J.T. Gellibrand
Joseph Tice
Gellibrand (1786-1837) arrived in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) in March
1824, where he was appointed as the first Attorney-General to the colony.
On Sunday
17 January 1836 Gellibrand left Hobart on board the Norval, and sailed
across Bass Strait on an expedition to Victoria and the Port Phillip settlement.
The trip was plagued with difficulties, largely as a result of a lack
of knowledge of the Aboriginal country they were visiting.
'In consequence
of the improper manner in which the Vessel was fitted up' the boat docked
at Corinellea, Western Port Bay, the site of a failed attempt to settle
Victoria in 1827.
Gellibrand's
party experienced immediate difficulties and coped poorly in the extreme
summer temperatures. They had brought sheep with them and sought suitable
grazing land. But they were unable to find fresh drinking water, for either
the members of the party or the sheep.
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Extract
Buckley
Key dates
January
25
January 27
January 29
January 30
January 31
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January
25th, 1836
'When
I landed I particularly cautioned the shepherds not to let the
sheep stray and to keep them from the salt water. We then proceeded
to examine the land and found an abundance of grass and in some
places it was 6 feet high but we did not find any water…I found
the gleams of heat extremely oppressive and which brought on violent
palpitations and a termination of blood to the head'.
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January
27th, 1836
On
January 27th. Gellibrand decided that the party would attempt
to walk to the Port Phillip Settlement. In such an unfamiliar
landscape the party became immediately reliant on Aboriginal knowledge
of land, and followed existing indigenous walking tracks.
'we
saw many tracks of the Natives upon the Beach…Mr. Leake and one
of the men left us and were absent upwards of an hour…we became
much alarmed at their absence but at length heard a cooey and
they returned with the intelligence that they had fallen in with
about one hundred native huts and near the huts had discovered
water'.
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January
29th, 1836
On
January 29th. the party were again short of water, with Gellibrand
commenting 'I do not think there was a bottle of water amongst
the whole party'. By now Gellibrand had realised that if his men
were to survive they would need to continue to follow the Aboriginal
walking tracks that might lead them to water.
'We
found a fire burning at two native huts and every appearance of
there having been occupied the previous night, and on the Beach
we found tracks of the natives proceeding towards Arthur's Seat.
We rested here and made a fire, some of the party in search of
water which however was very brackish…
after
resting at this place about half an hour we proceeded on our Journey
about 5 miles and then discovered several native huts and to our
great joy and gratitude found a Creek with an abundant supply
of water'.
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January
30th, 1836
'We
rested, and had our breakfast and about half a pint of tea to
each person which was all the water we had left…Mr. Leake and
Tom laid down [and] declared they could not proceed any further
till they got water… I urged upon the party to proceed…
we
were now on a native track and the advantage of following those
tracks is soon experienced, this track continued along the margin
of the hill and ultimately led us to the Beach and near the Beach
we found a few native huts and one native well. Upon discovering
the well Mr. Gardiner gave the welcome shout "water" which was
immediately repeated by others'.
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January
31st, 1836
After
a week of walking across country then along the bay toward the
Port Phillip settlement, Gellibrand and his party arrived at the
mouth of the Yarra River on January 31st. The toll which the walk
had taken on Gellibrand was evident.
'My
feet had been for the last two days very blistered and I felt
quite unable to walk any further, and I therefore proposed that
half the party should proceed to the Settlement and send a Boat
or a horse to my assistance'.
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Again, Gellibrand
required the assistance of Aboriginal people in order to travel further;
on this occasion directly, whereby a group of Aboriginal people who were
fishing in the bay transported Gellibrand to the settlement.
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'I
hobbled along with the assistance of Mr. Robertson about three miles
and the waited for the horse or boat. In about half an hour a Boat
manned with blacks came down the river[.] We hailed them and after
explaining where we had come from, and who we were, they came to
our assistance[.] We found they were going to the Heads for fish,
but they immediately proceeded with us to the Settlement about twelve
o'ck'.
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