, consisting of six mounted troopers, and a Lieutenant and Clerk of the Court, his Excellency availed himself of it to forward his report to the Secretary of State, and copies of the document to the Governors of New South Wales and Victoria. We remained on this station during the whole of Sunday, hearing Divine Service performed in the verandah of the latter by a travelling ex-member of the Church of England, who read us our beautiful Liturgy in a blue Jersey shirt, and had the good sense or good taste (which, perhaps, are synonymous) not to weary his congregation with too long a sermon.

The Mary Ann joined us on the Saturday evening, and both vessels remained stationary until Monday afternoon, September 19th, when the Lady Augusta proceeded up the river, stopping about twelve miles from Swan Hill to take in some fuel. The country continued reedy and flooded; but the banks of the river were lined with gum trees. Our party, I should mention, has been diminished by one member, a Mr. Bright, who left us at Swan Hill to ride to Melbourne (210 miles), where he purposes taking passage to England.

A few miles from Swan Hill, we observed several of the native turkey, or, more properly, the bustard; they are reckoned delicious eating, but are approached with difficulty on the open plains, where they love to feed. Birds are now more plentiful; and I should have said that three wild swans were seen near Swan Hill.

Tuesday, September 20.—After wooding for two or three hours where we had anchored the previous night, we steamed on as usual; the river widening and presenting beautiful reaches overhung with trees,[20] whilst the continued volume of this noble river, at so great a distance from the sea, has surprised all on board. This morning, we passed a connecting offshoot, or, as it is termed here, “backwater” of the Loddon, which flows into the Murray, near Swan Hill. We are now cramped a little on board for walking room, the deck being too high for many to promenade upon at once, as it causes the vessel to heel over from too much of what is termed “top-hamper;” nevertheless—the weather continuing delightful, even for Australia—and no European climate can surpass, I believe, the Australian mornings or evenings, nor Naples itself, at times, equal the wondrous tints of the sky—all get on, to use an expressive word, “swimmingly,” though none seem to know as yet to what distance our exploration is to extend. On Tuesday evening, the 20th September, we reached the station of a Mr. Hogg, and made fast for the night. A Mr. Dickens, who presented a letter of introduction to His Excellency, joined us here. He was one of the Melbourne steamer passengers, but appears to retain no ungrateful recollections of his detention at Lisbon.[21] The country through which we have passed is flat and reedy, but occasionally sprinkled with gum trees, and now and then offering glimpses of forest scenery of a more open kind than the dense forests which distinguish the lower part of the river.

Wednesday, September 21.—We took on board wood and played some games of quoits; leaving Mr. Hogg’s station about noon. The river, as we advanced, passes through a flat but pleasing and open country, with occasional patches of reeds. “Snags” became rather frequent in this part, and doubtless, if the stream were low, would seem almost to interlace its bed; otherwise, the river is broad and fine. About dusk, we stopped for some wood at Gannewarra, the lands of a Mr. Campbell. This—about six tons weight—employed all hands yesterday; the Captain and Mr. Jamieson proceeding up to the house. The following morning, we found that Mr. Campbell had invited the whole party to his dwelling; and about ten o’clock, the arrival of eight horses and a double gig enabled every one to accept the invitation. To reach the settlement, distant about three miles from the river, we passed through a forest of fine open glades of very lofty timber, and partook of an excellent early dinner in Mr. Campbell’s rude but commodious habitation. Then we had some music from the piano, which must have tended to enliven us after a month’s imprisonment on board the steamer. Somewhat late, the boat of the Lady Augusta arrived with three of the party, who had pulled up the winding creek on which the settlement stands. Nothing occurred in the way of adventure, but the destruction of the shafts of Mr. Campbell’s gig; which, entrusted to a black, got smashed by the horse running into an adjacent pile of wood. Fortunately, no one was within. In the afternoon, we rode back, accompanied by Miss ——, Mrs. Campbell’s pretty sister, who remained on board, as also Mr. Campbell. This gentleman is the possessor of 4,000 or 5,000 head of cattle and 10,000 sheep, and has been in the colony eleven years.

Friday morning (September 23rd) was distinguished by the fall of two majestic trees, each exceeding 110 feet in height, and which, hollowed by age, had been set on fire, and then partially sawn asunder. The effect was very grand, for, truly, “great was the fall thereof.” About eleven, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Campbell and Miss C., we steamed a few miles up the river, returning to drop them near Gannewarra, where their horses, brought down by some natives, took them home.

Mr. Campbell seems to be one of the most flourishing settlers on the river; and complains only of his inability to grow vegetables—though his garden has been made on the banks of a fine creek.