Part 5 (1/2)
”Not a very long terovernor,” Ned remarked
”No, not by any e in it which was very ireat deal in that one hour He reood many officers and appointed new ones in their places, and he es in the administration of the colony which wereto his successor
”Governor Bligh was succeeded by Governor Macquarie The quarrel between the free settlers and the eovernor took the side of the eood prospect of another rebellion; but, happily, the new chief of the colony possessed more tact than his predecessor, and no rebellion was ever brought about Governor Macquarie relaxed some of the severity hich the convicts had been treated, and this, together with his favoring the eave him the title of the 'Prisoners' Friend'
”As time went on, the number of free settlers in the colony increased, and so did the number of farms in the vicinity of Sydney As I have already told you, the convicts were hired out to work on the farood ot into the bush, where they reht and brought back within a few days Dogs were used in pursuing thes were kept at the prisons for the purpose of hunting out runaways Soard to the country were very a overland for a few days, they would reach China, and quite a number of them tried to do so One man wandered for a er, he ventured to approach a house There he saw a fellow-prisoner who he had been in China He was verythat he was not in China at all, but on a far with the friend two soldiers happened along and took hie, and then carried him back to the prison, where he received the custoood many Irishmen who had been concerned in the Irish rebellion of that year were transported to Australia They saw in the mountains back of Sydney a close reseht, in their native country, and fancied that if they could cross those mountains they would find themselves at home Quite a number of them ran away in consequence, but were dooe out to Australia had given a good deal of ti the ined that if he could only get souide hih the forests of Australia He watched his chance and stole a book on navigation One leaf of the book had a picture of a mariner's compass He tore out this leaf, and, thus equipped, took the first opportunity of running away
”Speaking of these Irish rebels re I must tell you
They were convicted of treason, either for taking an active part in the rebellion or sy with it, and for this crime they were sent as convicts to the other side of the world No distinction was made between political and criminal offenders, and the man who had loved his country and tried to set her free treated with the sareatMany a man was condemned to seven, ten, and fifteen years' exile at hard labor because he had taken a trout out of a brook, or snared a partridge Offenses that in these tireat severity, and a considerable number of the convicts sent to Australia in the first thirty years of the prevalence of the systeht It was for this reason that Governor Macquarie and other high officials took the position that they did in favor of the emancipists They contended that a man whose offense had been of a trivial sort, and who had shown hi hand, instead of being placed under the ban”
”I quite agree with them,” said Harry; ”and I wonder that the free settlers were so severe against them”
”But you must bear in mind,” the doctor answered, ”that the term 'convict' is always odious, no matter under what circumstances it may have been obtained It was not easy at all ti emancipists, and so they ca all However, that state of society has all passed away; convicts, emancipists, and free settlers of the first quarter of this century are all dead and gone noith, possibly, a few exceptions Time has healed the breach, and this subject is very little talked of at the present day”
”How about the descendants of the early colonists?” Ned inquired ”Do the sins of the fathers descend upon the children, or are they all forgotten?”
”As to that,” said the doctor, ”I ive you a little explanation It is not considered polite in Australia to ask a man born in the country who his father was, or how he happened to enored in polite society, and, in fact, in society of all kinds In political life, a man may abuse his opponent as much as he pleases in all ways, except that should he venture in the anger of debate to intimate that his opponent's father carant, he renders hies I can tell you of a case in point
”A proovernment of Victoria is known to be the son of aa pheasant It is an open secret; in fact, one could hardly say that it was a secret at all, as every e of public life is well aware of it Once while thisfor office, his opponent, in a fierce debate before a public , ht suit, and arded daes to the extent of fifty thousand dollars It is probable that the unlucky defendant of the suit has been ue ever since
”One of the convicts that escaped,” continued the doctor, ”had a most remarkable experience He wandered off into the bush or forests, and kept traveling until the small amount of provisions he carried was exhausted Then for two or three days he lived upon roots and leaves and on a bird that he killed with a club
”One day, while he was dragging hi, he came to ain thishe took possession of the stick, which was like a long walking-cane He observed, as he took possession of it, that it seemed to have been used before, but he proceeded on his way and thought nofor half a mile or more, he suddenly caines They raised a shout as they saw hi their spears and other weapons, and showing signs of hostility
”The poor fellow thought his last hour had come, as he had heard that the blacks murdered every white man they came across What was his surprise when they suddenly lowered their weapons and changed their deathered about hiinable, and tried to talk with him, but he could not understand a word They threw up a shelter for hier than any other shelter in the encah he were a princely aht him food, which he ate ravenously, and they continued to place their greatest delicacies before him until his appetite was fully satisfied
”Well, he re theence, he soon learned their language It did not take hi to comprehend that he was treated as the chief of the tribe, and had been regarded as such froht it about?”
”I'm sure I can't tell,” said both of the youths in a breath
”It came about in this way,” explained the doctor ”The Australian blacks believe, or, at any rate,more nor less than a resurrected black lish express it in these words: 'Tumble down, black fellow; jump up, white fellow'
”It so happened that the tribe which he joined had just buried its chief, and when they bury one of their dead they heap a mound of earth above the spot, and upon the top of theto the deceased In this case they had stuck the old chief's walking-staff in the top of the mound, and it was this very staff that the white man took fro on his way When the blacks saw thethey proceeded to kill him after their custom, but as he came near and they saw that he carried the staff of their chief, they at once concluded that the chief had coain in the shape of the white fellow
That is why they showed him so many honors and made him chief of their tribe It was in their minds a clear case of 'tumble down, black fellow; jump up, white fellow'”
”I suppose he was quite contented to stay with them, and not return to Sydney and its punishments?” remarked one of the youths
”Yes, indeed he was For years rumors came to Sydney fro in one of the aboriginal tribes as their chief Word was sent hiovernor's promise that he would not be molested if he would come to Sydney and tell his story, but he was suspicious, and for a long tiovernreat deal of difficulty succeeded in having an intervieith him He received the most solemn assurance that he would not be interfered with, and finally said that if a full pardon were sent to hily forwarded and he ventured to Sydney, where he received a good deal of attention His story was taken down from his own lips, and afterward published in a book After a few months he became dissatisfied with civilization and returned to his wanderings”
”That is a curious idea of the blacks, that they become white after their death,” Ned remarked
”Yes, it is curious,” said the doctor, ”and they carry it out in for attachments for the white people who employed them At a station where quite a number of blacks were employed, one of the eldest of the women used to say to the foreman of the place: 'You areboy tumble down, you white boy tuot ht his wife to his home The next day another woman of the tribe adopted and laid claim to her as her child The tomen became very fond of each other, and when, in the course of tily for her”