little thought to how practical normal clothing would be. The tough, resilient undergrowth soon ripped the cloth trousers to shreds. Even the leggings ended up as ribbons.
Moleskins were exceptionally good and the heavier military leggings much stronger. I got the leggings and the knapsack from the quartermaster at the military outpost nearby. He has been most helpful, also lending me some maps he had found, from some early army scouting patrols. I have transcribed the routes and notes onto my main maps.
But my last trip was the most useful and I find leather or straight animal skins to be the most rugged and offer the most protection as leggings. I have taken some trouble with these for this trip and have even managed to include a spare pair in my pack. The extra space they take up is well worth it, but if the worst came to it, I could fold them into my blanket roll, which I strap across the top of the pack.
I am in two minds concerning the musket, shot and powder. The musket can be most obstructive. I had taken them on prior trips because of the need to protect myself from possible warlike aboriginals. But I have never seen any of these pathetic looking folk in this part of the country, let alone warlike ones. I have decided, too, that I can carry other items more profitably than the musket, as far as securing game is concerned. I have also thought back to my time in England and will take one of the dogs this time.
The rest are the usual stores - flour, tea, cured meat, salt and biscuits.
The entries immediately following this one covered a short, abortive trip of De Witt's in the area around the Pieman River. I know this is getting close to the area that you are interested in, but there is really nothing of any value. De Witt fell down a very rugged incline and ripped open his leg and he had to return home. The entries around the time of his accident are very sketchy; he showed great persistence in even keeping it up to date. Some of the following entries, looking back, are quite descriptive of both his injury, and how he managed to fix it himself until his return to his home, and his feelings on what was obviously a long, slow and painful trip. I don't know to what extent such descriptions may fit into your tale and your characters, but I can extract details if you wish.
Some entries some nine months later are probably the sort of thing you are after. He had arranged for his next trip to be sponsored by two brothers by the name of Greene. He states that they had something to do with the Van Diemen’s Land Company and were interested in getting a better feel for the land south of Macquarie Harbour. De Witt interpreted this 'better feel' as the brothers wanting to find something in the area that would be to their advantage. De Witt stated that he didn't really care what their motives were - they had provided him with monetary backing and that enabled him to pursue his own desires.
The entry starts at the end of June in 1848.
I have reached a small outpost on the banks of Macquarie Harbour, having been dropped here by the brig 'King Arthur'. The Greenes have provided me with a handsome boat and plenty of stores. With the boat to act as a means of covering a lot of ground - essentially up the Gordon - I can also use it to carry many more stores than ever before.
Entries for the following two or three days relate primarily to his preparations and some descriptions of the timber getters in the area. He has quite a descriptive style, with a fair share of sardonic wit!
I have reached Sarah Island, thankfully. Yesterday and last night the weather was suddenly horrendous. Fierce winds squalling straight in off the Southern Ocean, driving rain that was almost horizontal, bending trees and making progress, even along the western bank of the Harbour, most difficult.
Sarah Island is already in ruins and buildings have crumbled or become overgrown with dense weeds. It is just as well. I hope nature wreaks its vengeance on this place quickly and covers the shame of its existence. Even walking around the remains this afternoon, I am taken by a feeling of extreme desolation and isolation. One can very easily mistake the whispering of the wind through the trees for the screams of the poor wretches who were incarcerated here.
I have found a building near the remains of the launching slips, at the far south of the island. It has most of its roof still and its three remaining walls provide a welcome shelter from the winds. I shall sleep here tonight and perhaps the next while I regain my strength after the rowing of the past few days. The sail was a good idea, but I have not always been able to make the best use of it.
I fear the ghosts of many abused convicts may visit me tonight and I pray God will keep me protected!
The next week or so covers some general descriptions of the land surrounding the Harbour and his voyage up the Gordon. Then :
I am amazed at the dense scrub that borders both banks of this river. I have tried in many places to get ashore, but the myrtle, sassafras and laurel intermingle with one another, at times horizontally, and my path is often barred completely.
There are, however, numerous places where the piners have hacked access points along the banks. Some are obviously old, for already they are overgrown. Perhaps these are the ones the convicts first cut. Others are fresher and I have seen two or three which front on to huge clearings that perhaps once served as staging camps. Everywhere there is evidence of the piners and I sometimes doubt the ability of nature to cover over the great scars that man has made in this land.
I have not seen any piners for the last three days of my trip, although there are still stands of the magnificent Huon visible. Most are, naturally enough, well back from the river itself and are, I imagine, much harder for the piners to get to the river for floating out.
The air is still, cool and damp.
And today I made a most unusual discovery. I made camp in this clearing last night. It is well up river. Indeed, I had thought that I had seen the last of the piner clearings and that I was in country untouched by man. This morning I started to explore around the camp. It is already yielding under the regrowth of the vegetation, but movement around the area is still quite easy.
Two hundred yards further upstream I came across a deep cutting, where a fast, bubbling creek ran into the Gordon. This in itself was not unusual, for there had been others. This would certainly have been the biggest I have seen so far, though. Much of the original vegetation enclosing the creek had been cleared away and the ground showed signs of being dug over - or at least disturbed.
My immediate thought was of a vast grave for convicts who had died felling and carting the pine in this area. Perhaps even those who had died on Sarah Island. Of the many stories I had heard I was told that many of the poor dead souls had been carted this far away to avoid being discovered.
I started to dig myself and after an hour did, indeed, find the skeletal remains of a man. I must admit to a certain amount of revulsion at seeing this poor soul, with what appeared to be the remains of some material still wrapped around his bones. Although my curiosity demanded to know who this soul was and how he had died, I could dig no longer and covered him over again and marked the site with a crudely constructed wooden cross. I have no idea how many others - if there were others - were buried there too. I hoped he was but one. Perhaps a piner who had died and been buried by a friend.
It sits better with my mind to believe the latter. I must admit, too, that I could think of no better place to be buried myself. This country, though hard and weather-beaten, is most beautiful.
Well, that's it. I thought I'd let you know what I've found out so far. Let me know if you think it's enough, or if there are some things you want me to do some other follow-up on. If I remember correctly from an earlier note, you have your Abbotsley character in charge of a gang of convicts who are involved in felling trees and floating them back to the Sarah Island shipyards.
I am healing well, and am about to start full-time work after some graduated return to work. Amy is also well and finding a lot of work – and she is still doing her university course, so she’s keeping very busy. We had a long weekend up at a place called Daylesford a couple of weeks ago. Very relaxing.
What little of your book that I’ve read, it sounds quite intriguing – hope you work out where all the jigsaw pieces go. It’s a lot harder when you don’t have a border!! Love to you and Caroline – we might