An Excerpt from 'The Life and
Adventures of Martin Cash - His Personal Narrative as a Bushranger in
Van Diemens Land'
'Having now established a dairy at Hunter River, the cows at the latter
place, when dry, had to be sent to the station where I resided, the duty
of taking them having devolved upon me. We had places appointed on the
road where we put the cattle up for the night, and on one of these
occasions I recollect a circumstance that occurred when stopping at
Captain Pike's farm (called by the natives Bumburry Bumburry Garley)
which will help to give the reader some idea of the position of assigned
servants at the time in New South Wales.
Captain Pike had then about forty assigned servants, all of whom on the
night of my arrival had been served with a ration of Indian corn (quite
soft and green), which they had to dry before grinding it in an old
steel mill, and as it was the only one on the premises all hands were
obliged to take their turn in succession. It would therefore be a late,
or rather early, hour in the morning before all had their corn ground,
after which they had to make it into bread for that night and the next
day's consumption. This had to be done after the authorised hours of
labour; in fact, I saw some of them at two o'clock in the morning
awaiting their turn at the mill.
At Captain Pike's farm I have seen all the rations of meat for forty men
weighed off in the lump, which afterwards had to be divided by the men
into individual shares. Some of them by this process could not possibly
receive the authorised complement of seven pounds for their week's
allowance, being allowed but one draft on the whole. On this farm each
man's ration for the week consisted of eight quarts of Indian corn,
seven pounds of salt beef, with a daily allowance of three pints of skim
milk.
I shall now have to beg the reader's pardon for detaining him so long on
the way, and must beg of him, on the following morning to accompany me
on the road through a magnificent county where, after travelling about
two miles, we arrived at a watch-house in which was stationed a
constable, and also that indispensable functionary, the flagellator -
paid, I believe, by the Government for the accommodation of the
settlers, or rather, the assigned servants, in each locality. A bench of
magistrates presided here twice a week, and I had just arrived
opportunely to see the flagellator in the performance of his office for
the first time. The case, I believe, was this: - An unfortunate man, for
some discrepancy or other, was sentenced to receive on hundred and fifty
lashes; but mark the manner in which the punishment was to be inflicted.
On the morning in question he was receiving his first installment of
fifty lashes, braced up to a gum stump at the distance of about one
hundred yards from the watch house; he was to receive the next two
fifties on the two consecutive mornings.
Of all the wretches attached to or in the employ of Her Majesty's
Government there are none so truly contemptible as the flagellator, and
in all my experiences through life I never knew a man with one redeeming
quality that ever filled that odious office. I generally found them to
be cruel, treacherous and cowardly; but I need not say more as the very
nature of their duties precludes the possibility of any person
discharging them who was not lost to every manly feeling. I recollect a
circumstance that took place on another occasion when collecting cattle
at a place called Red Banks, on the
Dark Brook Creek (DartBrook), higher up the Hunter River, where on
passing the watch-house I observed a man braced up in front of the door,
the flagellator having cat in hand in readiness to perform his part of
the drama; the constable gave the prisoner orders to strip and, having
done so, the flagellator casually asked him the name of the highest
mountain in his country,. the prisoner replied that Ben Lomond was
considered the loftiest and by this time he was secured to the
triangles. "Well,' exclaimed the flagellator, "I'll make you believe in
less than five minutes that you had Ben Lomond on your back'.
Having delivered the cattle I at once returned to the station, where I
found two strange men who had apparently put up for the night.
Hospitality abounded as far as circumstances permitted at these out
stations, any want of which would be considered nothing short of a
crime. However on taking a second look, I imaged that the face of one of
our guests was not unfamiliar to me, and recollecting my self for a
moment I asked him if he was not known as Jemmy the locust. He replied
that he was not but that he wished he was. His last observation put me a
little out of temper as it confirmed me in my suspicion that I was
addressing the right person; but, not being quite certain as to his
identity, and before resorting to extreme measures, I immediately
repaired to the station in our vicinity, knowing that one of the stock
riders could set me right as to my conjectures. It was at this station
he should have put up his cattle for the night had he not been afraid of
being recognised, the owner of the cattle and the proprietor of the
station being nearly related. On finding my suspicions correct I at once
retraced my steps, but Jemmy the Locust had too much good sense to wait
my return, having decamped in my absence. In explaining this matter I
must observe that some time previous a prisoner named Daley had taken to
the bush and by his daring conduct had rendered himself very notorious.
A reward had been offered for his apprehension, and at this time he was
harboured by Jemmy the Locust, who was an assigned servant to Dr. Little
and employed as a shepherd at Gammon Plains; he invited Daley to visit
his hut at a given time, on which he treacherously fired on him with a
gun loaded with slugs cutting away the lower part of his intestines. The
wretched man expired in a few minutes after, and for this service Jemmy
the locust got a ticket o leave - the reward, however, he did not get,
the authorities having condemned his cowardly mode of procuring it; and
it was this circumstance that interfered with my hospitable intentions
on that night.'
Daley belonged to the bushranger gang 'Hunter River Banditti'. To read
of their capture by the Mountain police select
HERE.
To read about the trial of the Hunter River Banditti select
HERE
VDL cohort of Martin Cash, George Jones
was also assigned to the Hunter Valley before being transported south
for robbery
