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Fort Dundas was the first outpost of Europeans in Australia's north. It was a British fortification manned by soldiers, marines and convicts, and built by them on remote Melville Island in 1824. It lasted until February, 1829, when it was abandoned and left to the termites. The fort's purpose was twofold. Firstly, it was a physical demonstration of Britain's claim to the New Holland continent as far as longitude 129E, which excluded the Dutch and the French from starting similar colonies, and it was the first of a series of fortified locations around the coast. Secondly, it was promoted as the start of a British trading post that would become a second Singapore and compete with Batavia. The settlement was named in a ceremony on 21 October 1824, but it was not a success. In its short existence we have tales of great privation, survival, greed, piracy, slavery, murder, kidnapping, scurvy, and battles with the Indigenous inhabitants of the islands, the Tiwi. It was also the site of the first European wedding and the birth of the first European children in northern Australia. None of the three military commandants who managed the outpost wanted to be there and all were gratefully relieved after their posting. They left behind thirty-four dead - victims of disease, poor diet and Tiwi spears. Others died when the crews of the fort's supply ships were slaughtered and beheaded by Malay pirates on islands to the north. Two cabin boys from one of them, the Stedcombe, were enslaved by the pirates. What happened at Fort Dundas and why it was abandoned has been largely untold. Nevertheless, it is one of the most engaging stories of nineteenth century Australia.
In this fascinating account, leading Australian military historians tackle 10 of the most enduring historical zombies, or national myths, that have staggered their way through the halls of military history for more than 200 years. From Aboriginal resistance and invasion to Australia’s recent involvement in East Timor, this record disproves the incorrectly memorialized and so-called gallant deeds of past Australian servicemen. Provocative and opinionated, this record attempts to correct the historical record.
Official records of the settlement and administration of Australian colonies and Port Essington; many Aboriginal references.
From the Swan River to the Hawkesbury, and from the sticky Arnhem Land mangrove to the soft green hills of Tasmania, this book describes the major conflicts fought on the Australian frontier to 1838. Based on extensive research and using overseas frontier wars to add perspective to the Australian experience, 'The Australian Frontier Wars 1788 - 1838' will change our view of Australian history forever.
V.1, pt.1; Geographical & binyurri), pointing bones & sticks, method of pointing, influence of magic love charms, Kurdaitcha, description of shoes; medicine men & sorcerers - method of graduation; Alchera beliefs & the cult of ritual objects, sacred objects of Urabunna, Luritcha & Arunta, Kaitish, Warramunga, stone & wooden ritual objects, sacred totemic beliefs, tradition dealing with Achilpa, or Wild Cat totem - ancestral route given with native place; names, map of totemic topography, meaning of designs on ritual objects; Engwura ceremony, 1895, plan of ceremonial ground, detailed account of totemic ceremonies, part enacted by women; camp at Charlotte Waters - rain making ceremony described, words of song; stone arrangement Finke valley, mythological background; rock drawings at Ooraminna; sun, witchetty grub & eagle hawk ceremonies performed; avenging expedition (Atinga); Barrow Creek, Kaitisha & Unmatchera people; history of the massacre in 1874; history of ancestor of rain man, grass seed totem ceremony, body decoration belief about the comet; myth explaining tooth avulsion, method of operation, magic; charm made of human hair & owl feathers carried by avenging parties; Tennant Creek - Warramunga; physical appearance, hair depilation; camp life; wearing womans headdress by men to cure headache, tooth avulsion operation, tooth afterwards ground & eaten by mother (if a girls tooth) & eaten by mother in law (if mans); Gammona relationship among Warramunga; ceremonies connected with hair; ban of silence, use of gesture language - 47 signs illustrated with meaning; details of fire ceremony.