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Journey to
the Hunter River by Steamer in 1831..............
'Allured
by that delightful vehicle of locomotion, the steam packet, we resolved
on directing our course to the placid streams and fertile banks of
Hunter's river of renown; and having returned with a large stock of
health we are inclined to wave politics for a number or two, and
employ our leading articles in giving a peep (a mere peep) at the
glories of yon 'Bonny banks and braes.'
To begin at the beginning. When the clock is preparing to strike the
hour of eight on a Friday night, you find yourself pacing warily up the
northern end of George Street - a solitary pass, infested with dogs and
footpads. Arrived at the wall enclosing those spacious premises of
Robert Campbell, a person of indefatigable industry , strong reason, and
great experience, - you enter a wicket, cross a yard not unworthy of the
London docks, and descend to that busy haunt of commerce, Campbell's
Wharf, alongside which lies '
impatiently awaiting the arrival of her passengers. Before you is
the famous Port Jackson, crowded with shipping from many a clime, their
glimmering lights dancing upon the rippling waters, and their hollow
toned bells chiming, in quick succession, the high naval hour of eight.
The wharf is crowded with a motley group, some about to step on board
the steamer, some bidding adieu to their friends ere they launch upon'
the great salt sea,' some bearing their masters' baggage, some gazing as
idle spectators, and others watching, 'like Patience on a monument,' for
what in Botany Bay is well understood by 'a chance'. You ascend the
planks stretching, like Mahomet's bridge across the watery abyss between
the wharf and the steamer's deck, and find yourself safely lodged within
'the wooden walls of England.' Here all is bustle and seeming confusion.
Passengers jostling each other - seamen running to and fro - and the
ruler of the roost,
Captain Biddulph,
darting from end to end and from
side to side, dealing out his orders in double quick time. To escape the
tumult, you descend into the cabin, and find yourself at once in a
drawing room - spacious, snugly carpeted, surrounded by a
continuous horse hair couch, decorated with looking glass panels,
provided with polished mahogany tables, and (mark us well!) disclosing
in one sly corner, that sanctum sanctorum, the Steward's buttery. Having reconnoitered the regions below, you return to those above, to enquire
how it is the paddles have not begun their travels. You find that a
brother-cit, holding no mean function in no mean court, in his anxiety
to travel at his ease, had brought with him a horse and in attempting to
cross the aforementioned Mahomet's bridge, made a false step and tumbled
headlong into the gulph (sic) below to the no small consternation of his
learned master, to the great confusion of the skipper and crew, to the
chagrin of the impatient passengers, and to the infinite entertainment
of the groundlings on the wharf. This little mishap over, the signal is
given , the steam is up, the paddles fly and away you scud. Between this
and day break, much of your enjoyment depends upon moon and stars. If it
be a levee night with the queen of heaven, and the ethereal halls be lit
up in all their splendour, fortunate are you, and enchanting must
be the scene as you glide down our beauteous harbour, and between our
lofty headlands, and and along our indented and multiform coast line.
But not so fortunate were we.
Below - 'what has become of the horse hair couch?'. Instead of
couch you find a double tier of beds lining the drawing room 'walls'
,instead of the merry group you found at your first visit, you see an
'awkward squad' of land lubbers, some devouring ham sandwitches (sic),
some doing homage to brandy and water, some stripping off their jackets,
some already snoring and some heaving and straining and disgorging, in
sad cadence with the vessel's motions. You are glad to turn in, and
throw yourself upon your snug bed.
On ascending the deck in the morning you find
yourself rounding Nobby's a fantastic headland, acting as perpetual
sentry to the harbour of Newcastle. This insular rock, evidently severed
from the main land by some convulsion of nature, it was thought
desirable to connect with the shore by means of a breakwater, which was
half completed by the Government, and then abandoned from motives of
economy, the expense being enormous, and the utility doubtful. Newcastle
is a small, straggling town, many of its houses in a state of decay, and
presenting a striking picture of a deserted village. The regularity of
steam navigation, together with the coal establishment of which is now
actively at work with its steam engines and rail roads, may however,
revive its trade, and make it a seaport of some importance. By this time
you have worked up the harbour and have cast anchor near the wharf,
which is crowded with a motley group, anxiously waiting to welcome their
friends, to receive goods, and to pick up news and gossip. You may now
step ashore for three quarters of an hour, and get an excellent
breakfast at one of the inns, of which there are several. While regaling
upon beefsteaks, eggs, toast, and tea and coffee, keep a good look out
for the blue peter; for, the moment that is hoisted, you must hasten
back to the wharf, and commence your travels up the Hunter.
Having finished your breakfast at Newcastle
you return to the steamer, and about 9 o'clock commence your passage up
the Hunter. The scenery, though less picturesque than some have
described it, is yet interesting, - in some places richly so. Sometimes
the river narrows to little more than the span of a canal, its banks
fringed with trees which shut out every object beyond,; a sudden bend in
its channel, like the shifting of a theatrical scene, brings instant
relief to the wearied eye, which again range over a noble expanse of
water and woodland, hill and dale. The banks of the Hunter, it must be
remembered, are as yet nearly in a state of nature, not more than eight
or nine years having elapsed since they were first inhabited by
civilized man. They will therefore be continually improving. Many a
vista will yet be opened, many a fair landscape rescued from oblivion,
by the axe of the husbandman; the snug cottage, the neat villa, the
lordly mansion, with their attendant meadows and gardens, and orchards,
their bleating flocks and lowing herds, will ere long be substituted for
monotonous woods and forests. - Sydney Gazette 19 November 1831
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