Fraser, Private William ( - 1843)
Date 2006/7/18 4:50:19 | Topic: Australian
| Private William Fraser of the 39th Regiment. went on both of Sturt’s earlier expeditions, and also journeyed with him to Adelaide in 1838
He seems to have been quite a character. Beatrix Sturt described him as “less proof against convivial joys than against the terrors of the wilderness.” The following passage from Michael Langley’s book Sturt of the Murray is part of the description of the expedition of 1829, as they set out to explore the Murrumbidgee: “Fraser, a men of eccentric ways, wandered almost abreast of them, completely lost in thought, very unsuitably clad and ill equipped for the scorching conditions, with his gun across his shoulders and festooned with cartridge belts.”
Despite his eccentricity, he must have been an accurate shot, as he was placed in the bow of the famous whaleboat “with instructions to fire at any new bird they might surprise in the swift and silent passage through the water.”
It was Fraser’s conviviality which almost certainly saved the lives of the whole expedition. While on guard duty, Fraser and Harris talked and laughed with four Aborigines, long into the night after the others had retired. As Sturt recorded: “Fraser, to beguile the hours, proposed shaving his sable companions, and performed that operation with admirable dexterity upon their chief, to his great delight.”
Soon after, a large tribe assembled along the bank and threatened than with spears and clubs. They took the boat out of range near the opposite bank, but the Aborigines followed then along the other shore, growing ever more hostile and threatening. Soon they started running on ahead of the boat, and on rounding a bend, Sturt’s men were confronted by a large spit running well beyond the middle of the river. By this time it was covered with yelling, gesticulating Aborigines, and as there was obviously no escape, Sturt reluctantly ordered him men to cock their guns and sell their lives dearly. Just as a bloody battle seemed inevitable, four more Aborigines came running along the other bank, yelling and waving frantically to their compatriots. At first the explorers thought these four were the vanguard of more reinforcements, but when they reached the leaders of the tribe, they forced down their weapons and calmed than down. These four proved to be the ones Fraser and Harris had been entertaining in camp so recently, and Sturt and his men were able to continue their voyage without further hindrance from the Aborigines, and were not obstructed on their return journey. Only Fraser and MacLeay were given the honour of accompanying Sturt to the sea at the mouth of the Murray, while the others struck camp ready for the return journey.
The 1838 expedition was an attempt to overland cattle to Adelaide, and again Private Fraser was part of the team. This time they had great difficulty with the “polygomen” scrub and with Aborigines. Also this time, Fraser seems to have been less convivial, and after being nearly killed a couple of times while trying to rescue cattle from the “sable companions”, Langley says “. . .only with the greatest difficulty did Sturt prevent Fraser slaughtering several blacks who had tried to attack his dog.”
Fraser died in January, 1843, and Sturt wrote of him: “...my old attendant Fraser, who I regret to say died about a fortnight ago at Wellinga, repeating my name almost to the moment when he expired.”
This seems rather inadequate. Sturt is recognised as one of Australia’s most important explorers, but he would have achieved little without the support of his men, especially Private Fraser.
|
|