Coastal and Overland Exploration of Gulf St. Vincent,
Mount Lofty and Murray Mouth
13th April to 30th April, 1831
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Introduction The following is an account of events and circumstances leading up to and subsequent to Barker’s disappearance over 170 years ago and was presented at two tutorials to U3A members on 13th and 20th September 2001. The major influences in Australia’s early history prior to Captain Barker’s arrival in Sydney on 18th July 1828 were:
Born in 1784, Collet Barker enlisted as an Ensign in the Dorsetshire 39th Regiment of Foot, on 23 January 1806, served in Europe under Wellington. Promoted to Lieutenant 1809 and Captain June 1825, he was a friend and fellow officer of Charles Sturt. After his arrival in Australia Barker stayed less than a month in the relative comfort of Sydney before being posted to Raffles Bay, a northern outpost of Australia, close to future site of Darwin, where he took command at Fort Wellington on 13th September 1828. While there Barker did much to rectify the maladministration of a previous incumbent, also by overcoming the discontent and hostility of the native population, his ability gained him recognition by the authorities in Sydney as a conciliator. After a year at this remote post, Barker was ordered by Governor Darling to abandon the Fort. He then sailed south-west to take command of the garrison at King George Sound, near Albany WA, where he arrived on 3rd December, 1829. Establishment of the colonial administration in Western Australia led to Barker leading that garrison’s withdrawal on 29th March 1831. He was further ordered by Governor Darling to divert the schooner, Isabella on its return journey to Sydney, to undertake some land exploration on the eastern coast of Gulf St. Vincent. The authorities were anxious to know if the soil there was fertile and suitable for settlement; also to determine whether the entrance to the River Murray was into the Gulf, a matter which was so far undiscovered and of pressing importance. Barker surveyed the east coast in the Isabella from Cape Jervis to Port Gawler, a distance of 61 miles and a fortnight before his death, he and a small party landed at the mouth of the Onkaparinga River, which they traversed for four miles. He then ascended Mt. Lofty from which they viewed the Hummocks to the north, and to the south-east, the mount which Sturt had mistakenly called Mt. Lofty subsequently to be renamed Mt. Barker in his honour. In an attempt to redress another error in historical accuracy, the noted geographer, Dr A. Grenfell Price in 1923, emphasised that "To the north-west Barker made a far more important discovery - that of the Port Adelaide inlet", then sailing north "to examine the opening which was found to be an inlet, and not the hoped for channel to the Murray". A mistake in Sturt’s record of the correct date was "extremely unfortunate because it detracted from Barker’s chief claim to remembrance - the fact being that he anticipated Captain Jones (1833) and was the true discoverer of Port Adelaide". In this exploration Barker also found and named the Sturt River. Barker’s final landing place was in the vicinity of Rapid Bay. He followed the valley in the vicinity of Yankalilla. Crossing some hills and seeing Encounter Bay and the promontory of Port Elliot, the party then ascended higher ground from which a view was obtained of Lake Alexandrina and its channel to the sea. From this point they "went down to the flat, which they followed to the Goolwa channel, close to the spot where Styrt had pitched his tents. The mouth was reached on 29th April, and there on 30th, Barker lost his life, a victim, no doubt to the cruelties that convicts and sealers had practised on the unfortunate natives". Standing on a sand-hill overlooking the outlet, Barker observed a sand-hill eastward of it, described in Sturt’s "Two Expeditions into the interior of South Australia", "under which the tide runs strong and the water is deep. He judged the breadth of the channel to be a quarter of a mile and expressed a desire to swim across it to ascertain the nature of the strand beyond it..." He was the only one in the party who could swim well and his people remonstrated with him on the danger of making the attempt unattended. "Notwithstanding that he was seriously indisposed" - (The Isabella’s Assistant-Surgeon, Dr. Davis recorded that for several days Barker had suffered from symptoms suggesting gastro-enteritis), "he stript [sic] and after Mr Kemp had fastened the compass on his head for him, he plunged into the water and with difficulty gained the opposite side, to effect which took him nine minutes and fifty-eight seconds. His anxious colleagues saw him ascend the hillock" - (subsequently to be named Barker’s Knoll) "and take several bearings; he then descended the farther side and was never seen by them again." The remainder of the party waited for a short time, cached some food should he return, and returned to the Isabella. Once there Dr Davis arranged for a whale boat to be brought back from Nepean Bay on Kangaroo Island with two sealers to Encounter Bay, accompanied by an Aboriginal girl called "Sally" who spoke English tolerably well, her father, "Condoy" and an uncle, the former being chiefly instrumental in gaining information concerning Captain Barker’s fate. As reported by Dr. Davis - "On the 7th inst. They reached the lake, accompanied by the father and uncle of Sally. The following particulars were obtained from three sources, all of which agreed; that Captain Barker’s footsteps were tracked by two natives along the sand ridge near the beach on the east side of the inlet; these two men were joined by a third, and when it was ascertained that Captain Barker had no musket nor any means of defence, the signal of attack was made by ‘cooing’. Captain Barker never perceived their approach until he received his first wound from Cummarringeree whose spear entered at the left hip and came out of the opposite side, Captain Barker running into the surf, making signs with his hand, and calling for them to desist. The second spear was thrown at him by Pennegoora, which entered at the right flank; and quickly afterwards Wannangetta threw the third spear, which entered his back and came out in front. Captain Barker then fell down, and the three natives brought him on shore and drew their spears backwards and forwards through his body until he was dead. They then took him up and cast him into the sea in deep water..." Davis acknowledged the help he received, with knowledge of the language from a sealer from KI, George Bates and it is important not to under-estimate the important part played by Sally in interpreting the accounts given by the other Aborigines present. Thus we have as clear and as credible a description of events surrounding the death of Collet Barker as one could imagine. |
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Coastal and Overland Exploration of Gulf St. Vincent, Mount Lofty and Murray Mouth 13th April to 30th April, 1831
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The sealers and whalers of southern Australia in the early 1800’s
There was an abundance of seals and whales around the entire south coast from Van Diemen’s Land west to King George Sound, a most prolific mid point being Kangaroo Island. There was also a ready market for seal pelts, whale oil and other by-products in Sydney together including salt, these items being vital commodities for the export trade as well as for local use. Amongst the harvesters of these riches of nature were the rough and tough elements of the sea-faring community many of whom were ships’ deserters, escaped convicts and others evading the authorities, variously described by early historians as "formidable gangs". Kangaroo Island was a good haven for them particularly in the vicinity of American Harbour, later named American River. J. S. Cumpston in "Kangaroo Island 1800-1836" quotes the following enlightening description by an early sea-farer Captain Sutherland:
The Ngarrindjeri had occupied the lower Murray and Coorong area bordered by the coast-line from Cape Jervis to Kingston SE, extending inland beyond Wellington, for several thousand years. There is evidence of Aboriginal occupation for a period in excess of 6 000 years BP in that area, and possibly as long as 16 000 years BP on Kangaroo Island where animal remains have been identified. The Ngarrindjeri have physical characteristics which distinguish them from other Aboriginal Australians, being taller, slightly paler and more hirsute than others. They have lived in a very favourable environment where the soil is relatively fertile, there is an abundance of fresh water, bordered by the sea, each being a bountiful source of fish and crustaceans, the land also plentiful in birds and animals. They enjoyed a moderate climate and safety from most predators. The Ngarrindjeri, at the time of the arrival of Europeans, were socially and culturally more advanced than most other inhabitants of the continent. There was a system of government and another for dispensing justice, the whole ‘nation’ being a kind of ‘confederacy’ [N. B. Tindale] comprising as many as eighteen ‘clans’ or ‘tribes’ in the area. They were able to cook the game they hunted and the fish they netted or caught from canoes they made. They were adept at building semi-permanent shelters which could accommodate several families at a time. Their clothing was of a superior kind, some being made from possum skins, softened and sown together with sinews of kangaroo tail; some cloaks were woven from certain types of seaweed. [Graham Jenkins’ Conquest of the Ngarrindjeri, Rigby 1979] They were said to be craftsmen in wood and leather "but their forte", according to the Reverend George Taplin - The Narrinjeri published by E. S. Wigg & Son in 1878, "was their basketry, netting and matting". Their weapons were skilfully made for hunting, one for throwing spears said to be superior to the 1830 version of the British ‘Brown Bess’ musket in accuracy and rapidity of fire. They had a religion, and were less steeped in spiritualism than many desert people. There was a ceremony of marriage which allowed some polygamy; they practised a small amount of infanticide, had rites for initiation into manhood, and practised characteristic forms of funeral rites. They also adopted sorcery using animal bones, and had medicine men called ‘kuldukke’. Most significantly, The Ngarrindjeri had their own language which was quite distinctive from that of other tribes, few if any of their words being familiar to others. The evidence strongly suggests that the Ngarrindjeri people were a well organized society, living in a favourable environment and enjoying a safe, comfortable, healthy, peaceful life-style. Their rather idyllic existence began to decline and the ‘nation’ came to a subtle but abrupt end as the cohesive social fabric which they had enjoyed for generations began to disintegrate, with the arrival of Europeans in the late 18th century. Lack of individual immunity to newly introduced diseases such as syphilis, smallpox, tuberculosis, measles, diphtheria and other infections, made them particularly vulnerable as a population and contributed greatly to this decline, although many of their descendants remain. By contrast, the Pitjantjatjara in their lands in northern South Australia have survived remarkably well, possibly through their nomadic lifestyle and, in the last quarter of a century, by favourable treatment from the State Government. Who then were the real culprits in Barker’s death? There appear to be reasonable grounds for believing the description of events given in the reports given by Assistant Surgeon Davis and a Mr Kent who accompanied Barker on his last voyage on the Isabella from notes they made soon after his disappearance, wherein it is alleged that three natives, whose names are given, speared him and cast his body into the sea. However, they were not apprehended, tried, much less convicted as far as we know, in any sort of justice system, either by their own people or the British authorities who claimed sovereignty. Officialdom? We might ask : Were the British blameworthy, for it was under their authority that Barker was ordered to carry out his last mission as a serving military officer? Hardly, as it was his duty to obey lawful orders and the tragedy that was to follow could not have been foreseen, even though there would always be an element of risk in any such undertaking. There was a prevailing attitude expressed by the British government prior to Captain James Cook’s voyages to the Pacific, that native peoples whom explorers would encounter were to be treated with respect. A distaste had grown for harsh treatment of indigenous people with the abolition of the slave-trade flourishing a century before and more humanitarian attitudes prevailing if not always applied. In 1768 the President of the prestigious Royal Society, James Douglas, Earl of Morton, "deplored violence against native peoples as a crime and argued that Europeans had no right to occupy other peoples’ lands uninvited" adding that "more was to be gained by mild, than rough treatment". In 1835 Lord Glenelg, Secretary of State for the Colonies, attempted, unsuccessfully it must be said, to have inserted in the Report to the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Aboriginal Tribes, a clause safeguarding the rights and welfare of the Aborigines. In its place Glenelg did manage to have inserted in the Letters Patent to the South Australian settlement, a clause purporting to ensure :
Sealers and whalers? There can be little doubt that the Aboriginal people living in the lower Murray lakes area and the Coorong had suffered atrociously from their contact with itinerant sealers and whalers frequenting Kangaroo Island when these brutal intruders visited the mainland, before Barker arrived. Such treatment at the hands of white men conceivably provoked such hostility in the Aborigines when they sighted him coming over Barker’s Knoll, that they reacted in the manner described and killed him. In so doing, "the Aborigines got it terribly wrong. They chose as a pay-back victim one of the most humane friends that Aboriginal people had encountered in a responsible post since 1788". "Nothing in Collet Barker’s courageous life approached the tragic irony of his violent death on 30th April 1831. [He] has memorials to his final days in St. James church, Sydney, and at three South Australian locations. These are on Hindmarsh Island near the Murray mouth, at the mouth of the Onkaparinga River [i.e. Port Noarlunga], and in the town of Mt. Barker in the Mount Lofty Ranges which was named by Sturt in his honour; the Federal electorate also spans that region. His administration at King George Sound is remembered by Mt. Barker W.A., and the township of the same name, some fifty kilometres north of Albany." Commandant of solitude, p. 26. Barker Inlet at the entrance of the river at Port Adelaide and Barker’s Knoll at the Murray mouth also commemorate his historic contributions. He was, at the time of his death under preferment for appointment as ‘Resident’ in New Zealand which may have led to him gaining the high office of Governor in due course. Conclusion : The final act in Captain Barker's life was a feat of extraordinary bravery. Knowing that he had a duty to perform, he plunged without hesitation, into the treacherous, fast flowing waters of the River Murray over 200 metres wide, at its outlet. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on historical principles, Third Edition 1964, defines 'Hero' as "3. A man who exhibits extraordinary bravery, firmness, or greatness of soul in any work, or enterprise; a man admired and venerated for his achievements and noble qualities 1661." By any comparison, Barker fulfilled these criteria. It is unworthy to the memory of this remarkable man, that this selfless act, for which he paid the supreme sacrifice, should not have received the recognition that it deserves for heroism. In this year, 2001, when the nation celebrates its centenary of Federation, also being the year preceding the bicentennial anniversary of the historic encounter of Captains Matthew Flinders and Nicholas Baudin, it would be a singularly appropriate opportunity to so acknowledge such a remarkable man. Epitaph : In a strangely perceptive way, it was Collet Barker himself who penned his own epitaph, when he wrote the final quote in his journal, consisting of the first two lines of Alexander Pope's "Ode on Solitude", the last stanza of which reads:
Thus unlamented let me dye; Steal I from the world, and not a stone Tell where I lye. Bibliography : A History of Australia, Volume III, 1824-1851. C. M. H. Clark, Melbourne University Press, 1945
October 7, 2001 |