Brisbane-street, Ipswich, looking East during the 2nd Flood.
Source: Illustrated Sydney News, 4 Mar 1893
The Queensland Times of the 21 and 23 February 1893 [1,2] , tell of a journey of a small boat, The Venetta, and her crew of five men and their navigation of the flooded Brisbane River to obtain disinfectant (carbolic acid) for the town of Ipswich.
The crew consisted of
W. Young (the skipper)
C. Barff (the boat owner)
W. Williams
R. Gee and
E. Robinson [1]
A week or so later ‘The Skipper’ published a poem, to honour the work that the crew had put in to achieve their goal [3]. He lists his crew as Bemi, Harding, Rich and Scott (and I don’t know how to align those two lists).
I found the poem of interest as I grew up close to the confluence of the Bremer and Brisbane Rivers and therefore I can picture some of the features mentioned. The poem is built of rhyming couplets and the printing in the newspaper does not suggest any verse structure.
The Latin at the start of the poem is from Virgil’s Aenilid, it is a partial quote which could be translated as "The descent is easy... but to recall one's steps is the work, the labor." (translation and source identification courtesy of Google AI). This would be true of this journey, traveling down with the flood but having to return against it. Especially when one considers that the return journey also involves 5cwt (or 254kg) of disinfectant [2].
For people familiar with Ipswich you will note variant spellings, I have left them in as published i.e. Bundanba (Bundamba), Yahmanto (Yamanto), they are not typos on my part.
The Voyage of the Venetta.
[An incident in the flood of 1893]
Facilis descensus .. sed revocari gradum hoc est opus.
When floods torrential from the source of Stanley River wide
Swept down restless in their might, and o'er its rocky side,
Through all the Brisbane Valley fair, its furious waters piled,
Sweeping through villages and farm, with devastation wild;
Struck by the swishing of the waves, the giant gum tree bowed,
The sapling bent beneath the flood, the forests murmured loud -
The farmer started from his sleep; he hears the warning roar
That through the teeming of the rain the tearing tempest bore;
He hears a tumult in the air, the lowing of his herds,
The neighing of his frightened steeds, the clamour of his birds;
He hears the crash of falling trees, he sees the waters foam,
And shudders at the watery curse that threats his life and home.
But short his shrift—around his house a swiftly rising sea ;
He flees, from nigh impending death, for refuge to a tree:
Life yet is sweet, though labour's fruits may wither and decay—
The gathering of his years of thrift swept ruthlessly away.
He is but one, amongst a throng, of everything bereft :
Hope moribund, a sinking heart—their life alone is left.
'Tis theirs to face again the world; they know not how or when,
To fight again the fight forlorn, like lion hearted men!
Ah, brothers! lend a helping hand, ye who have been more blest,
Who "held your forts" above the flood in comfort, peace, and rest.
How short a life is ours to serve! with most 'tis moil and strife;
He nobly strives who seeks to raise the standard of our life.
Humanity appealeth not in vain—our brothers' woe
Must warm the sources of our souls with sympathetic glow.
To Modern Athens came there then, across the foaming flood,
A tale to stir the heart of man and warm the stagnant blood;
For fathoms deep, beneath the tide, the hapless Goodna lay —
Fled all her frighted citizens, to neighbouring heights away;
A guard and engine-driver brought to town thy stirring tale.
Who'd forced their way through flood and fell, along the sunken rail.
A boat! a boat! No time to lose; the sun is sinking low;
They have, who seek to give relief, nigh twenty miles to go,
Through tree encumbered cataracts, through miles of adverse tide,
Through pathless wastes of water spread about the forests wide.
The stout Venetta, broad of beam, was chosen for the deed,
And oarsmen strong, brave volunteers, were there in time of need.
For Bemi, light but valorous, stepped forward at the call,
And Harding, of Yahmanto green, and Rich, the banker tall,
And Scott—that gallant oarsman, who, in all aquatic sport,
Was princeps of Athenians—took stroke upon the port.
The truth of that old adage, that a volunteer was then,
Of coerced and the unwilling, worth a dozen of such men,
Was better ne'er exemplified than by that doughty four,
Who rowed the stout Venetta out to Goodna's flooded shore.
The skipper, at the tiller, gave the final word to "'go;"
In Brisbane-street they launched her, to the waters turbid flow,
By the sunken housetops steering, across the moving tide,
To where the railway viaduct spans Devil's Gully wide,
Thence eastward past the buildings of the Factory of Wool,
By sawmill of the Hancocks, by the flooded "Pocket," pull
Then eastward from the Bremer the Venetta holds her way
In a " bee-line" to the Junction through the watery forests gray.
'Twas no picnic for those rowers, who worked with might add main.
Squalls gathered from the southward, with a choppy sea and rain.
And the roaring of the Brisbane, as our craft the Junction nears,
Was a sound of fear, yet welcome, to the weary oarsmen's ears.
But the evening was closing, and we—-nigh of light bereft
Saw the rushing river raging in its fury on our left;
Saw the timber racing downward, as the torrent swept along ;
Heard the menace of the water, in its rough, defiant song.
And the helmsman at the tiller and the toilers at the oar
Were conscious of the danger of the turmoil that they saw
Of the debris and the whirlpools, the evening growing dark,
The hurly of the waters, as they launched their gallant barque.
Now, through the growing darkness our beacon lantern shone,
And cast a feeble radiance the waste of waters on.
We passed the reach at Redbank to that terror-breeding spot
Where the Seven-Mile and the river form' a giant "'boiling pot."
As she felt that press of water on her counter and her keel,
She listed to the port, then to starboard gave a heel,
And seemed to halt a moment, as around the river raves,
And she trembled like an aspen in the churning of the waves;
But the crew were staunch and fearless, and through the whirlpool broke,
As their skipper's call they answered with a strong and steady stroke.
Now, away upon the starboard, the crew delighted sees
The lights at Goodna shining on the water through the trees.
They heard the lengthsman shouting; the moving lights they saw,
And, with an answering "coo-ee," turned their vessel to the shore;
Landed there their freight of rations, were welcomed with a will,
Then crossed the stretch of water to th' Asylum on the hill.
They roused the genial doctor from his slumbers in that hall
In happier times that's dedicate to music and to ball;
They roused the sleeping warders there—a dozen men or more—
In every stage of deshabille encamped upon the floor.
They told their tale of travel; then, a tent beneath each head,
They slept Endymion's slumber, with a blanket for their bed.
The morning dawned auspiciously; at eight we broke our fast;
Then homeward on the rising flood again our fortunes cast.
We passed the Goodna house-tops, like islands in the sea,
Saw the hoarsely roaring Brisbane raging still upon our lee.
To the southern bank then clinging, we avoid the current strong,
And catch the reflex of a tide that hurries us along;
But the river banks are higher as we near that fateful spot
That the crew, with ready aptitude, had christened "boiling pot."
We felt the current, stiffer as the banks were closing in:
We knew the fight before as, and we steeled our hearts to win!
Like Paladins the pullers worked away with might and main,
But found that stratagem must win where strength and pluck are vain.
Still, foot by foot they struggled; yet the strife unequal grew,
As round the bends and headlands the furious torrent flew;
And now a combat masterful betwixt four gallant men
And that wild river raging; the odds were one to ten
'Tis vain to strive against that tide; they spring upon the land,
And, waist deep wading in the waves, the faithful painter manned;
And foot by foot up that wild reach, close to the rugged shore,
They labouring tug their tiny craft for two long miles or more.
By trees submerged, by houses wrecked, and drenched by flood and showers,
The toiling crew held on their way for two long, wearying hours,
Till, well-night open', they won at length, that ever valiant crew,
And hailed with joy the placid reach that led to Riverview:
Bent to their oars, they swept along by Ashburn's mansion fair.
Now menaced by the rising flood; no living soul was there.
Then we met, as swinging onward, two miles towards the town.
The wherry of the Queensland Times, to starboard bearing down,
And the three good men that manned her, they hailed us with acclaim,
And asked us of the river's strength along the way we came,
Then passed; and we in "bee-line" to our destination steered;
Till the Limestone Hill, at Ipswich, on the horizon appeared,
And we saw "Brenbhyfryd" mansion, with its tower shining fair,
Gloaming over flooded Blackstone from the heights of Aberdare.
By Bundanba and by Booval with steady swing we go,
By factory of cotton in the water standing low;
Through the high streets of the "Pocket," over Bashford's flooded lane,
By the Grammar School and Claremont, till we reach the bridge again.
Thence o'er the Devil's Gully to the Palais Royal we steer,
To meet a generous welcome in a hearty British cheer!
All honour to those rowers four, who volunteered unsought,
and, by their pluck and energy, relief to Goodna brought;
And, if a piteous cry for help shall rise aloud once more,
He gains who ships as good a crew as that same doughty four!
THE SKIPPER
(Messrs W. Young)
Further notes.
I have bolded some text in the poem and I have provided links below in case like me some of the places caught your interest.
Ashburn's mansion - currently the Salvation Army Riverview Farm. Once the home of John Ashburn, ‘Ashdale’ became part of the Salvation Army’s property portfolio in 1897 and has been a preventative home for girls, a boys reformatory school, a training farm, an industrial school and an alcohol rehab facility.
Asylum on the hill - The Woogaroo Asylum - see my index of articles in this blog.
Brenbhyfryd - see https://www.discoveripswich.com.au/legend-blackstone-castle/
Cotton - see https://www.ipswichlibraries.com.au/the-cotton-and-wool-industry-of-ipswich/
A lengthsman is a person assigned a portion of road or railway to care for.
Palais Royal - https://www.pictureipswich.com.au/nodes/view/9927
References
[1] The "Queensland Times" Expedition No. 2. (1893, February 21). Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld. : 1861 - 1908), p. 2. Retrieved September 25, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article123349077
[2] The Trip of the Venetta. (1893, February 23). Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld. : 1861 - 1908), p. 5. Retrieved September 25, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article123351713
[3] The Voyage of the Venetta. (1893, March 2). Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld. : 1861 - 1908), p. 5. Retrieved September 25, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article123346819
