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• ◇McIvor/MacIvor▲aboriginal context□corridor place□hotel publicanline 13

  """the site at Cape Bedford unsuited; never be self-supporting; advise 640 acres on south bank of / McIvor, good land, water carriage, naturally fenced, twenty-five miles from Cooktown and eight from / settlement on the McIvor and the native police station."" That sensible advice was unfortunately not"

• ◇McIvor/MacIvor▲aboriginal context□corridor place□hotel publicanline 14

  "McIvor, good land, water carriage, naturally fenced, twenty-five miles from Cooktown and eight from / settlement on the McIvor and the native police station."" That sensible advice was unfortunately not / adopted. Hence more wasted labour, and a Mission Station paralysed for want of land that would have"

• ◇McIvor/MacIvor▲aboriginal context□corridor place□hotel publicanline 34

  than religious zeal and philanthropy. The missionary, Mr. Schwarz, is absolute master of the dialects / spoken from the McIvor River south to the Blomfield [sic], and west to the Laura. He possesses the respect / and confidence of the aboriginals, and appeared to me as an excellent man with all the natural and

[centred] 7
people's voices were joined by Mr. Schwarz as a tenor and Mr. Poland as a basso, with the ladies and
harmonium added, the result was a delightful musical treat. In the politeness of their manners and
modesty of demeanour the aboriginal girls at these Cape Bedford stations excel any I have ever seen
before. They were very neatly dressed, and looked pictures of health and contentment.
The Cape Bedford Station was started in 1886. On the 25th January in that year the Rev. Mr.
Flierl was landed there by Mr. Milman, P.M. It matters not who selected the site. It was apparently
chosen by some poetic person on account of the romantic and picturesque situation, and the facilities
for mountain climbing and sea bathing. The question of soil, to grow something, was evidently
never considered. There is little else but bare rock or drift sea-sand within at least ten miles
of the house. I find in a telegram dated 22nd February, 1886, Inspector Fitzgerald advised that
"the site at Cape Bedford unsuited; never be self-supporting; advise 640 acres on south bank of
McIvor, good land, water carriage, naturally fenced, twenty-five miles from Cooktown and eight from
settlement on the McIvor and the native police station." That sensible advice was unfortunately not
adopted. Hence more wasted labour, and a Mission Station paralysed for want of land that would have
kept the blacks together and given them work and food.
The Rev. Mr. Flierl was on his way under engagement to a New Guinea mission field when
circumstances diverted his attention to Queensland. In January, 1886, the then Colonial Secretary
undertook to erect a house and store, twenty iron huts for the blacks, fence in 10 acres, supply tools
and seeds and a boat, and provisions for twelve months if Mr. Flierl would promise to remain five
years and ask no further assistance. Next year, however, Flierl had to go to his work in New Guinea,
and was succeeded at Cape Bedford by Carl A. Meyer, who had been eleven years in charge of the
Kopperamana Mission Station on Cooper's Creek. After a brief stay at Cape Bedford, Meyer went to
the Blomfield [sic] Mission Station, and was succeeded by Messrs. Pfalzer and Schwarz at the Cape.
The Government, being appealed to in January, 1888, renewed assistance, and gave £10 per
month, increased in March, 1889, to £200 per annum. The grant subsequently ceased, and since 30th
June, 1893, the Cape Bedford Stations have received no Government assistance. Having no land for
cultivation, Mr. Schwarz purchased 100 head of cattle for the benefit of the Mission. These have
increased to about 500. Some are sold on behalf of the Mission, and some are killed for the blacks.
During my visit there were about sixty aboriginals camped near the Mission House.
The total expense of these two Cape Bedford Missions for three years has been borne by a
religious society in Germany, an act of unselfish generosity prompted evidently by no other motive
than religious zeal and philanthropy. The missionary, Mr. Schwarz, is absolute master of the dialects
spoken from the McIvor River south to the Blomfield [sic], and west to the Laura. He possesses the respect
and confidence of the aboriginals, and appeared to me as an excellent man with all the natural and
acquired qualifications for the work he has undertaken. Both Cape Bedford Stations afford the one
advantage of complete isolation from white men, and as such are fitted for the aboriginal women and
children, but there is no game, and the surface for miles is all barren drift-sand swept by the wind into
dome-topped and ridge-crested dunes. There is an abundance of food in the sea, but the coast there is too
exposed for regular fishing that would give permanent supplies. The want of agricultural land is a fatal
defect. There is good land available twenty miles north, and a couple of hundred acres of that could be
utilised as a farm in connection with the Mission, or the Mission itself could be removed to the farm, and
the aboriginal men and women employed in growing their own food.
The vicinity of Cooktown has been a disadvantage. Large and small parties of blacks would
come occasionally to the Mission Station, stay a few days or weeks, and go back to the town. In
February, 1885, the Cooktown Council endeavoured to get the blacks excluded from the town at night,
and afterwards also in the daytime. At present they have to leave the town before dark. "Town
blacks" everywhere are in a demoralised condition, from Brisbane to Cooktown, and no system for the
benefit of the aboriginals in the settled districts will do any good unless it excludes them from the towns
altogether.
In the meantime, pending any change by the Cape Bedford missionaries, I would very earnestly
recommend the Home Secretary to recontinue at least part of the original grant, as a graceful and justly
deserved recognition of the unselfish and effective labours of people who can be relied on to expend the
money honestly to the best advantage of the aboriginals. It would enable them to increase the number
of school children, and provide food for more of the old people of both sexes.
[centred] BLOMFIELD [sic] RIVER MISSION STATION.
This station originated in 1886, when Sir S. W. Griffith, then Chief Secretary, wired from
Normanton on 18th March advising the appointment of L. G. Bauer as superintendent for twelve months,
at a salary of £300 and provisions. The area of operations included a station reserve of 640 acres, and a
hunting reserve of fifty square miles. Bauer's estimate of first year's cost and buildings was £1,625, and
the actual expenditure was £1,434, paid by the Government. The average attendance of blacks in
Bauer's year was sixty-five. Bauer was not reappointed, and the station was taken over in June, 1887, by
the Lutheran Mission Council of South Australia. On 14th April, 1888, the Government, being applied
to for aid, granted £10 per month for the year, raised it to £12. 10s. from the 1st of September, 1889,
and increased it to £250 per annum from the 1st of January, 1895. During Bauer's year he contrived
to feed the blacks at a cost of 3d. to 5d. per day, but there is no mention if they were satisfied or
otherwise with the quantity or quality of provisions.
The Blomfield [sic] Mission Station is situated on Captain King's (1819) "Blomfield's [sic] Rivulet," a
small river running into Captain Cook's Weary Bay, about thirty miles south of Cooktown, from whence
there is a road overland for fifty-three miles, with a very steep and rough descent from the coast range
into the Blomfield [sic] Valley. The Mission is on the head of the river, near the falls, and six miles from
the sea. At this point the river is merely a narrow creek about twenty-five yards across, and the
outlying spurs of the range come close to both banks, leaving only a narrow strip of somewhat broken
land available for cultivation. Some evil genius seems to have presided over the selection of sites for all
the Mission Stations in Queensland. The land cultivated by the Blomfield [sic] Mission was certainly scrub
soil, but some of the worst scrub soil in the district. It was probably chosen by someone acting under
the delusion that all scrubs cover rich agricultural land. The choice was the more unfortunate in face
of the fact that there was plenty of excellent soil available in the surrounding country.