CHAPTER I.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1899, 6 September 1884, Page 1 (Supplement)

CHAPTER I.

W.e:ton Ba* was yet comparatively anknown. Oxley, Burveyor-General of New Sonth Wales, had been there in 1823, and Was then told by two timber getters of the ■■existence of the Brisbane ftiver . He explored it In vis whale-boat, and made known the fertile land along its banks, in the following year a convict station was established at Bedcliffe, or Humpy bong. Many convicts escaped into the Dash, and were treated by the natives with kindness and hospitality. The country arotlnd the mouth of the river is flat and uninviting; but the evergreen mangrove fringes that grow to the wftter'e-edge and adorn its sides, its tributary creeks, and bays, and noble reaches, refresh the eye, and give hope to the doubting heart of the emigrant. As the river and its tributaries are ascended, the scenery becomes more attractive. Amongst the dense scrubs, and between its high, precipitous banks, crowned with aged timber, it is beautiful. In sight of the mountains, it is grand. It was about fifteen years after Oxley had made known the river that the events to be narrated took place. wow ihickly scattered over the district. They were not like those that are to *>c been now walking about the streets of Queensland towns. They were splendid fellows, and admitted by all who saw them to joe grand specimens of the genus " homo." They subsisted wholly on the produce of their hunting and fishing. Fleet of foot and »ure in aim, they neve r wanted for the necsaaaries of life. The river yielded the mullet, audeikal, whiting, bream, dagau, boygun, woulan, shellfish, and others, to the expert •fisher ; while the scrubs and the forest-land Saarbored the kangaroo, wallaby, oppossum, .and naiics bear, for the hunter. Wild honey, Use native fig, bunya fruit, and various kinds of berries, were obtainable with little effort. In the main, the tribes of aborigines who lived in the Bay district looked with con--tempt upon work; and though objecting to the occupation of their land by others, offered only a passive resistance to the encroachments of the white people. One tribe after another fell before the enervating and demoralising influences of rum afcd immorality, until, at the present time, somfi oi the kings of these tribes wear a brass plate rfttspended round their necks, on which i 3 ins&'&fid their name and dignity— -the better to influence the charity of passers-by. The tribes that lived in the level country .soon bowed the knee to the new comers, but there waa a tribe among the mountain ranges that, though offering no actual opposition, would have no dealings with them. This tribe lived in the mountain ranges about thirty miles to the north of where the city of .Brisbane is now built. The first white man who wandered into this district has recorded his wonder, surprise, and delight at the happy homes of these people, who seemed as free from care and worry as the sky above them of clouds. He could not withhold hi 3 admiration for the noble proportions of the men, and theperfeot elasticity of their every movement. Such fine organs of sight, hearing, smelling, and tasting; such powers of running, climbing, and walking ; and with every nerve in their bodies tingling with sensation 1 There, in the deep gullies and mountainous steeps, they lived a hardy and a happy life. ' They h&A i heir little plots of gardens, which were cultivat»?d with care. Civilisation had not yet brought its influence to bear on them, and bo they continued happy and contented. One of the first effects of oivilioation that brings with it runt jafld gunpowder, is to extinguish the first spft^ks of an ambition or longing for something Better. These natures continued in their happy-w ay. Feats of strength were encouraged by the aged and rewarded by the fair. As 1 a tribe, they were feared by their neighbors! lor their great Strength and unflinching courage.

The king of tho tribe was named Bonshaw. He was the moat mnflcolar arid attractive man amongst hid* people. He had been elected king mAny years ago far the heroism <tnd sncGMs which he displaced in tribal disputes. He was a noble type of his people. He stood fully 6 feel high, aod built m pro. portion, and his carriage was dignified and easy. A fierce pride feigner! in his breaat, and a dark flash shot from hia fine aye at he stood on any of tha aminencaa of his country, and looked on the wide «xpanso around. To *h« routh he saw her« and there the white man clearing and turning up the soil of the primeval scrubs, and the smoke from his own village hats rising peaoefully in the dear air ; and hero and there, dotting the plains and cleared bits of land, the strangers' cattle feeding where a few years ago the kangaroo and wallaby alone fed. To the easl he saw th« distant ocean, and in the bay he saw large ships of another race clear and distinct against the white sand banks of Moreton Island. To the north he looked at the more hilly, but well-wooded, country ; and to the weat hia own native mountains.