Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Philip Gidley King – letter received from Francis Luis Barrallier, 21 November 1802
A 1908/2

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Translation Of Francis Luis Barrallier’s Letter
To Governor King, Dated 21st November 1802

[Note: This translation is based on two unsigned earlier attempts, and has been revised by Ivan Barko. A great deal of the original is illegible or difficult to read and the punctuation is virtually non-existent. As a result, some sections of the text are an educated reconstruction but most of the translation below is an accurate rendering of the original French.

Dear Sir,

I received on the 19th from the cart 200 lbs of pork, 300 lbs of flour, 50 lbs of sugar with 6 lbs of powder and approximately 15 to 20 lbs of lead shot. I had returned from my incursion into the mountains without being able to find a passage directly West. But by following the river 4 miles northward I found another larger river which flows between two chains of mountains to the NE. The plain begins at the confluence of the two rivers. The width of the plain from the foot of the Northern Mountain to the foot of the Southern Mountain is approximately one mile and a half, and the further one goes, the wider the plain becomes, the left side leaning more towards the South and the right side rather to the West. At Stream “C” we endeavoured to climb to the top of Mountain “D” which appeared to lend itself best for this purpose. As we climbed the obstacles, stones came loose and kept coming from under our feet from time to time and were rolling towards us, threatening us with an almost certain destruction.
Anyway, in spite of all our efforts we only reached about 100 feet from the top and the rocks were suddenly rising perpendicularly to the summit. We were forced to abandon our plans, having first gone right around the side of the mountain in all directions. … It is under that impenetrable wall that one of my servants killed a sort of kangaroo which lives in various caves which are scattered here and there. One of the two natives who accompanied us having seen another one in a hole near him wanted to grab it by the tail but the animal, having taken advantage of his having had to bend forward, jumped over his head and was about to fall down a precipice 90 [?] feet high when it balanced on a rock as skilfully as any wild goat

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would in our part of the world. Leaping from rock to rock it came passing near me as it climbed back towards the top, hiding so effectively that we never found it again. The only advantage I drew from this venture was that of having a superb view of the plain and the river and the steep mountains on the other side.
I can assure you I was very pleased to find myself back in the plain once more without any other mishap than a toe badly hurt and the front bone of my right leg as black as my hat.
In a valley at the foot of this mountain we met with a party of natives with their women. The women ran off as soon as they saw us. As our native guide from the mountain advanced towards them, they talked for a moment, and after he had explained the reason for our visit, they sat down each in front of his fire again. Our man told us that the chief of the party was “Goondel” and that the country where we were belonged to him. He asked us that we should not move from the plain where we were as if we tried to approach them, that might frighten them and would be, at the same time, the cause of some conflict. Then he left us and stopped between them and us but much closer to them, about 2/3 of the way, and after sitting in this position for 4 to 5 minutes without talking, they called him. When he stood up, he mingled with them and told them how our ascent of the mountain had ended — how we had killed a warain and how I picked up some stones. All this made them laugh a lot and they offered him a roasted opossum and a white band to tie around his head.
Some time later (Gogy), the other native, sat in the same position but instead of 5 minutes they left him 15 and after some discussion they allowed him to come and sit with them but nobody wanted to talk to him, not even to answer his questions, except the young man I told you about in my last letter who treated him with extreme courtesy, but the others looked at him with terrible eyes. Later on he told me that had we not been there, he would have been killed instantly. I asked him the reason why. He answered that when he was passing through the area where we had our depot some time before our first trip, he had found, he and two or three of his party, a woman belonging to Goondel, and that they had tied her to a tree by the arms and the legs and after they had killed her, they had partially eaten her and had left the remains hang on a tree. (Note that some time in the past he had to flee the district for having killed someone and had received all sorts of kindnesses [?] from Goondel who,

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to shield him from his pursuers, had kept him 7 to 8 months and had tried to pacify the parties concerned. You will judge by this story how foreign gratitude which always goes with an honest heart is to them and how everything to do with cruelty and barbarity is deeply rooted in them by their customs.)
All the natives here wear a coat made of skins of various animals which covers them to their calves. They are at the same time, it seems, smaller in height than our people but on the other hand they are much stronger. Some have several wives and a few others have none and steal them from one another. This is what starts most of their quarrels. They live in huts made of bark which they remove very skilfully from trees. Their way to cook their food is the same as our natives from Parramatta except that when they have a large portion to cook whole, then they dig a hole in the ground 2 or 3 feet in diameter and about 18 inches deep, they make a blazing fire which they cover with earth and stones, and when they think that it’s all sufficiently hot, they uncover the hole, put the portion in it and cover it again with stones and then earth, and make sure that the piece is completely covered [?] by the earth they throw on it. This is the way Goondel prepared a dog for his dinner.
I am sending you a collection of granite rocks which are really precious for displaying and the skin of this kangaroo or warain. What made me return to the depot was my foot which was hurting in a most disagreeable manner and another reason was that it was impossible for me to collect the new plants which I could see everywhere. This time I am going […] with four men loaded only with supplies and me and the 6th man carrying the Natural History collection. I can assure you that shortly I will have a collection of plants which will perhaps surpass your expectations. You will also receive the hide of a young emiou. I have a few butterflies, but too few to send them to you. I beg you to forward me a box that Madame King has for this purpose and it will be full before I return.
We now need 25 pairs of shoes with a lot of nails in the soles, and 10 pairs of blue britches since those we have are now worthless,

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10 pairs of stockings and 3 [?] gallons of rum, if you can see your way to sending it to us, as rum is very necessary to revive weary men, and 4 lbs of good Brazil tobacco.
My compliments to Mrs King, remember me to Mr Chapman and Mr Harris.
I am of your Excellency the humble and very obedient servant,
FL Barrallier.

[IN ENGLISH:] If I don’t come in a month, I shall expect some more provisions because the full complement for 2 months has not been given. I shall expect the cart in a fortnight to bring me the articles that are in this letter and to take my collection. My servant will come back with the cart and it will be necessary that four [me] should be with him.
[IN FRENCH:] This is the very barest sketch and therefore can only give a general idea.