Headquarters at Herbert Vale - Civilised blacks - Domestic life - Nelly the cook - Cats - Swimming in fat - My bill of fare - Killing the bullock - Strong stomachs and bad fare
Arriving at the entrance to the yard, I met a white object, which proved to be a Kanaka in his Sunday clothes. He took my horses under his care and called the superintendent of the station, who was an old white man. A bureau, a couple of wooden chairs, and a camp-bed constituted the entire furniture of my room. The bed, in which I slept exceedingly well, possessed the unexampled luxury of two thick canvas sheets, and I had been prudent enough to bring with me a heavy double woollen blanket. At breakfast I asked the old man to introduce me to some of the blacks, whose assistance I needed, for I could accomplish nothing without them. I therefore also inquired whether there were any "civilised" ones among them. The answer was, that for the last two years he had permitted them to come to the station, and consequently some of them might have the right to this title. To know that they will be killed if they murder a white man, to be fond of wearing the garments and ornaments of white people, and to smoke tobacco, is all that is required in order to be styled "civilised" among the Australian blacks, though sometimes they do learn a little more than that. These so-called "civilised" blacks look upon their savage brethren with more or less contempt, and call them myall1.
1 A tree (Acacia pendula) which grows extensively in the less civilised districts is called by the Europeans myall. This word was soon applied by the whites as a term for the wild blacks who frequented these large remote myall woods. Strange to say, the blacks soon adopted this term themselves and used it as an epithet of abuse, and hence it soon came to mean a person of no culture.
We had not finished our breakfast when we saw their heads peeping through the gate; - all were men armed with spears, as they were just going out to hunt the wallaby. Most of them were slender and tolerably well built, though on the average small. Their height varied greatly. One of them, a lean and slender fellow, called by the old man Tommy, who I afterwards learned had five wives, was distinguished for his stature; but he was scarcely over 5 feet 8 inches in height. Their faces varied conspicuously, some having longer noses than I had observed before among the Australian natives, but very flat; all were entirely naked. Some of them wore about their necks a sort of yellow band made of hollow straws cut into small pieces. This band was wound several times round the neck.
The old superintendent pointed out one of these blacks, called Jacky, who knew a few English words. He was a square-built, well-proportioned man, in good physical condition, with a cunning but good-natured face. As he was considered the most civilised person of the lot, I tried to make him explain to the others that I desired to obtain all things creeping on the ground or flying in the air, and that I would give them tobacco for what they brought me. I also wanted one of them to go with me and find tshukki-tshukki. This word is used to the civilised blacks to indicate birds. Jacky said he would "belong to me" to-morrow, but now they were all going out hunting; he added that they would bring me something when they returned in the evening. Jacky was the only one with whom I could talk; the others were silent.
I observed that some rested in a most peculiar position, a habit which I have often noticed since then. They stood on one foot, and placed the sole of the other on the inside of the thigh a little above the knee. The whole person was easily supported by a spear1.
1 This custom also prevails among the inhabitants of the Soudan and the White Nile district. See James's Soudan.
The blacks left us, and I took this opportunity of studying my surroundings. Herbert Vale, which belongs to the Scott Brothers, had been abandoned as a cattle station, because the soil along the lower part of the river proved to be so excellent for sugar-growing that it rose in value and became too expensive for cattle-raising. The Englishman always knows how to make himself comfortable, so the station had comparatively good houses, and for this reason the owners had left an old white man in charge of the property. His chief duty was to keep the blacks from setting fire to the houses when they burned the grass while hunting.
Around the whole property there was a natural hedge of sharp thorns. Passing through a little gate we came to a two-storied wooden house painted red, the first floor of which was used for kitchen and dining-room. The kitchen was quite primitive, having neither floor nor door. The main building, a low one-storied house, stood a few steps farther to the west nearer the river.
On the side facing Herbert river I had access from my room to a spacious verandah, from which there was a fine view far up the river. Besides these two buildings, a large store-house, in which the superintendent kept a supply of flour, sugar, tea, and tobacco, gave the impression of wealth.
Mr. Scott had made a large garden, which now unfortunately was in an entirely dilapidated condition, as the old superintendent made no use of it; the only thing he cultivated being some sweet-potatoes (Batatas edulis). The only care which the garden received was that the grass was mown now and then when it became too high, in order to keep it from smothering the trees. In spite of the miserable condition of the garden it was a pleasure to see that even in these uncivilised regions there existed a taste for the beauties and comforts of life, and not simply a love of money. The cheerful houses among the thriving trees could not fail to gladden the traveller, whose eyes in this part of the country rarely witness other than primitive cabins of bark.
In Northern Queensland it is even more rare to find things done simply for comfort than it is farther south; farther west and north the country becomes still more wild and uncivilised. The desire to earn money seems to monopolise everything, and there is no time to think of such a luxury as a garden. Of course occasionally a bed of cabbage, carrots, sweet -potatoes, and the like, might be found, but fruit or shady trees are looked for in vain.
In the middle of the garden stood a bread-tree, but it did not thrive; this was also the case with a few coconut palms. Comquat, loquat, and guava-trees, on the other hand, bear excellent fruit. A granadilla, which twined itself gracefully round an old fig-tree, furnished us for Christmas with a small amount of palatable fruit. A part of the garden might be called an orange-orchard, which bore oranges in abundance, but, alas, they were, chiefly from want of care, too sour to be eaten. The mango-tree yielded the best fruit to be found in the whole garden.
Herbert Vale lies about forty miles above the mouth of Herbert river, 18° S. lat.; its rainfall is about ninety inches annually. The locality is exceedingly beautiful, occupying a high plain on the eastern bank of the river where the latter makes a bend. The bottom of the river valley is very flat, and dotted with grass and brushwood. In the distance in almost every direction appear mountainous uplands covered to the very horizon with dense scrubs, now and then broken by an opening, through which picturesque waterfalls may be seen dashing down the hillside, greatly enlivening the sombre groves. The streams which form these waterfalls often unite and empty into Herbert River, and along their whole course they are bordered with scrub on both sides. The mountains are the same as those extending hundreds of miles northward to Cape York.
In the afternoon the natives returned, but, alas, it was a disagreeable surprise to find what they had brought for me - the thigh and tail of a kangaroo - in their estimation the most valuable thing they could procure. It was always difficult to make them understand what I wanted. I succeeded better after I had coaxed them to tell me what animals they knew and what they called them. Notwithstanding the fact that they knew they would be well paid for what they might bring, they rarely found anything of interest; they were too lazy and too stupid to care for anything beyond the present moment. If my efforts were to produce any result, I would have to go with them myself, and stay with them early and late, well supplied with tobacco, a small amount of which will induce them to do anything in their power. For some time I succeeded in keeping one man, who accompanied me on all my tours. Thus I made excursions in the neighbourhood of Herbert Vale until towards the close of October, always attended by the blacks.
I was deeply interested in the study of the Australian natives, who are supposed to be the lowest order of the human race. I went with them on their excursions through the dense scrubs; I admired their skill in climbing the tall gum-trees; and wondered at their keen and trained senses, by which they discovered animals in the most surprising manner. We hunted the cassowary or dug out from the earth bandicoots and Dasyuridae - not a day passed on which we did not go out on some hunting expedition; in short, I was constantly with them, and frequently spent the evenings in their camp, which, as a rule, was pitched near the station. As I gradually became able to make myself understood, my interest in this remarkable and most primitive race of people increased.
Mr. Scott's keeper at the station was a peevish, conceited old man, who spent most of his time sleeping on a sort of cot which he had placed on the verandah. He had left the care of the house entirely to a Kanaka. This latter had purchased from the tribe in the neighbourhood of Herbert Vale a girl, Nelly, for his wife, and the main burden of housekeeping was put upon her. The only thing that the Kanaka did himself was to milk the cow in the morning, bake the damper, and chop the fuel for the kitchen. There was not much variety in our bill of fare: salt beef and damper, damper and salt beef, were the standing dishes at all three meals. On two occasions a chicken was killed, which was prepared in the plainest manner; the head being-chopped off, it was stripped of its feathers, and at once put into the kettle to boil. For a time we also had sweet potatoes, which Nelly placed on the table for breakfast, dinner, and supper as long as they lasted. No care was bestowed on our hens, however; they laid many eggs, which Nelly, our skilful cook, invariably did her best to serve in an almost petrified condition.
The old man delighted in a numerous family of cats; for, in his opinion, after a woman, a cat was the chief source of domestic comfort. As soon as they heard the sound of kettle and plates, they gathered in large numbers from all quarters. As a rule a couple of them could be seen in the forenoon sleeping among the washed plates on the kitchen table, while the fowls wandered about everywhere. The cock crowed on the dining-room table, and the hens laid their eggs on the hearthstone. It was indeed strange to see how little pains the old man took to make himself comfortable. How nice he could have made it here if he only had taken some interest in the affairs of the household! Besides the chickens, he had, as we have seen, a cow, and at times fresh meat, for there were several cattle for slaughter left on the deserted station.
In the long run salt beef and damper make rather unwholesome food, and though I therefore repeatedly tried to give Nelly lessons in cooking, my efforts were fruitless. I wanted her to fry the beef, but she used such a quantity of fat that it took away all my appetite. Too old to make any progress in the art of cooking, Nelly clung to her former habits, and preferred to boil salt beef and sweet potatoes, if she had any. However, I must confess that she had great talent for making the fire burn. Sometimes the fat caught fire, and in this manner I got rid of the detestable fluid; but then the meat was burnt to a cinder.
The fact that the old man evidently did not like me to meddle with the kitchen affairs made it all the more difficult to bring about any reformation in the culinary department; he preferred to keep matters in the old groove and could not bear any interference on the part of an epicure. Nelly had a high opinion of her own ability. When with a pipe in her mouth, she was washing plates and knives, satisfaction beamed from her dark brown face. Her appetite was marvellous; she not only devoured incredible quantities in the kitchen, but also constantly secured food by bartering with her black friends, for she appeared not to have lost her appetite for their plain messes even after her elevation as the white man's cook. She always had a supply of baskets filled with various kinds of vegetable provisions of the plainest sort hanging in the kitchen.
The highest ideal of these natives' existence is to have plenty to eat, and Nelly ate most of the time. When she was not engaged in this her favourite occupation, she smoked tobacco, and when she neither ate nor smoked she slept. Thus her existence was a happy one, marred only by an occasional flogging from her husband. In her domestic troubles she was as a rule the wronged party, but being the weaker of the two she of course could never claim the victory, which was determined by fisticuffs.
Old Walters, the keeper, had forbidden the black men to come within the enclosure, but the women had free admittance. In course of time the most courageous ones ventured not only to pass through the gate but even to steal into the kitchen. They tried to keep on good terms with Nelly, who now and then would save a bite of food for them, especially if they aided her with the work, which of course served them as a convenient pretext. They took every opportunity of helping themselves to tallow and meat, the women doing the stealing by day and the men by night.
I cannot deny that it annoyed me to know that the food was prepared by the blacks; for the women who washed the dishes were naked, and filthy in the extreme, and moreover the natives were troubled with skin diseases, so that both the old man and myself were liable to catch the infection. Such diseases, the faithful attendants of civilisation, have also found their way to the natives of the Herbert river region. Fortunately but few were sufficiently advanced in civilisation. Nor were there very many who ventured into the kitchen, but as they gradually became acquainted with the place their number increased in the same proportion as their respect for the keeper diminished.
The external mark of civilisation among the Australian natives is usually a European shirt which has been white, but which, on account of age and want of washing, has assumed a colour thoroughly in harmony with the complexion of its owner. Nor is a common English clay pipe ever wanting to complete the impression of being a "gentleman" among his colleagues, to say nothing of a felt hat, which in the eyes of the Australian native is the chief mark of distinction between a white and a black man. They usually ask the white man for a civilised name, and if this request is granted they are constantly called by it among their comrades.
The natives on Herbert river near my headquarters had just begun to enter this state of civilisation, but very few of them had succeeded in obtaining a shirt or an old hat. The fact of their incipient civilisation was at least of one advantage to me - they were less afraid of the white man.
Whenever a bullock was killed they regularly congregated in large numbers at the station, for at such times there was always something to get. The meat was salted in the usual manner, and the head, the hide, the bones, and all the entrails were given to the blacks. A slaughter day was a real festival at Herbert Vale. It was usually found out several days in advance, was reported from one tribe to another, and was a topic of conversation far away in the mountains among those who did not dare to approach the station.
It amused me very much to watch the blacks in the slaughter-yard, an enclosure about 150 yards from the main building. When the time approached for the old keeper to appear with his rifle to shoot the bullock - tomobero, as the blacks call both the animal and the beef - they came up from their camp, but were not allowed to stand near the enclosure. As the Australian cattle are used to see men only on horseback, they become very frightened at the sight of people on foot, and especially of the blacks, not only because they are on foot, but because the poor beasts occasionally have made the acquaintance of their spears.
First, the blacks had to keep themselves concealed from the sight of the bullock, for fear it should get frightened and run to and fro in the yard, and thus make it impossible for the old man to shoot it. The keeper would then get so angry that he would hurl empty threats at their heads. They however gradually became so accustomed to this that they did not mind it. Upon the whole his authority was not much respected by them, and the fact that he often missed his mark when he shot at the bullock materially increased their contempt for him, for the blacks expect a man to hit the object at which he aims.
As soon as the animal falls, which is easy for them to observe from their ambush, they rush forth from all parts of the wood and stand around the enclosure - men, women, and children - all alike eager to get their share of the slaughtered animal.
First, the throat of the bullock is pierced with a long knife that the blood may run out. Some old women are then permitted to come within the yard, and with both hands they scoop up from the ground the coagulated blood into their baskets. Next the flaying begins, and several men are allowed to come in and help. None of them seems much inclined to assist in the work, but they all like to get inside the yard, for then they are sure of securing some of the spoils. Some of them hold the beast by the feet or tail while others remove the hide with the old keeper's knives. As soon as the animal is cut open it is important to be at hand ready to lay hold of the largest pieces of the entrails, all of which fall to the lot of the blacks. At this point men, women, and children all rush into the yard.
Amid deafening noise and clamour a regular fight for the intestines commences ; they pull them into pieces in their tussle for them, each one trying to secure the longest piece. The worthiest among them, that is to say the strongest and those who have the most wives, have agreed beforehand who is to have such delicate parts as the liver, the lungs, and the heart. There is also a great struggle for the tail, to say nothing of the hide, which is always an object of lively competition.
A number of blacks gather round it and hold it up between them, but it is no easy matter to divide an ox hide, for it cannot be torn into pieces. Iron implements are needed, and so the axe and large knives are borrowed. One begins to cut out a large piece with the axe, while others who have succeeded in getting knives pay no respect to an equitable division of the booty, but cut out as large pieces as possible. Those who have failed to secure any knife stand crestfallen, impatiently watching the proceedings, and expecting every moment that the piece will be cut out; but to their despair the sharp weapon continually plunges farther into the hide. At length the cutting is finished, and only miserable portions of the large hide remain. All that is now left to be done is to divide the head between the two who have taken possession of it, and who have agreed in advance to share it equally.
When the blacks have taken all they can, the whole crowd return to the camp, where they gorge themselves not only with the entrails but also with the hide. The intestines and the stomach have already been emptied and are ready to be prepared for eating, the stomach having been turned and the intestines emptied by drawing them between the fingers; washing them is out of the question. They are torn into smaller pieces and laid on the coals, and after being turned once or twice with a wooden stick, are fished out of the fire and eaten. The hide is treated in the same way. The old man now has the carcass left and the butchering is done. For dinner, which is to be eaten in about half an hour, he lays aside the most tender parts - the diaphragm, the kidneys, and the pancreas. This is all prepared by Nelly, who on such solemn occasions is particularly proud of her skill as cook. The meat floats on an ocean of fat, while she now and then licks the point of the knife with delight. At such times she can brook no joking, having a sublime sense of her own importance, and being thoroughly convinced that she is indispensable. This important task finished, the delicate viands are placed on a plate in a pyramidal heap.
One gets accustomed to everything in Australia, and as when people are hungry they will eat almost anything, so the inhabitants of Northern Queensland are willing to live like pigs if they can only make money. The man who can "work well" is most respected, and to this there can be no objection; but the idea of a "good worker" implies that he is rough, and does not care what he eats. They do not understand that it is possible to work and eat in a decent manner at the same time. I remember a proprietor in Northern Queensland speaking of this matter in a very characteristic manner. His workmen had requested him to buy for them a little butter and some pickles to eat with their plain food, a luxury they could well afford, as they earned two pounds a week each. But the fact that they could think of such a thing offended him to such a degree that he said to me: "I really think it would be better for people to spend all their money on liquor than to eat it up in this fashion."
The only extra trouble Nelly had from a butchering, which occurred once every three weeks, was that she had to make tallow for lighting, and for greasing the boots. The tallow was placed in a tin cup in which a rag torn from an old pair of corduroy breeches served as wick; that was our lamp. Usually the tallow soon gave out; for it stood in a kettle on the hearth, and here the fowls, in competition with the blacks, consumed it. As we shall see later on, the blacks have a great predilection for fat.
We had now finished our dinner, which, in addition to the fresh beef, consisted, as usual, of damper and sweet potatoes. Making beef-tea or soup from any part of the beef was utterly out of the question.
In the afternoon all the beef is to be salted, and this is old Walters' task. When he has eaten his dinner, he and Nelly and the Kanaka proceed to the slaughter-house. Meanwhile the natives have returned from their camp, and are sitting patiently waiting for the bones which fall to their lot after the meat has been cut off. The large joints are roasted and then gnawed most thoroughly, the cartilage, hoofs, and the softer parts of the bone disappearing into their strong stomachs.
Nelly is wholly occupied with the great event of the day. Her movements indicate unusual solemnity and earnestness. Conscious that something important is going on today, she feels her own superiority as compared with the other natives. The idea of belonging to the old man who has such mountains of food! How grand she must appear to the other blacks!
To-night they expect bits of meat, which she steals from the kitchen and divides among them. Nor does she neglect herself, but is continually chewing something or other.
Soon after sunset all is over, and the blacks have retired to their camp satiated and happy. They have today eaten komorbory, i.e. very much, and consequently from their point of view have experienced the greatest enjoyment that life can afford.
Such was a slaughter day at Herbert Vale. Now and then a sick animal was shot and given to the blacks. I remember that an old cow which was so lean and miserable from pleuropneumonia that it could scarcely walk, was driven into the yard to be killed for the natives. Pleuropneumonia causes great destruction of cattle in some parts of Australia. Many cattle are saved by inoculating the virus near the upper end of the tail, but the disease is contagious, and when an animal cannot be cured it is best to kill it. The old cow fell at the first shot, and the natives were permitted to do as they pleased with it. They borrowed an axe with which they chopped it in two along the back to get at the kidneys and the fat around them, for these parts they like best. There was a little fat about the kidneys, but none elsewhere; scarcely any meat could be found on the bones, and the lungs were consumed and had a horrible smell. The natives do not like anything which smells bad, but to reject other than the damaged parts was out of the question. The rest was eaten, and no one was taken ill after this disgusting meal.
It must be admitted that my headquarters could hardly be called comfortable; but if we understand the art of adapting ourselves to circumstances, we may at all times make things more bearable than they seem to be. In a new country like Northern Queensland, where people live so far apart, and where each one thinks only of himself, it is easy to see what a great advantage it must be to have a place where one can find shelter. Besides, it was a real comfort to know that I was not likely to die of starvation, thanks to Nelly's damper and salt beef During a short period there was also fruit in the garden, but, after all, my greatest treat when I came down from the mountains was milk. Every one who has travelled in the tropics knows what a luxury this is.