Far Off Part 23

But _what_ a place to have, when at last there may be such a fearful scene! Missionaries cannot come into j.a.pan to teach the people a better way of dying, and to tell them of a happy place after death.

AUSTRALIA.

This is the largest island in the world. It is as large as Europe (which is not an _island_, but a _continent_). But how different is Australia from Europe! Instead of containing, as Europe does, a number of grand kingdoms, it has not one single king. Instead of being filled with people, the greater part of Australia is a desert, or a forest, where a few half naked savages are wandering.

A hundred years ago, there was not a town in the whole island; but now there are a few large towns near the sea-coast, but only a very few. It is the English who built these large towns, and who live in them.

Australia is not so fine a land as Europe, because it has not so many fine rivers; and it is fine _rivers_ that make a fine _land_. Most of the rivers in Australia do not deserve the name of rivers; they are more like a number of water-holes, and are often dried up in the summer; but there is one very fine, broad, long, deep river, called the Murray. It flows for twelve hundred miles. Were there several such rivers us the Murray, then Australia would be a fine land indeed.

Why is there so little water? Because there is so little rain. Sometimes for two years together, there are no heavy showers, and the gra.s.s withers, and the trees turn brown, and the air is filled with dust. I believe the reason of the want of rain is--that the mountains are not high; for high mountains draw the clouds together. There are no mountains as high as the Alps of Europe; the highest are only half as high.[13]

THE NATIVES.--The savages of Australia have neither G.o.d, nor king. Some heathen countries are full of idols, but there are no idols in the wilds of Australia. No,--like the beasts which perish, these savages live from day to day without prayer, or praise, delighting only in eating and drinking, hunting and dancing.

Most men build some kind of houses; but these savages are satisfied with putting a few boughs together, as a shelter from the storm. There is just room in one of these shelters for a man to creep into it, and lie down to sleep. They do not wish to learn to build better huts, for as they are always running about from place to place, they do not think it worth while to build better.

A native was once sitting in the corner of a white man's hut, and looking as if he enjoyed the warmth. The white men began to laugh at him, for not building a good hut for himself. For some time the black man said nothing, at last he muttered, "Ay, ay, white fellow think it best that-a-way. Black fellow think it best that-a-way." A white man rudely answered, "Then black fellow is a fool." Upon hearing this, the black fellow, quite affronted, got up, and folding his blanket round him, walked out of the hut. How much pride there is in the heart of man! Even a savage thinks a great deal of his own wisdom, and cannot bear to be called a fool.

Sometimes the natives build a house _strong_ enough to last during the whole winter, and _large_ enough to hold seven or eight people. They make it in the shape of a bee-hive.

Their reason for moving about continually, is that they may get food.

They look for it, wherever they go, digging up roots, and grubbing up grubs, and searching the hollows of the trees for _opossums_. (Of these strange animals more shall soon be mentioned.)

The women are the most ill-treated creatures in the world. The men beat them on their heads whenever they please, and cover them with bruises. A gentleman once saw a poor black woman crying bitterly. When he asked her what was the matter, she told him that her husband was going to beat her for having broken his pipe. The gentleman went to the husband, and entreated him to forgive his "gin" (for that is the name for a _wife_ or _woman_). But the man declared he would not forgive her, unless a new pipe was given to him. The gentleman could not promise one to the black man, as there were no pipes to be had in that place. The next morning the poor gin appeared with a broken arm, her cruel husband having beaten her with a thick stick.

The miserable gins are not _beaten_ only; they are _half starved_; for their husbands will give them no food, and _they_--poor things--cannot fish or hunt, or shoot; they have nothing but the roots they dig up, and the grubs, and lizards, and snakes they find on the ground. Their looks show how wretchedly they fare; for while the men are often strong and tall, the women are generally thin, and bent, and haggard.

Yet the _woman_, weak as she is, carries all the baggage, not only the babe slung upon her back, but the bag of food, and even her husband's gun and pipe; while the _man_ stalks along in his pride, with nothing but his spear in his hand, or at most a light basket upon his arm; for he considers his wife as his beast of burden. At night the woman has to build her own shelter, for the man thinks it quite enough to build one for himself.

Such is the hard lot of a native woman, while she _lives_; and when she _dies_, her body is perched in a tree, as not worth the trouble of burying.

I have already told you, that the natives have no G.o.d; yet they have a DEVIL, whom they call Yakoo, or debbil-debbil. Of him they are always afraid, for they fancy he goes about devouring children. When any one dies, they say, "Yakoo took him." How different from those happy Christians who can say of their dead, "G.o.d took them!"

People who know not G.o.d, but only the devil, must be very wicked. These savages show themselves to be children of debbil-debbil by their actions.

They kill many of their babes, that they may not have the trouble of nursing them. Old people also they kill, and laugh at the idea of making them "tumble down." One of the most horrible things they do, is making the skulls of their friends into drinking-cups, and they think that by doing so, they show their AFFECTION! They allow the nearest relation to have the skull of the dead person. They will even EAT a little piece of the dead body, just as a mark of love. But generally speaking, it is only their _enemies_ they eat, and they _do_ eat them whenever they can kill them. There are a great many tribes of natives, and they look upon one another as enemies. If a man of one tribe dare to come, and hunt in the lands of another tribe, he is immediately killed, and his body is eaten.

The bodies of dear friends--are treated with great honor, placed for some weeks on a high platform, and then buried. Mothers prize highly the dead bodies of their children. A traveller met a poor old woman wandering in search of roots, with a stick for digging in her hand, and with no other covering than a little gra.s.s mat. On her back she bore a heavy load. What was it? The dead body of her child,--a boy of ten years old; this burden she had borne for three weeks, and she thought she showed her love, by keeping it near her for so long a time. Alas! she knew nothing of the immortal spirit, and how, when washed in Jesus' blood, it is borne by angels into the presence of G.o.d.

But though these savages are so wicked, and so wild, they have their amus.e.m.e.nts. Dancing is the chief amus.e.m.e.nt. At every full moon, there is a grand dance, called the Corrobory. It is the men who dance, while the women sit by and beat time. Nothing can be more horrible to see than a Corrobory. It is held in the night by the light of blazing fires. The men are made to look more frightful than usual, by great patches, and stripes of red and white clay all over their bodies; and they play all manner of strange antics, and utter all kinds of strange yells; so that you might think it was a dance in h.e.l.l, rather than on earth.

It may surprise you to hear these wild creatures have a turn both for music and drawing. There are figures carved upon the rocks, which show their turn for drawing. The figures represent beasts, fishes, and men, and are much better done than could have been supposed. There are few savages who can sing as well as these natives; but the _words_ of their songs are very foolish. These are the words of one song,

"Eat great deal, eat, eat, eat; Eat again, plenty to eat; Eat more yet, eat, eat, eat."

If a pig could sing, surely this song would just suit its fancy. How sad to think a man who is made to praise G.o.d forever and ever, should have no higher joy than eating!

And what is the appearance of these people?

They are ugly, with flat noses, and wide mouths, but their teeth are white, and their hair is long, glossy, and curly. They adorn their tresses with teeth, and feathers, and dogs' tails; and they rub over their whole body with fish oil and fat. You may imagine, therefore, how unpleasant it must be to come near them.

THE COLONISTS OR SETTLERS.

_Once_ there were only black people in Australia, and no white; _now_ there are more white than black; and it is probable, that soon, there will be no black people, but only white. Ever since the white people began to settle there, the black people have been dying away very fast; for the white people have taken away the lands where the blacks used to hunt, and have filled them with their sheep and cattle.

There are two sorts of white people who have come to Australia. They are called "Convicts," and "Colonists."

Convicts are some of the worst of the white people;--thieves, who instead of being kept in prison, were sent to Australia to work hard for many years. It is a sad thing for Australia, that so many thieves have been sent there, because after their punishment was over, and they were set at liberty, some remained in the land, and did a great deal of harm.

Colonists are people who come of their own accord to earn their living as best they can.

It is a common sight when travelling in Australia, to meet a dray drawn by bullocks, laden with furniture, and white people. It is a family going to their new farm. In the dray there are pigs, and you may hear them grunting; there are fowls, too, shut up in a basket; and besides, there are plants and tools. When the family arrive at the place where they mean to settle, they find no house, nor garden, nor fields, only a wild forest. Immediately they pitch a tent for the mother and her daughters to sleep in, while the father, his sons, and his laborers, sleep by the fire in the open air. The next morning, the men begin to fell trees to make a hut, and they finish it in a week;--not a very grand dwelling, it is true, but good enough for the fine weather; the floor is made of the hard clay from the enormous ant hills; the walls--of great slabs of wood; the roof--of wooden tiles, and the windows--of calico. When the hut is finished, a hen-house, and a pig-sty are built, and a dairy also underground. A garden is soon planted, and there the vines, and the peach-trees bear beautiful fruit. The daughters attend to the rearing of the fowls, and the milking of the cows, and soon have a plentiful supply of eggs and b.u.t.ter. The men clear the ground of trees, in order to sow wheat and potatoes. Thus the family soon have all their wants supplied; and they find time by degrees to build a stone house, with eight large rooms; and when it is completed, they give up their wooden hut to one of the laborers. This is the way of life in the "Bush;" for such is the name given to the wild parts of Australia.

Some settlers keep large flocks of sheep, and gain money by selling the wool and the fat, to make cloth and tallow. A shepherd in Australia leads a very lonely life among the hills, and he is obliged to keep ever upon the watch against the wild dogs. These voracious animals prowl about in troops, and cruelly bite numbers of the sheep, and then devour as many as they can. Happily there are no _large_ wild beasts, such as wolves, and bears, lions, and tigers; for these would devour the shepherd as well as the sheep.

But there are _men_, called "bush-rangers," as fierce as wild beasts.

These are convicts who have escaped from punishment. They often come to the settlers' houses, and murder the inhabitants.

The natives are not nearly as dangerous as these wicked _white_ men; indeed _they_ are generally very harmless, unless provoked by ill-treatment. They are willing to make themselves useful, by reaping corn, and was.h.i.+ng sheep; and a little reward satisfies them, such as a blanket, or an old coat. When some of the flock have strayed, the blacks will take great pains to look for them, and seem as much pleased when they have found them, as if they were their own sheep. The black women can help in the wash-house, and in the farm-yard; but they are too much besmeared with grease to be fit for the kitchen. It is wise never to give a good dinner to a black, till his work is done; because he always eats so much, that he can work no more that day.

Some of these poor blacks are very faithful and affectionate. There was one who lived near a settler's hut, and he used to come there every morning before the master was up; he would enter very gently for fear of waking him,--light the fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together, and set the kettle on to boil; then he would approach the bed, and putting his hand affectionately on the hand of the sleeper would whisper in his ear, till he saw him open his eyes, when he would greet him with a kind and smiling look. These attentions were the mark of his attachment to the white man.

This black was as faithful, as he was affectionate. Once he was sent by a farmer on a message. It was this, "Take this letter to my brother, and he will give you sixpence, and then spend the sixpence in pipes for me."

The black man took the letter, and went towards the place where the brother lived. He met him on horseback. The brother after reading the letter, rode away without giving the sixpence to the bearer. What was the poor black man to do? "Shall I go back," thought he, "without the pipes?

No. I will try to get some money." He went to a house that he knew of, and offered to chop some wood for sixpence, and with _that sixpence_ he bought the pipes. Was not this being a good servant? This was not eye-service; it was the service of the heart. But there are not many natives like this man. They are generally soon tired of working. For instance, a boy called Jackey, left a good master who would have provided for him, to live again wild in the woods, and went away with the blanket off his bed.

ANIMALS.--There are few of _our_ animals in Australia, or of _their_ animals in England. There is no hare, no rabbit, no nightingale, no thrush, in Australia. _Once_ there were no horses, nor cows, nor sheep, nor pigs; but _now_ there are a great many. Much terrified were the natives at the sight of the first horse which came from England; for they had never seen such a large animal before.

The largest beast in Australia is the Kangaroo, remarkable for its short fore-legs, and its great strong hind-legs, and for the pocket in which it shelters its little one. It is a gentle creature, and can be easily tamed. A pet kangaroo may often be seen walking about a settler's garden, cropping the gra.s.s upon the lawn. But though easily _tamed_, a wild kangaroo is not easily _caught_; for it makes immense springs in the air, far higher than a horse could leap, though it is not as big as a sheep.

When hunted by dogs, it gets, when it can, into the water, and turning round, and standing still, dips the dogs, one by one, till it drowns them.

There is another beast, called the opossum, not much bigger than a large cat, and it also has a pocket for its young ones. But instead of cropping the gra.s.s, it eats the leaves of trees. It has a gentle face like a deer, and a long tail like a monkey. It hides itself, as the squirrel does, in the hollows of trees. Like the owl, it is never seen in the day, but at night it comes out to feed. The blacks are very cunning in finding out the holes where the opossums are hidden, and they know how to drag them out by their long tails, without getting bitten by their sharp teeth.

With the skin of the opossum the natives make a cloak.

The wild dogs, or dingoes, are odious animals. They may be heard yelling at night to the terror of the shepherd, and the farmer. They are bold enough to rush into a yard, and to carry off a calf, or a pig; and when they have dragged it into the woods, they cruelly eat the legs first, and do not kill it for a long while.

These three--the kangaroo, the opossum, and the dingo,--are the princ.i.p.al beasts of Australia.

Among the birds, the emu is the most remarkable. It is nearly as tall as an ostrich, and has beautiful soft feathers, though not as beautiful as the ostrich's. But the most curious point in the emu is,--it has no tongue. You may suppose, therefore, that it is neither a singing bird, nor a talking bird; it only makes a little noise in its throat. But if _it_ is silent, there are numbers of parrots, and c.o.c.katoos, to fill the air with their screams. In England, these birds are thought a great deal of, but in Australia, they are killed to make into pies, or into soup.

Parrot-pie and c.o.c.katoo-soup, are common dishes there. However, many of the parrots and c.o.c.katoos, are caught by the blacks, and sold to the English, who send them to England in the s.h.i.+ps.

There are not such singing birds in Australia, as there are here. Though there is a robin red-breast there, he does not sing as sweetly as he does here. But there are _laughing_ birds in Australia. There is a bird called the "laughing jacka.s.s." He laughs very loud three times a day. He begins in the morning;--suddenly a hoa.r.s.e loud laugh is heard,--then another, then another,--till a whole troop of birds seem laughing all together, and go on laughing for a few minutes;--and then they are all quiet again.

Such a noise must awaken many a sleeper on his bed. At noon the laugh is heard again. At evening there is another general fit of laughter. These birds are not like children, who laugh at no particular hour, but often twenty times a day. The laughing jacka.s.s is almost as useful as a clock, and it is called, "the bushman's clock."

BOTANY BAY.