Anyway, I was fascinated by his account of Wednesday 30 December 1801:
On the 30th, our wooding and watering of the ship were completed, the rigging was refitted, the sails repaired and bent, and the ship unmoored. Our friends the natives continued to visit us; and the old man with several others being at the tents this morning, I ordered the party of marines on shore to be exercised in their presence.
The red coats and white crossed belts were greatly admired, having some resemblance to their own manner of ornamenting themselves; and the drum, but particularly the fife, excited their astonishment; but when they saw these beautiful red-and-white men, with their bright muskets, drawn up in a line, they absolutely screamed with delight; nor were their wild gestures and vociferation to be silenced but by commencing the exercise, to which they paid most earnest and silent attention. Several of them moved their hands involuntarily, according to the motions; and the old man placed himself at the end of the rank, with a short staff in his hand, which he shouldered presented, grounded as did the marines their muskets.
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| Drawing by an Aboriginal of the Kingston Tribe S.A. from John Fairfax Conigrave, Adelaide, 1886. |
Charles Darwin was in King George Sound in February 1836 and did not enjoy his time there at all; the summer heat, coarse vegetation and sandy ground, was probably too much for him. In his book The Voyage of the 'Beagle' he described a corroboree he witnessed while there. Here is an edited version:
A large tribe of natives, called the White Cockatoo men, happened to pay the settlement a visit while we were there. These men, as well as those of the tribe belonging to King George's Sound ... were persuaded to hold a "corrobery," or great dancing party. As soon as it grew dark, small fires were lighted, and the men commenced their toilet, which consisted in painting themselves white in spots and lines. As soon as all was ready, large fires were kept blazing, round which the women and children were collected as spectators; the Cockatoo and King George's men formed two distinct parties and generally danced in answer to each other.
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| Engraving by J. Neill from Edward John Eyre, 1845 |
The dancing consisted in their running either sideways or in Indian file into an open space, and stamping the ground with great force as they marched together. Their heavy footsteps were accompanied by a kind of grunt, by beating their clubs and spears together ... In another dance, one man imitated the movements of a kangaroo grazing in the woods, whilst a second crawled up, and pretended to spear him. When both tribes mingled in the dance, the ground trembled with the heaviness of their steps, and the air resounded with their wild cries. Every one appeared in high spirits ... and so perfectly at their ease. After the dancing was over, the whole party formed a great circle on the ground, and the boiled rice and sugar was distributed, to the delight of all.
The visual parallels between the marine drills and corroborees were not lost on either Flinders or the Aboriginal people. Unfortunately the marine uniforms would soon come to represent negative attributes like power, authority, retribution and an alien system of law.
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| Untitled tryptic by Gordon Syron, National Museum of Australia, Canberra |
The last word on redcoats doing drill must go to Gordon Syron who plays with the way history has traditionally been visualised. He is a political artist who identifies as Aboriginal. He uses 'satire and raw imagery to send a message that Australian History has left out the Aboriginal people and their stories'. In his art he often 'turns around the picture' by doing things like portraying Aboriginal people in redcoats and black boots and reversing other historical Aboriginal and white roles, forcing the viewer to reconsider history.
Link to Syron's website here.
All images sourced from the internet.
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