An Australian Bush Track

Front matter

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. Uniform with "An Australian Bush Track." TIIE DIS-HONOUE.ABLE. An Australian Story of Modern Days. WYNNUM. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd., Sr. Dunstan's House, Fettbs Lane, K.C. i:v J. D. HENNESSEY AUTHOR Of "THE LIS-nONOUEABLt:," " WTlfKCM," 14IC. LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, MAKSTON & COMPANY LIMITED, «t. 33unstan'S ?i?oust. Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, E.C. CONTENTS. CHArTER PAGK I. A Max who believed in Luck ... ... 1 II. Captain Cook's Letter ... ... ... 11 III. Hartley's Theory ... ... ... ... 25 IV. Smoke Island ... ... ... ... 34 V. Stoneham's "Gadfly" ... ... ... 47 VI. Stoneham's Girls ... ... ... 57 VII. What happened on a Sandbaxk ... ... 08 VIII. More about Dorna Stoneham ... ... 79 IX. Hartley has the Worst of it ... ... 93 X. The Bungalow stuck up ... ... 105 XI.

Dorna's Account of her Adventures ... 114 XII. Dorna's Adventures continued... ... 125 XIII. From Jest to Earnest ... ... ... 142 XIV. Miss Bella Crumbs ... ... ... 151 XV. The Western Plains ... ... ... 165 XVI. Beulah Land ... ... ... ... 177 XVH. A Mysterious Track ... ... ... 188 XVIII. An Adventurous Cbuise ... ... 198 XIX. A Party of Four ... ... ... ... 211 XX. Captain Buchanan's Story ... ... vi CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE XXI. Buchanan disappears ... ... ... 235 XXII. Hartley makes a Discovery ... ... 246 XXIII. The White Mountains ... ... ... 255 XXIV. Zoo-zoo 269 XXV. A Mountain Storm... ... ... ... 279 XXVI. White Wings from the South ... ... 289 XXVII. The End of the Chapter ... ... ... CHAPTEE I. A MAN WHO BELIEVED IN LUCK. The shadows of a summer evening were lengthening across one of the lower reaches of the Brisbane.

It had been an exceptionally high tide, and the great stretch of water, dotted here and there with mangrove islands, was almost level with the river banks. Some of the adjacent low-lying lands were submerged. The after-glow lingered in the western sky, and its light, broken by the shadows of tall gum and bloodwood trees, was reflected, here and there, in weird patches of colour upon the water. There was just — only just — breeze enough to keep the mosquitoes quiet. On the south side of the river a huge ocean steamer in ballast lay at anchor, the high water causing her great sides to tower above the bank, until passers-by on the neighbouring roadway B might have thought that she had been stranded, and was shored up upon the land. A coasting steamer had just passed up the river, and although she had turned the bend and was out of sight, the regular throbbing of her engines could be distinctly heard in the distance.

Chapter II. Captain Cook's Letter

Dinner at the Bungalow, as Hartley had modestly named his commodious bachelor residence, was an important function, and it was an hour and a half afterward when the verandah chairs were again occupied, and the conversation resumed. " My special difficulty with this matter," said Sir Charles, laughing, " is this ancient black fellow. I thought that Australia was much too new for anything in the shape of superstitious lore. " One expects when on the Rhine, or anywhere else in Europe, to meet with lusty old goblins, and banshees, and wraiths, and goodness knows what ; but to have a hoary old demon down in Moreton Bay, dating back to the time of Captain Cook, is enough to take one's breath away. Look here, Buchanan," he said, placing his muscular white hand upon the shoulder of the captain, a tall, gentlemanly man of four and twenty, " we'll have to take Hartley's yacht and run down to Stone ham's, and get him to introduce us to ' Long Tom ' and the ' Fishers of Moreton Bay ! ' " "You might not wish to go a second time," laughed Hartley.

" Well, I don't want to doubt the evidence of my senses. Old gold coins and a genuine diamond are very tangible witnesses ; but to have them mysteriously connected with a jolly old ghost with a phantom canoe, supposed to be seen cruising about Moreton Bay, is a pretty big thing for an Agnostic like myself to swallow. But let us have another look at the letter." The three men went inside at this, and Sir Charles lifted an ancient-looking document up to the light. "Ah ! " he said, "there's a 1767 watermark upon the paper. That favours the letter being genuine ; but without questioning the facts, they may all be attributed to natural causes. Cook was no doubt deceived. Singular disappearances of vessels through the sudden rising of mists, etc., are by no means uncommon at sea, and why not in the bay.

But read it out aloud for us, Buchanan, and then we can discuss it further outside." The captain drew a chair up to the table, and slowly read as follows : — H.M.S. Endeavour, Off Cape Moreton, Australia, " May 16th, 1770. "Having met with a very remarkable incident yesterday, the fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord 1770, I feel it to be my duty to the possible future European inhabitants of this newly discovered continent, and also to His Gracious Majesty, Ring George the III., to place on record a true and circumstantial account of the singular and well-nigh incredible occurrence. "We descried yesterday morning at daylight a long stretch of low sand hills which terminated in a sand spit with a bluff rock on the foreshore. Rounding the cape, we cast anchor in eight fathoms of water in a broad, shallow bay.

I have named the former Cape Moreton, and the latter Moreton Bay. Later in the day I moved the Endeavour farther to the south-east on which the bay opened out, reveal ing a number of islands covered with green foliage, and also the mouth of a large creek or river. I went with the ship's long boat, accompanied by Mr. Green, our astronomer, and Mr. Banks, our botanist, and a picked crew, to explore some of the islands, in hope of adding to our collections of plants and animals, but being but partially successful we returned. I had been talking with the chief officer and Mr. Green upon the quarter-deck when the former called my attention to a large native vessel, which seemed to have emerged from between the islands, and was rapidly bearing down upon us. We all remarked the unusual size of the craft.

It was fitted with two masts, and carried large, triangu lar sides, seemingly constructed of some native cotton or grass, woven into cloth. There was high ornamental woodwork at prow and stern. It was now growing towards twilight, and partly on account of this, but principally by reason of the sails and high woodwork of the prow and stern, it was im possible to count the number of the crew. Several natives were seen, however, and at the stern, guiding the vessel's course with a huge sweep, which answered for a helm, stood a native of stature and countenance never before met with by us in these seas. They slackened sail as they drew nearer, and the boatswain, by my direction, hailed her, calling out, ' Ship ahoy ! what name ? ' In reply, a clear, wild, ringing sound, came from the throat of the huge steersman, " De Fuchers " is the best interpretation I am able to give of the sound, which we all distinctly heard.

I may say that Dr. Solander and Mr. Green both support my opinion ; but the second officer and others of the crew believe the words to have been " The Fishers," which is, on the face of the matter, most unlikely, as, although they might have followed the calling of fishermen, it is impossible that they could have been acquainted with the English tongue. How ever, having thus called out, the native suddenly turned and threw towards us one of their weapons of warfare, called, I believe by them a ' boomerang.' It came whirling through the air with great force, and seemed to have been purposely directed towards myself and the group around me. It was sharpened upon the edges, and the doctor narrowly escaped injury. Taking this to be an indication of hostile intention, and indignant at the weapon being directed at myself, some of the marines fired small arms in the direction of the periagua.

I regretted this, as I was anxious to maintain friendly relations with the natives. But to our astonishment and consternation, immediately after the discharge of the firearms, we observed the native vessel to be gradually disappearing before our eyes. Many of the crew were watching from the ship's side, and a score of reliable witnesses are prepared to state, on oath, that she neither foundered nor was enveloped in mist, but dissolved before our eyes into air ; the final disappearance being accompanied by a wild, sad scream, that sounded like a repetition of the previously spoken words. This untoward event has, I regret to say, filled the crew with the gravest apprehension and alarm, and I confess that my own mind is not without misgivings as to what warning the phenomenon may have been intended to convey.

The weapon falling on the deck is constructed of a dark wood, and on one side is covered with letters or symbols of a singular form. Whatever may be the language, it is one that neither Dr. Solander, Joseph Banks, nor myself can in any way decipher. The crew generally regard it with superstitious dread, and it has been hinted to me that it would relieve their feelings if I would throw it overboard. Indeed, some of them, I understand, aver that unless it is thrown out of the ship we shall be wrecked before getting clear of the Australian coast. However, I shall not yield to them that far, but, partly to allay their fears, I have decided to have this statement, with an accurate drawing of the weapon and its inscribed characters attached, placed in a box and securely hidden or buried upon a small island of bright red soil, which can be dis cerned a few leagues from our anchorage.

It will be represented to the sailors that the weapon or boomerang is in the box, which will lessen their fears, and in a few days, I hope, restore their equanimity. I intend to take the boomerang to Europe, in hope that its mysterious inscriptions may be deciphered and interpreted by some learned man, to the elucidation of the mysterious phenomenon which at present is inexplicable and awe inspiring to all that witnessed it. " Given under my hand and seal, this sixteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord, seventeen hundred and seventy. "(Signed) James Cook. " Witness : Joseph Banks." Attached to the letter was a further sheet of paper, on which was the drawing of a boomerang, almost full size, and engraved upon it were a number of singular characters, which could not be represented by any letters comprised in printers' type.

Buchanan, who was the scholar of the party, said that the nearest approach to them which he had seen was in the uncial manuscript of the Latin Bible, in the possession of the Bodleian Library, at Oxford. The following translation of this remarkable inscription was signed by a professor of the Bonn LTniversity. the path of zoo-zoo. From the islands of the east, follow the broad flowing waters beyond the snake-coils to its source. South of the setting sun, a cleft appears in the mountain. Beyond is the great country of many little trees. Follow as the birds fly towards the setting sun of ivinter, beyond the broad plains, over the ivhite moun tains, and you reach the span longer than the arms of many men. Beware of tlie great waters '. Beware of the ivhite gates and the golden ! Beyond that fear not ; your eyes will see, and your hands may touch what all men love.

The men looked at each other, and there was a pause after the captain had finished, broken at last by Hartley. "I was reading all that over before you came in," c he said. "Now come outside and have a smoke, and I will give you the benefit of some information about the north-eastern interior of this continent, which I picked up out on my station on the Barcoo, and I think it will surprise you. That path of Zoo-zoo seems to me to have something in it, and if you don't go with Stoneham, I shall consider seriously whether I cannot make up a party to go there myself. I have a theory about that path of Zoo-zoo." Upon stepping outside upon the verandah, how ever, it became evident that Hartley's theory of the path of Zoo-zoo was not to be so soon disclosed, for a neighbour known as William Bronckhurst had pulled across the estuary in his boat, and having made her fast to the jetty, had sauntered up to the house, and now reclined at his ease, with a pipe in his mouth, on one of the lounges.

"Good evening, Hartley. How do you do, captain? Fine night, Sir Charles," said the new comer in a long, drawling monotone, without moving. It was evident that he had met the Englishmen before. " Hallo, Bronckhurst ! " exclaimed Hartley, " what brings you round this way to-night ? You should have come earlier, and dined with us. Got the boat down at the steps, I suppose ? " " Yes," said Bronckhurst, who was a retired oyster dredger, and one of the lucky holders of original Mount Morgan shares, which had made for him a very respectable competency. It should be said, perhaps, that he was now located in a comfortable place on the river, his principal recreation being to cruise about the bay in a half-decker, fishing and shooting, and occasionally — especially on moonlight nights — to row across to the Bungalow, and have a yarn with Hartley, if the latter happened to be at home.

" Look here, Bronckhurst," said Hartley, abruptly, after the four had smoked for a few minutes in silence, "did you ever hear anything about 'The Fishers of Moreton Bay ? ' " " I have," replied Bronckhurst, with a good natured laugh ; " but what of that ? " "Why, simply this. Sir Charles, the captain, and myself, have been talking over a matter which originated with Stoneham down at Smoke Island, and they laugh at me for a superstitious old humbug, because I tell them that, although what Stoneham says may be exaggerated, there is, at any rate, truth at the bottom of it. These chaps won't believe me ; but if you tell us what you know of 'The Fishers,' they will no doubt pay more attention." " You must take all that Hartley says, cum grano salis," broke in Sir Charles, laughing; "but we really would be interested, and obliged to you, if you would recount what you may have seen and heard about these local legends.

With the moonlight on the river, and the long shadows yonder of the trees, no time or place could be more suitable. I could credit any mysterious story, almost, to night." "I cannot tell you much from personal know ledge of the facts," said Bronckhurst. "I have heard from Stoneham himself that he is acquainted with some queer things, although he is a very reticent man. But there are few fishermen, or pilots in the bay, or indeed warders at the convict settlement on St. Helena, but ( have something to say of 'The Fishers of Moreton Bay.' I confess that I know nothing personally about these things myself; that is as far as anything supernatural goes. "You know Moreton and Stradbroke Islands form together a very big place," he continued, turning round to the two Englishmen, "and there is the remnant of a very remarkable tribe of black fellows living there.

They are believed to be entirely distinct from those here upon the mainland, and have some singular traditions and customs. It's the belief of many of the oyster men and others that they know more about ' The Fishers ' and their doings than they will tell. But the mystery they say is, where the craft they talk of comes from, and how she disappears. They say that men will be netting on the bay at night, sometimes without any luck, when suddenly they see ' The Fishers' ' canoe, or whatever you like to call it, bearing down upon them — occasionally in the very teeth of the wind — and then the fish will suddenly come down in great shoals in front of her, while at other times they will be gone in a moment, and then suddenly the craft will disappear. It is certain, as any one living on the shores of the bay will tell you, that there are moving lights sometimes seen on dark nights, which no one can account for.

I have seen them myself, and attribute them to the blacks ; but the old hands among the fishermen generally keep at home on such nights. You ask one of them some day, when there is no fish in Brisbane market, why it is, and he will very likely say, ' Oh, Tommy was out on the bay last night,' and you may guess his meaning if you can. "A warder on St. Helena once told me a queer yarn. It was Reardon, Hartley ; and he is a decent fellow, as you know. We were yarning about the bay one night, and I asked him what he knew of ' The Fishers.' He said — for I remember distinctly — 'I only once saw the craft myself, and I'll take my Bible oath that I had neither sleep nor drink upon me at the time, but I certainly saw the craft, and heard old Tommy's hail.' " I will tell you the yarn as near as I can in his own words," continued Bronckhurst.

" He said that it was during one of those sudden thunder storms, which occasionally sweep with such terrific violence across the bay. He was on duty. It was a moonlight night, but an immense greenish-black cloud came up from the south-east that blotted out everything. It was blowing with hurricane force ; the strange thing was, that the horizon was plainly visible all round beyond the dense circle of clouds. It began to rain soon, pretty heavily, and the force of the wind sent the drops stinging against his face like small shot. The lightning, too, was very vivid. He was standing outside the look-out box on the north-east wall, as he thought that he heard a noise in one of the yards. He had his rifle, of course, in his hand, when suddenly there came two most vivid flashes of lightning. The whole bay seemed illumi nated for fully a quarter of a minute, and within rifle-shot of the island, -right in the midst of the storm, he saw the craft.

She had both sails spread, and was sailing along close hauled in the very teeth of the gale. Long Tom was steering. Reardon said he did not know what impelled him, but he lifted the rifle, took steady aim, and fired. There was ball cartridge in the piece, and every one knows that Reardon is a good shot. All the answer he got was, ' The Fishers.' He looked about the same place during several following flashes of lightning, but the craft had entirely disappeared. He said that it was impossible that she could have got away by natural means, for he could see distinctly for miles during the flashes. " There is one end of St. Helena, I should say, where the old convicts will never, if possible, go at night. It's known as Long Tom's camp. Three con victs at different times have committed suicide there.

" Some of the old hands say they were there looking for some of Long Tom's property, and that he nabbed them at it." " Have you never tried to account for the origin of these stories yourself ? " said Buchanan. "Not I," replied Bronckhurst — "that is, not in that way. I attribute them to excited imagination, the result of loneliness and singular and grotesque natural surroundings. Why, I have been on the bay myself at night when you could believe you saw anything. I would have sworn one night that I saw quite a number of people on a point which I knew had not a dwelling-place within three miles of it ; and what do you think it was ? Dead man grove trunks and roots, all broken off just about the same height from the ground, and a flock of shags or curlews' or something perched one on each of them.

To have seen the movement and heard the sound, and so on, you would have sworn that they were men. " But, so long ! gentlemen, I must be off, or the tide will have run down so that I won't be able to get the boat into the boat-house ; and I want to leave everything snug to-night, for I am going to Brisbane to-morrow." " Stop a while longer," expostulated Hartley ; but Bronckhurst had had his say, and being quite satisfied with himself, preferred to retire gracefully on his laurels. His going was usually as abrupt as his coming, for he was one of the men who allowed no consideration to interfere with their peculiar habits of mind. " He's a queer stick, that," said Hartley, as Bronckhurst took himself off, " but a great fisherman."

Chapter III

Hartley's theory. "Now let us hear this theory of yours," said Sir Charles to Hartley, after they had listened for a few minutes to the splash of oars, as Bronckhurst pulled leisurely across the river. " I would like first of all to say that Stoneham's position in the matter puzzles me," replied Hartley. " I have been thinking about it while Bronckhurst was yarning. Why should he tell you two so readily, and be so anxious for you to go in his company? I cannot get to the bottom of it, and feel confident that there is something personal to himself which he is keeping back, and also that he knows a jolly sight more about the affair than he makes out to you. " However, this is my theory of the matter until something different suggests itself. Either wholly, or in part, the natives of Moreton and Stradbroke Islands are a remnant of a race which once inhabited some at present unknown part of the interior of Australia.

For some unexplained reason, some of them made their way to the extreme eastern coast. In the course of generations they probably lost the actual knowledge of their origin, and even their more recent history may be to them very obscure. The writing which Captain Cook copied from the boomerang is, as far as I know, the only relic of any written language found in Australia. Unlike other ancient lands, we find here no inscriptions, nothing to prove that any of the original dialects have ever been reduced to writing. The inscription, then, points to the one-time existence of a pre historic race, who were far more highly civilized than any of the present aboriginal tribes. This race possessed a knowledge of the art of writing, and probably a civilization equal to that of some of the more cultured nations of South-Western Asia.

We should naturally look for the remains of such a people in the north-central portion of the Continent, as indicated by the inscription on the boomerang. " But, by the way, there is one thing about that inscription which is not clear to me. How did Stoneham get it translated by that professor of the Bonn University ? " " Ah ! didn't we explain that to you ? " said Sir Charles. " No," said Hartley. " Stoneham explained it, I thought, very satis factorily, and showed us a letter, which I borrowed," broke in Buchanan. " It seems he had Cook's letter and the drawing of the inscribed boomerang by him for some years — tried parsons, and doctors, and the curators of two or three of your colonial institutions ; but no one could read the riddle until he met with a gentleman visiting Germany, to whom he entrusted the document.

I have Professor Smythe's letter, which Stoneham lent me, somewhere amongst my traps. No, it's here. I must have put it in my pocket this morning." The letter was as follows : — " Bonn University, Germany, " March 20th, 1877. "Dear Sir, " I received your interesting letter in due course, with an accompanying document for trans lation. I must congratulate you on the occasion of my being able to furnish you with what appears to be a very accurate and literal rendering of the original. We have, as I dare say you know, nearly one hundred professors and lecturers in our university, and it was brought under the consideration of a number of men of high distinction as linguists before I could obtain an authentic translation. We are indebted to Professor Franz Schleimann for the translation, which I forward to you herewith.

I may say that in two cases he gave alternative readings ; but the sense seems to me so clear that I have not troubled to send them. He described it as a curious specimen of uncial Dhatus. Should anything note worthy transpire as resulting from the translation, I shall be obliged if you will kindly furnish me with particulars, as the translation has been seen by a number of our professors, and has become a subject of interest to the whole community. " I am, dear sir, " Very truly yours, " Carl Ludwig Smythe. " John Gardner, Esq., "Hotel de Hollande, Cologne." " That sounds genuine enough," said Hartley. " Well, continue your explanation," ejaculated Buchanan, who was evidently interested. Hartley thought for a few minutes, and then proceeded. " I am going to take it for granted that we accept Cook's letter as genuine, and also the translation of the inscription on the boomerang.

Now, that inscription must be very old, and in Captain Cook's time writing was evidently, to these people, a lost art. " One of their wise old men, probably generations before, had scratched the inscription upon the boomerang. It was the dim echo of some knowledge he had of a former home and treasure, which died out with the writer. The boomerang was probably regarded by the few remaining members of the tribe with sacred veneration. Its mysterious direction to the far-off fatherland may have been handed down for generations as one of the most valuable posses sions of the tribe. Until at last they were startled by the appearance of Captain Cook's large vessel and the sound of his firearms. There is a well known belief amongst many of the blacks that when they die they jump up white fellow. They may have regarded Cook and his people as some of the spirits of their ancestors returned in quest of the land and treasure, the memory of which in some hazy form still existed in their minds.

The only offering which they could make to them was the sacred boomerang, which was thrown at the feet of Captain Cook. The noise of the firearms frightened them, and, under cover of the smoke, or aided by some mist or cloud, they vanished among the islands. That is the only possible theory of the thing which suggests itself to me. As for Old Tommy, and the spectre craft at Moreton Bay, I cannot swallow them. It's all imagination, although by no means surprising to those who know the extent and contour of the land and islands in the neighbourhood." " But," said Buchanan, " what do you make of the two gold coins and the diamond ? " " They must have been brought when the original exodus was made from the interior," said Hartley ; "and where they came from there are probably more." " All that sounds ingenious and plausible," said Sir Charles ; " but it throws no light upon Professor Smythe's translation of the path of Zoo-zoo."

" Will you read it out to us, Buchanan ? " said Hartley. " And I will give you my ideas as we go along." "By the way," interrupted Sir Charles, as his friend commenced to read, "I thought, Hartley, there were no sibilants in the aboriginal dialects ? " " Yes, that is so," said Buchanan. " Take the aboriginal names, and you will find the full-flowing vowel sounds predominating ; as, for instance, ' Woolloomoloo,' ' Mulwala,' ' Coogee,' ' Bunaboonoo.' " " Well," said Hartley, " that bears out what I say about these people being the descendants of some distinct race of Asiatic origin. The sound of our English letter 's' is common enough in Arabic, Persian, Chinese, and other Asiatic languages. The very word first heard from the steersman who an swered the hail of the Endeavour boatswain contained a sibilant."

"It certainly supports your theory," said Sir Charles ; " but there's no need to pause any longer over that. We none of us at present know whether Zoo-zoo is a person, place, or thing." " I have been looking it up while you were away," said Hartley. In Persian, a Soonee is a Sunite; but there is no such word in English, although there is a somewhat similar word to describe a species of cetacean; but there is no etymological signification to throw any light upon it, except that zoology is the science of animals." Buchanan read on : " From the islands of the east, follow the broad flowing waters beyond the snake coils to its source." " That's plain enough," exclaimed Hartley. " The islands of the east represent Moreton Bay. The broad flowing waters are the River Brisbane, and, by George ! from the top of Mount Clutha, the twining and twistings of the river look just like snake-coils."