10 Nov 1932

FIRST SETTLERS ON KANGAROO ISLAND : CRADLE OF THE STATE

It is a hundred and thirty years since Flinders discovered and named Kangaroo Island, and about 114 years since the first known settlers arrived there. There will always be a certain amount of mystery about the earliest days of the island.

Kangaroo Island And Its First Settlers.

In 1802 Captain Flinders discovered and named the Althorpes. Then land was sighted to the south and south-west. It was not known if it it were part of the mainland. The Investigator, being caught in a storm, found shelter in a bay. Captain Flinders named this Nepean Bay, after Sir E. Nepean, then First Secretary of the Admiralty.

On the following morning Flinders, with a double barrelled gun and a bayonet fitted to it, went ashore. He killed 10 kangaroos, and other members of the party with muskets killed 20, thus securing a supply of fresh meat after many months of privation. In gratitude, Flinders named the land Kangaroo Island.

While exploring the island, which was heavily timbered, he found the kangaroos and seals were tame. They did not take any notice of the approach of men. This indicated that there could be no human inhabitants on the island. He judged the soil to be superior to any he had seen on south coast or on any of the islands he had visited.

It was not until about 16 years after Flinders had visited the Island that some Sydney merchants fitted out a 140-ton vessel for the purpose of obtaining a cargo of seal skins and salt. The vessel was commanded by Capt. Sutherland, who remained on the island for nearly eight months [questionable], long enough to grow cabbages and other vegetables. Having had some experience as an agriculturist, he wrote a lengthy report, afterwards published in London. He spoke favorably of the fertility of the soil, and described the climate as temperate and agreeable. [See consequences in the link below].

When Flinders visited the island in 1802 he found no trace of any inhabitants. But when Captain Sutherland in 1818 arrived he found several white men, who had come from New South Wales or Tasmania.

When the early colonists reached the island the timber did not agree with the description given by Flinders. The explanation given was that during the intervening period the island had been repeatedly ravaged by bush fires. In 1835 there were about seven white settlers, of whom a man named Waller claimed to be the senior in residence, having been there 14 years. They had cleared small portions of land in the scrub, and were growing vegetables, water melons, and a little wheat, which they ground between flat stones and used for making damper. They had a few pigs and poultry, and for trade they had salt and seal skins, which they prepared for export.

On July 26, 1836, the Duke of York arrived at Kangaroo Island with about 40 passengers, including Mr. Samuel Stephens, the South Australian Company's agriculture manager. The Duke of York was commanded by Captain Morgan, and had previously visited the south seas as a whaler. Captain Morgan was a skilful seaman and a simple-hearted, pious man of the old-fashioned Wesleyan type. Mr. Stephens was the son of a Wesleyan minister, and at one time president of the British Conference.

When the Duke of York dropped anchor in Nepean Bay, and a shore-going party was formed, the question of precedence in landing was settled by the two-year-old daughter of Mr. Beare being placed on dry land first. Then followed the company's manager, Mr. Stephens.

Within three days of the arrival of the Duke of York the Lady Mary Pelham, sent out by the South Australian Company, dropped anchor.

It is well recognised that Captain Sutherland might have been wearing rose-coloured glasses when writing his glowing account in 1831, of his visit to Kangaroo Island in 1819. Some even say that much of his account is a fiction. Unfortunately, many believed him, including the South Australian Company who decided Nepean Bay was the site for the capital of a new colony. And the ill fated expedition from the Africaine who relied on his writings, with disastrous consequences. Read Sutherland's account here.

Thought It Was A Lying Competition.

— It was the end of the end of the shearing season up north. The usual shearer-shepherd and rouseabout crowd were 'beering' in the local pub.

In strolled three old shepherds, regular old timers. I listened to their conversation—mainly about their dogs. Each tried to recount a story about his own dog that would beat the other fellows.

A young 'rousy,' leaning on the bar, was listening intently. After the shepherds had spun all the tall yarns they could recall, he interrupted. 'You fellows know that old bitch of mine? I'll tell you what happened to her while I was on a farm in Victoria. I was camping in the run on my own. Around a small wheat paddock some one had built a stone wall to keep out the rabbits. One day I found about 30 sheep in the wheat. So I called the dog and sent her after them. She brought them out through a break in the wall, where horses had pushed the stones down.

I was too busy to fix It up, so whenever I noticed the sheep getting in I just sent the dog after them. Alter she'd been sent out several times she didn't come home. I got a bit anxious. So I went out to see what had happened.

Guess what she was doing! The old bitch had built the stones up again, and to finish off with she had a perfectly round stone left for the top, and this is what had kept her so long. You see, she couldn't get it to balance on its own, and she was looking for a small stone to place alongside,'

'Well, that's a d— n lie,' roared one old chap.

Assuming surprise, the lad replied, 'But I thought you were swapping lies.' — 'Fossil,' Ngapala.

The Corroboree Makers.

— Back in the nineties I was attached to a prospecting party. We were camped on the northern boundaries of the Cootanarina cattle station, south of the Alberga River, in the nor'-west. There was another boy about my own age with us. We were anxious to witness a blackfellows' corroboree; a real wild one. One night the opportunity came. When the red moon rose over the vast scrubland of salt and cotton bush, we saddled our horses and cantered off through the bush. At last we sighted the red flicker of the fires. We rode right up to Binji's vaudeville company. The performance, which was in full swing, came to a full stop. A hundred or more niggers sat in a circle with their legs crossed, all naked. Their bodies were painted. Each warrior held some weapon of war. 'We come to see you make 'em big corroboree,' I volunteered. But there was no response. Again I stated our mission, with no better result, just hundreds of glittering eyes staring upon us. It was uncanny. We thought discretion the better part of valor, and wheeled our horses. Two boys were soon racing over the trackless scrubland with the corroboree makers far in the rear. 'Well, did you see the corroboree?' we were asked on our return to camp, I replied that we only stayed for the interval. — J. O'Reilly, Peterborough.

Some West Coast Memories.

— About 23 years ago [c.1909] one of the first motor cars to enter the Cowell district was Introduced by Mr. Reuben Deer. The car arrived by boat, and a driver was sent with it to instruct the new owner.

Mr. Deer sent the man to the school, and every child was given a free ride. The excited youngsters lined up and went in batches, as many as could crush in at a time. Mr. H. F. Naudebaum was the headmaster.

Another novelty was a motor buggy. I believe Mr. Searle, of Franklin Harbor, was the owner. Even today that motor buggy would be a novelty, with its high, old fashioned trap wheels, steel tyres, and square-shaped hood. The engine made a continual noise like pistols being fired.

A familiar sight in those days was a little group of aborigines, who often paid residents a visit. It comprised two old gins, 'Fanny' and 'Mary,' and two old blackfellows, 'Jimmy' and 'Wangary,' and a piccaninny named 'Percy.' Food and clothing was always given to them by the residents.

I remember how we children watched for the blacks to arrive, and then stood at a safe distance, with thumping hearts, because we had heard that in the early days the pioneers had great trouble with the natives, besides the tragic death of Frank Hawson. A lady, I think she was a sister-in-law of the late David McKenzie, one-time member of Parliament, was also a victim of the blacks.

The pioneers became so enraged at the heartless cruelty of the blacks that they rounded up as many as possible and drove them higher up the coast. Many blacks jumped over the cliffs of a little cove near Elliston. Most of those who did were dashed to death on the rocks, or drowned in the sea. For years old bleached bones could be found amongst the rocks, and not so many years ago the petrified body of a blackfellow was found in a cave near Elliston. — 'M.J.B.,' Macclesfield.

There is increasing evidence today that the "massacre" is largely a myth. See https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/_/ZOmatQZbc8cC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA44&dq=recalling+the+Elliston+Incident - Ed

In reprisal for killing 2 settlers and taking food a settler posse chased a group of Wirangu people to Waterloo Bay and shot and killed at least 10 as they sought refuge in the bushes down the headland. - https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=698

See also 18 July 1935