Daniel Moowattin
| Daniel Moowattin | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1791 Parramatta, Australia |
| Died | 1 November 1816 (aged 24–25) Sydney, Australia |
| Other names | Mow-watty, Mowwatting, Moowatting and Moowattye |
Daniel Moowattin (c1791-1816) was an Aboriginal Australian Darug man from the Parramatta area in New South Wales. He is noted for his work as a guide and assistant to the botanical collector George Caley and as the third Aboriginal person known to have visited England. There are a number of other spellings of his name, including Mow-watty, Mowwatting, Moowatting and Moowattye.
Born in the Parramatta area around 1791, Moowattin was a member of the Darug tribe. His name, Moowattin (Mow-watty, Moowattye or Mowwatting), means "bush path". He was adopted as an infant by Richard Partridge, the government flogger and executioner.
By 1805 he became a guide and helper for the botanical collector George Caley who collected plant specimens for Joseph Banks in the Colony of New South Wales from 1800 to 1810. Many of those specimens have the annotation in Caley's hand "got by Dan".
The placenames, ‘Moowattin Creek’ and ‘Cataract of Carrunggurring’, appear on colonial maps. Caley records that while searching for a koala in 1807, Daniel ‘heard a noise like the surf’ and found a cataract (waterfall) flowing into the river.
When it was time for Caley to return home in 1810 he wrote to Joseph Banks seeking permission to bring Moowattin with him. They sailed to England on HMS Hindostan in 1810.
Moowattin was the third Australian Aboriginal person to visit England.Bennelong and Yemmerrawanne had visited England 18 years earlier in 1792. He enjoyed his time there but longed to come back home, saying "I am anxious to return to my own country, I find more pleasure under a gum tree sitting with my tribe than I do here." In his homesickness he seemed to have picked up a liking for alcohol.
His pronunciation of the English language was generally admired ; his apparel, which was also provided by the benevolent Baronet ... was directed to be of good quality, to which the taylor did not forget to add the very pink of fashion, so that Mr Moowattye was to all intents and purposes a black beau.
In 1811 Moowattin attended a London party where an English woman sang "No, my love, no". He responded by singing an Aboriginal song. An eyewitness reported: "He sat with strongly marked expressions of attention and delight, and, when asked to sing, consented with a smile. His articulation seemed indistinct, the sounds having great similarity to each other, as, rah-rah tah, wha-rah rah, bahhah tab-rah hah. The tune was occasionally changed; the ditty was divided into three parts or verses: the latter was particularly hurried and exulting. On being requested to put the song into English, he replied, ‘not well to do; but first we take fish, next take kangaroo, then take wife.’"
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