Butterflies and Demons. Eva Chapman

Wright, disgraced of Bedlam, wangled a passage on the survey ship Cygnet, and proceeded to cause mayhem by quaffing endless tankards of rum and attacking people, including the captain. On the Tam O’Shanter sailed Captain Walter Bromley, who had been interviewed in London for the job of Protector of Aborigines by the future governor, Captain John Hindmarsh. Hindmarsh settled himself, his large family, his private secretary George Stevenson, the Resident Commissioner James Hurtle Fisher, and a huge array of livestock on the HMS Buffalo. Sir John Jeffcott, who had – amid controversy – been appointed Chief Judge of South Australia, was supposed to accompany the Governor. A long line of his creditors who waited on the Plymouth quay were irate when he failed to turn up. John Barton Hack, a wealthy Quaker, boarded the Isabella a few weeks later with his large family. He was surprised by the late and somewhat stealthy arrival of a Knight of the British Empire, none other than Sir John Jeffcott. Hack wondered what dark secrets this man was escaping.

      ‘Yoko! Yoko!’ Midlato was whipped out of her musings. The children were jumping up and down in a frenzy. ‘Yoko! Yoko!’ Shaggy koalas startled from their slumber, joined in the squealing.

      Sure enough, there it was; a ship! Although fearful, Midlato marvelled at the yoko’s great white pelts billowing out from three enormous sticks, which propelled it like a giant bleached swan up the gulf. Over the next few days the children reported the ship’s whereabouts. It sailed around Mudlunnga, a nose shaped protuberance where Kaurna hunters trapped emus, and entered an inlet towards Yartabulti ‘the marshy place where birds went to sleep’. This mangrove-lined swamp was where other bleached swans had also stopped. Why were they so interested in this place? It was so dank and full of dark spirits. The yoko then sailed out into the gulf again and went southwards. It stopped at Patawalonga Creek, or rather, it tried to stop. There had been a terrible storm that night. Perhaps the ancestors were angry that these ghost-skins were coming. Or were the Wirra sorcerers up to their magic? Kudnartu told Midlato that the people were calling on Karndo, a birdlike creature, to bring on the worta bokarra, the tempestuous north westerly winds, to stop white-skins from landing.

      For the first time ever, Midlato was apprehensive of moving to the plains. She was glad of the stormy winds that delayed their descent. She blocked up the front of her wardli to keep out the worta bokarra, and peeked out the back. From here, she could just see the jultiwirra, the stringy bark trees at the top of the gully which marked Permangk territory. Her teeth chattered, the old enemy in front, and a new, sinister enemy behind.

      The winds eventually calmed down. The yoko had billowed away for the time being, but all knew in their bones it would be back. They heard an intriguing story. The white captain of the ship had a Kaurna woman from Karta on board. Who could she be? Midlato fervently hoped it would be her friend Kartanya’s grandmother. Ever since she had heard the story of her captured kammammi from her mother, who had so narrowly escaped, Kartanya would often sit at Ngaltingga and gaze wistfully out to sea.

      Colonel Light was in a flat spin. He felt weighed down by his onerous task – to found the city Adelaide – the new Athens of the south, where the most enlightened ideals of the British Empire would flourish. After a delayed start, the Rapid arrived late. The South Australian Colonial Society from its Adelphi headquarters in London issued precise guidelines. The new city must sit on fertile land, have access to fresh water, and be near a good harbour. Light felt unwell, his phlegm spotted with blood. There was no sign of the Cygnet, which carried all his surveying equipment.

      With the help of a Kaurna woman who lived on Kangaroo Island, Light explored the coast. She had lived with a sealer for several years who named her Sally, so spoke English well and could tell Light many details about the area. Light was impressed by her, and the Adelaide Aborigines, remarking on their friendliness and honesty.

      It was springtime in the Southern Hemisphere but wintry squalls hampered travel. The Rapid was buffeted up to the place Sally called Yartabulti, soon to be dubbed Port Misery, and later Port Adelaide. It was a good harbour but too swampy for a city. The Rapid sailed south and anchored at Patawalonga Creek in wild winds, the stormiest weather yet. Light named the place Holdfast Bay, as the Rapid managed to stay put, despite the tempestuous waves. The bay was not suitable for a city, as it was reedy and marshy. ‘Just what “patawalonga” means,’ explained Sally in her musical voice, but then added that beyond the reedbeds was a larger river, the Karrawirraparri, or red gum forest river, which meandered down from the hills. Interested, Light ascended a high sandy ridge and was enchanted by the vista which unfolded before him. Was he gazing upon the future new city? On the 3rd of October 1836, Light placed his flagstaff on the ridge to help him construct a chart of the gulf. Winds were still strong as the party sailed south and explored the mouth of the Pooke-paringa where Collet Barker had camped. Although fertile, the area lacked a good harbour. Further down the coast Light spotted a peaceful looking bay which abounded with pelicans, but on coming inland it proved treacherous. Deception Bay, he called it. Ironically, Kirrila had been abducted from there many years earlier.

      Light kept coughing up blood. His lungs were being attacked by the onset of tuberculosis and his mind by anxiety, brought on by ‘such repeated bad weather checking our work, and the dread of having a host of emigrants out before I knew where to land them.’

      It seemed every time he tried to land, a vicious gale suddenly rose out of nowhere and nearly scuppered him.

      Light’s Diary – October 12, 1836: ‘Very fine weather... winter and gales being now over... At eight, we began sending things on shore; at ten the wind shifted to the NNW and WNW, at noon a sudden change of wind to the NNE with sultry and oppressive air; in a few minutes, thunder clouds appeared very near, from the westward; without any previous indications a sudden west wind sprang up, and a high sea... At half past one pm several severe flashes of lightning with thunder close to us, and the rain fell heavy; about two, this squall passed over but we found ourselves in now another gale... hard gales and a high sea throughout the night.’

      The Wirra sorcerers smiled in satisfaction. Karndo was doing her job, bringing on tempestuous north westerly winds every time the ship tried to land. The Wirra were determined to use everything in their power to stop the invaders arriving on their soil. Kadlitpina, who supported Murlawirrapurka’s ‘watch and wait’ advice, scolded them.

      ‘Why should we not use our magic?’ they riposted. ‘The white man uses his. Look at his exploding sticks.’

      Wauwe Woman: What? You are suggesting that sorcery was stopping Light from landing? You can’t possibly be serious!

      Author: Yes, is this a problem?

      Wauwe Woman: It is downright dangerous to accuse the Aborigines of dabbling in sorcery. Don’t you know that’s such inflammable tinder for white man to totally dismiss the black man’s point of view? They will see us as a bunch of barbaric savages. I thought you were garnering sympathy for the Kaurna.

      Author: Well I am. So, what do you want me to do? Suppress that information?

      Wauwe Woman: Frankly, yes!

      Murlawirrapurka, like Colonel Light, also felt weighed down by an onerous task. The future of the Tandanya people was in the balance, and he had been chosen to cope with the impending upheaval. What could he do? His people had lived in this area for thousands of years and had links with Aboriginal groups all over Terra Australis, as the Europeans called it. Each distinct group had its own language and culture and its particular strength to give to the whole: the Ngarrindjeri were politicians and warriors; the Moorundie knew the secrets of the giant river; the Narungga, the tides of the Wongayerlo; and his own people were celebrated educators. Representatives from afar attended the famous banbabanbalya to seek advice from the Red Kangaroo people, renowned for their intellect and wise counsel. They brought disturbing tales of what ghost-skins were doing in other parts of the land. They also brought some good news, of extraordinary weapons and tools, and of a ghost-skin who had