Queensland 1823-1890
Moreton Bay. When Captain Cook, in 1770, sailed into the wide
opening of Moreton Bay, several of his friends on board observed the sea
to be paler than usual, and formed the opinion that, if a careful search
were made along the shores, it would be found that a large river fell
into the sea somewhere in the neighbourhood. Cook attached so little
weight to this idea that he did not stay to make any examination; and
when
about twenty years later, Captain Flinders surveyed the same bay,
he saw no trace of a river, though he made special search for one.
But the reports of both these travellers were subsequently found to be
erroneous; for, in 1823, when Governor Brisbane sent the discoverer
Oxley, in the Mermaid, to select a place for a new convict station in
the northern district of New South Wales, Moreton Bay was found to
receive the waters of a large and important river. His success was, at
least in part, due to accident. Among the blacks, on the shores of the
bay, was a naked man, who was seen to be white. This man was taken on
board. He had sailed in an open boat from Sydney, with three others,
about a year before, but had been driven by gales out to sea and far to
the north. They had landed and had been well received by the blacks. The
rest had started to walk along the shore to Sydney, but one man, named
Pamphlett, had remained with the natives; and it was he who now was
rescued by Oxley, to whom he gave the information that, when roving
inland with the tribe among whom he was living, he had seen a fine river
of fresh water. Under the guidance of Pamphlett, Oxley left his little
vessel in the bay, and with a boat entered upon the broad current of the
stream. Before sunset he had ascended about twenty miles, and had been
delighted by the richness of the scenery and the magnificence of the
timber. On the following day he proceeded thirty miles farther up, and
throughout the whole distance found the stream to be broad and of
sufficient depth to be navigable for vessels of considerable size. Oxley
was justly proud of his discovery, and wished to penetrate still farther
into the forests that lay beyond; but his boat's crew had been so
exhausted by their long row under a burning sun that he could go no
farther, and found it necessary to turn and glide with the current down
to his vessel, which he reached late on the fourth night. To the stream
he had thus discovered he gave the name of the Brisbane River.
Convict Station. On his return he recommended this district as a
suitable position for the new convict station, and during the following
year (1824) he was sent to form the settlement. With a small party,
consisting of convicts and their guards, he landed at Redcliff, now
known as Humpy Bong, a peninsula which juts out into Moreton Bay a few
miles above the mouth of the Brisbane. Here the settlement remained for
a few months, but afterwards it was moved twenty miles up the river to
that pleasant bend which is now occupied by the city of Brisbane. Here,
under Captain Logan, the first permanent commandant of the settlement,
large stone barracks for the soldiers were erected, and lines of gaols
and other buildings for the convicts. And in these for twelve or
fourteen years the lonely community dwelt--about a thousand
twice-convicted prisoners, and a party of soldiers and officials to keep
them in order. No free person was allowed to approach within fifty miles
of the settlement, unless with special permission, which was very
sparingly granted. The place was a convict settlement of the harshest
type; and stern were the measures of that relentless commandant, Captain
Logan, who flogged and hanged the unfortunate people under his charge
until he became hated with a deadly hatred. He was an active explorer,
and did much to open up the interior country, till at length, on a trip
in which he was accompanied only by some convicts, they glutted their
vengeance by spearing him and battering his head with a native tomahawk.
The Squatters. For thirteen years the settlement was not affected by
anything that went on in that outside world from which it was so
completely excluded. But in 1840 the onward progress of squatting
enterprise brought free men with sheep and cattle close to Moreton Bay.
That fine district, discovered by Allan Cunningham in 1827, and called
by him the Liverpool Plains, had almost immediately attracted
squatters, who by degrees filled up the whole of the available land,
and those who were either new-comers, or who found their flocks
increasing too fast for the size of their runs, were forced to move
outward, and, as a rule, northward. It was about the year 1840 that
the pioneers entered that fine tableland district called by Allan
Cunningham, in 1829, the Darling Downs, and when the year 1844 was ended
there were at least forty squatters over the Queensland borders, with
nearly 200,000 sheep and 60,000 cattle, and with many hundreds of
shepherds and stockmen to attend them.
A Free Settlement. Whilst the squatters were gathering all round, a
change took place at Brisbane itself. We have seen that about 1840 the
English Government had resolved to discontinue transportation, except to
Van Diemen's Land. The word, therefore, went forth that Brisbane was no
longer to be a place of exile for criminals. It was to be the home of
free men and the capital of a new district. In 1841 Governor Sir George
Gipps arrived from Sydney, and laid out the plan of what is now a
handsome city. Blocks of land were offered for sale to free settlers,
and eagerly bought. The Governor also laid out a little town, now called
Ipswich, farther inland. Meanwhile the township of Drayton, and that
which is now much larger, Toowoomba, began to gather round two wayside
inns established for the convenience of travellers. Captain Wickham was
sent up to assume the position of Superintendent of Moreton Bay, which
thus became practically a new colony, just as Port Phillip was in the
south, though both were then regarded as only districts of New South
Wales.
The Natives. In these early years the squatters of the district were
scattered, at wide intervals, throughout a great extent of country, and,
being in the midst of native tribes who were not only numerous but of a
peculiarly hostile disposition, they often found themselves in a very
precarious situation. The blacks swarmed on the runs, killing the sheep,
and stealing the property of the squatters, who had many annoyances to
suffer and injuries to guard against. But their retaliation oftentimes
exhibited a ferocity and inhumanity almost incredible in civilised men.
The Government troopers showed little compunction in destroying scores
of natives, and, strange to say, the most inhuman atrocities were
committed by blacks, who were employed to act as troopers. On one
occasion, after the murder of a white man by two blacks, a band of
troopers, in the dead of night, stealthily surrounded the tribe to which
the murderers belonged, whilst it was holding a corrobboree, and, at a
given signal, fired a volley into the midst of the dancing crowd--a
blind and ruthless revenge, from which, however, the two murderers
escaped. On another occasion the shepherds and hutkeepers out on a
lonely plain had begun to grow afraid of the troublesome tribes in the
neighbourhood, and cunningly made them a present of flour, in which
white arsenic had been mixed. Half a tribe might then have been seen
writhing and howling in the agony of this frightful poison till death
relieved them. On such occasions the black tribes took a terrible
revenge when they could, and so the hatred of black for white and white
for black became stronger and deadlier.
Separation. In less than five years after the removal of convicts
the district began to agitate for separation from New South Wales; and,
in 1851, a petition was sent to the Queen, urging the right of Moreton
Bay to receive the same concession as had, in that year, been made to
Port Phillip. On this occasion their request was not granted, but, on
being renewed about three years later, it met with a very favourable
reception; and, in the following year, an Act was passed by the Imperial
Parliament giving to the British Government power to constitute the new
colony. Again, as in the case of Port Phillip, delays occurred; and, in
1856, a change of Ministry caused the matter to be almost forgotten. It
was not until the year 1859 that the territory to the north of the
twenty-ninth parallel of latitude was proclaimed a separate colony,
under the title of QUEENSLAND.
In the December of that year Sir George F. Bowen, the first Governor,
arrived; and the little town of Brisbane, with its 7,000 inhabitants,
was raised to the dignity of being a capital, the seat of government of
a territory containing more than 670,000 square miles, though inhabited
by only 25,000 persons. A few months later Queensland received its
Constitution, which differed but little from that of New South Wales.
There were established two Houses of Legislature, one consisting of
members nominated by the Governor, and the other elected by the people.
Gold. In 1858 it was reported that gold had been discovered far to
the north, on the banks of the Fitzroy River, and in a short time many
vessels arrived in Keppel Bay, their holds and decks crowded with men,
who eagerly landed and hastened to Canoona, a place about sixty or
seventy miles up the river. Ere long there were about fifteen thousand
diggers on the scene; but it was soon discovered that the gold was
confined to a very small area, and by no means plentiful; and those who
had spent all their money in getting to the place were in a wretched
plight. A large population had been hurriedly gathered in an isolated
region, without provisions, or the possibility of obtaining them; their
expectations of the goldfield had been disappointed, and for some time
the Fitzroy River was one great scene of misery and starvation till the
Governments of New South Wales and Victoria sent vessels to convey the
unfortunate diggers away from the place. Some, however, in the extremity
of the famine, had selected portions of the fertile land on the banks of
the river, and had begun to cultivate them as farms. They were pleased
with the district, and, having settled down on their land, founded what
is now the thriving city of Rockhampton.
A great amount of success, however, attended a subsequent effort in
1867. The Government of Queensland offered rewards, varying from two
hundred to a thousand pounds, for the discovery of paying goldfields.
The result was that during the course of the next two or three years
many districts were opened up to the miner. Towards the end of 1867 a
man named Nash, who had been wandering in an idle way over the country,
found an auriferous region of great extent at Gympie, about 130 miles
from Brisbane. He concealed his discovery for a time, and set to work to
collect as much of the gold as possible, before attracting others to the
spot. In the course of a day or two he gathered several hundred pounds
worth of gold, being, however, often disturbed in his operations by the
approach of travellers on the adjacent road, when he had to crouch among
the bushes, until the footsteps died away and he could again pursue his
solitary task. After some time it seemed impossible to avoid discovery;
and lest any one should forestall him in making known the district, he
entered Maryborough, not far away, announced his discovery, and received
the reward. A rush took place to the Gympie, which was found to be
exceedingly rich, and it was not long before a nugget worth about four
thousand pounds was met with close to the surface.
Far to the north, on the Palmer River, a tributary of the Mitchell,
there have been discovered rich goldfields, where, in spite of the great
heat and dangers from the blacks, there are crowds of diggers at work.
Many thousands of Chinamen have settled down in the district, and to
these the natives seem to have a special antipathy, as they spear them
on every possible occasion.
But all the stories which Australia offers of gold-digging romance are
eclipsed by that of the Mount Morgan Mine. Near Rockhampton, and in the
midst of that very district to which the diggers had rushed in 1858, but
in which they had starved through being unable to find gold, a young
squatter bought from the Government of Queensland a selection of 640
acres. It was on a rocky hill, so barren that he considered it useless,
and was glad to sell it for L640 to three brothers of the name of
Morgan. These gentlemen were lucky enough to find out that the dirty
grey rocks of which the hill was composed were very richly mixed with
gold, so that twenty or thirty pounds worth of gold could be got by
crushing and washing every cart-load of rock. They immediately set to
work, and before long showed that they were the possessors of the
richest gold mine in the world. A year or two later the hill was sold at
a price equivalent to eight millions of pounds, and it is now reckoned
that it contains gold to the value of at least double that sum. What a
strange adventure for the man who owned it and reckoned it worth almost
nothing!
Cotton. Throughout most of the colony the climate is either tropical
or semi-tropical, and it is therefore, in its more fertile parts, well
suited to the growth of cotton and sugar. About the year 1861 the
cultivation of the cotton plant was commenced on a small scale; but,
although the plantations were found to thrive, yet the high rate of
wages which prevailed in Queensland, and the low price of cotton in
Europe, caused the first attempts to be very unprofitable.
Matters were changed, however, in 1863, for then a great civil war was
raging in America; and as the people of the Southern States were
prevented, by the long chain of blockading vessels stationed by the
Northern States along their coasts, from sending their cotton to Europe,
there was a great scarcity of cotton in England, and its price rose to
be exceedingly high. This was a favourable opportunity for Queensland.
The plantations were, of course, still as expensive as ever, but the
handsome prices obtained for the cotton not only covered this great
expense, but also left considerable profits. The cultivation of the
sugar cane was introduced in 1865, and, after a few years had passed
away, great fields of waving cane were to be seen in various parts of
the country, growing ripe and juicy beneath the tropical sun.
Polynesian Labour. The prices of cotton and sugar remained high for
some years; but when the American Civil War was over they fell to their
former rates, and the planters of Queensland found it necessary to
obtain some cheaper substitute for their white labourers. At first it
was proposed to bring over Hindoos from India, but nothing came of this
idea; and afterwards, when Chinese were introduced, they were not found
to give the satisfaction expected. But it happened that one of the
planters, named Robert Towns, was the owner of a number of ships which
traded to the South Sea Islands, and having persuaded a few of the
islanders to cross to Queensland, he employed them on his sugar
plantation. He took some little trouble in teaching them the work he
wished them to do, and found that they soon became expert at it. As the
remuneration they required was very small, they served admirably to
supply the necessary cheap labour.
The practice of employing these South Sea Islanders, or "Kanakas," as
they were called, soon became general, and parts of Queensland had all
the appearance of the American plantations, where crowds of dusky
figures, decked in the brightest of colours, plied their labours with
laughter and with song, among the tall cane brakes or the bursting pods
of cotton. The "Kanakas" generally worked for a year or two in the
colony, then, having received a bundle of goods--consisting of cloth,
knives, hatchets, beads, and so forth, to the value of about L10--they
were again conveyed to their palm-clad islands. A system of this kind
was apt to give rise to abuses, and it was found that a few of the more
unscrupulous planters, not content with the ordinary profits, stooped
to the shameful meanness of cheating the poor islander out of his
hard-earned reward. They hurried him on board a vessel, and sent after
him a parcel containing a few shillings worth of property; then, when he
reached his home, he found that all his toil and his years of absence
from his friends had procured him only so much trash.
Happily, this was not of very frequent occurrence; but there was another
abuse both common and glaring. As the plantations in Queensland
increased, they required more labourers than were willing to leave their
homes in the South Sea Islands; and, as the captains of vessels were
paid by the planters a certain sum of money for every "Kanaka" they
brought over, there was a strong temptation to carry off the natives by
force, when, by other means, a sufficient number could not be obtained.
There were frequent conflicts between the crews of labour vessels and
the inhabitants of the islands. The white men burnt the native villages,
and carried off crowds of men and women; while, in revenge, the
islanders often surprised a vessel and massacred its crew; and in such
cases the innocent suffered for the guilty. The sailors often had the
baseness to disguise themselves as missionaries, in order the more
easily to effect their purpose; and when the true missionaries,
suspecting nothing, approached the natives on their errand of good will,
they were speared or clubbed to death by the unfortunate islanders. But,
as a rule, the "Kanakas" were themselves the sufferers; the English
vessels pursued their frail canoes, ran them down, and sank them; then,
while struggling in the sea, the men were seized and thrust into the
hold, and the hatches were fastened down. When in this dastardly manner
a sufficient number had been gathered together, and the dark interior of
the ship was filled with a steaming mass of human beings densely
huddled together, the captains set sail for Queensland, where they
landed those of their living cargoes who had escaped the deadly
pestilence which filth and confinement always engendered in such cases.
Polynesian Labourers' Act. These were the deeds of a few ruthless
and disreputable seamen; but the people of Queensland, as a whole, had
no sympathy with such barbarities, and in 1868 a law was passed to
regulate the labour traffic. It enacted that no South Sea Islanders were
to be brought into the colony unless the captain of the vessel could
show a document, signed by a missionary or British consul, stating that
they had left the islands of their own free will; Government agents were
to accompany every vessel, in order to see that the "Kanakas" were well
treated on the voyage; and, on leaving the colony, no labourer was to
receive less than six pounds worth of goods for every year he had
worked.
These regulations were of great use, but they were often evaded; for, by
giving a present to the king of an island, the sailors could bribe him
to force his people to express their willingness before the missionary.
The trembling men were brought forward, and, under the fear of their
chief's revenge, declared their perfect readiness to sail. Sometimes the
Government agents on board the vessels were bribed not to report the
misdeeds of the sailors; and in the case of the Jason, on which the
agent was too honest to be so bribed, he was chained below by the
captain, on the pretence that he was mad. When the ship arrived in
Queensland, the unfortunate man was found in a most miserable state of
filth and starvation. For this offence the captain was arrested, tried,
and imprisoned. Whatever regulations may be made, a traffic of this sort
will occasionally have its dark and ugly features, yet it may be truly
enough said that while the "Kanakas" have been of great service to
Queensland, the colony has also been of service to them. The islanders
are generally glad to be taken; they have better food and easier lives
on the plantations than they have in their homes; they gather a trunkful
of property such as passes for great wealth in the islands, and when
they are sent home, after two years' absence, to their palms and coral
shores, it is in full costume, generally in excellent spirits, and
always more or less civilised. Sometimes, poor fellows, they are
stripped and plundered by their naked relatives, but at any rate they
help, by what they have learnt, to improve the style of life in those
native groves, so sunny but so full of superstition and barbarous rites.
Present State of the Colony. In 1868 Sir George Bowen was sent to
govern New Zealand, and Governor Blackall took charge of affairs in
Queensland. He was a man of fine talents, and amiable character, and was
greatly respected by the colonists; but he died not long after his
arrival, and was succeeded by the Marquis of Normanby, who, in his turn,
was succeeded, in 1874, by Mr. Cairns. Sir Arthur Kennedy, in 1877, Sir
Anthony Musgrave, in 1883, Sir Arthur Hunter Palmer, in 1888, and
General Sir H. Wylie Norman bring the list of Governors to the present
year (1894).
Queensland possesses magnificent resources, which have only recently
been made known, and are now in process of development. Her exports of
gold exceed two million pounds a year; she produces large quantities of
tin, copper, silver, and other minerals. The wool clipped from her sheep
exceeds one million four hundred thousand pounds in annual value; and
her total exports, including cotton, sugar, and other tropical
productions, amount to about six million pounds per annum. The
population is now about half a million, and immigrants continue to
arrive at the rate of about sixteen thousand a year. Though the youngest
of the Australian colonies, Queensland now ranks fourth on the list, and
appears to have a most promising future before her. Her cotton industry
has almost vanished, and her sugar plantations have passed through
troublous times, but there seem to be good hopes for them in the future.
However, it will be in the raising of sheep and of cattle, as well as in
gold-mining, that the colony will have to look for her most permanent
resources. She has now nearly twenty million sheep and six million
cattle, and sends wool, tallow, hides, and frozen meat to England, while
she supplies prime bullocks for the Melbourne Market.
The Aborigines. Australian history practically begins with the
arrival of the white man, for before that time, though tribe fought with
tribe and there were many doings of savage men, there is nothing that
could be told as a general story. Each tribe of from twenty to a couple
of hundred dusky forms wandered over the land, seeking animals to hunt
and fresh water to drink. They were very thinly spread, not more than
one person to ten square miles, yet every little tribe was at deadly
feud with its neighbour.
The tribe wandered over the grassy and park-like lands, the men stalking
ahead with spears and boomerang in hand; the women trudging behind
loaded with babies, and utensils. At evening they camp and the men put
up frail break-winds, consisting of a few branches and leafy tufts;
behind this on the sheltered side a few leaves made a bed. Meantime the
fire was lit close by, and soon a dozen little columns of blue smoke
curl up among the trees. The opossum, or duck, or wallaby is soon cooked
or half-cooked; the men devour as much as they want and pass on the
remains to the women and children. A frog or two and a lizard, or a few
grubs taken out of decayed timber, or perhaps a few roots that have been
dug up on the march by the women, form a sort of dessert. After dusk
there is the sound of chatter round the fires; then all retire to rest,
with the glowing embers of the fires to give them warmth. At daybreak
all are awake. If there is food at hand they may stay in the same camp
for weeks together, but if not they journey on.
Each man had as many wives as he could obtain. He did not support them,
but they supported him, and when children became too numerous he
lessened his family by killing off a few. More than half the children
were thus destroyed. Their enjoyments consisted of games with a kind of
ball, and mock-fights, but especially in a wild dance they called the
corrobboree. They were in general good-humoured when things went
pleasantly; but a man would spear his wife through the leg or dash his
child's brains out readily enough when things were not to his taste, and
nobody would think any the worse of him for it.