Ravenswood Dreaming, page 8
I suppose we will just have to leave it for Peel. Old John didn’t look happy about the idea. Seems an injustice he didn’t pay for the timber and he sure as hell didn’t pay me to build it.
Young John agreed. I’ve an idea. he addressed the other two. Once I’ve finished at the mill I will stay one more day and pull as much of the timber, especially the planks, off the hut and dismantle the benches and tables. Then I will carry it down to the beach and hide it just below the sand hills. Then if you could talk William Keats into doing another trip we could take it up to Fremantle with us I’m sure it will be handy.
That’s not a bad idea Old John agreed. What do you think James?
It’s worth a try. It would certainly be a good feeling to get one up on that bastard Peel.
Old John looked at his son and smiled at the venom in his language. The boy was growing up.
Old John was up at first light the following morning. He could see Young John was busy getting the fire going and putting the kettle on to boil. While that was happening, he mixed up a substantial amount of flour and water and added a bit of salt, moulded the loaf into a rounded shape and then placed it in the bottom of the African cooking pot, clamped on the lid and carried it over to the fire.
Good morning John.
His son looked up, good morning Dad.
Bread and the last of the beans for breakfast this morning.
They sat there staring into the fire and warming their hands. I‘ve been thinking son, it might be a good idea for me to leave you the gun. Once William picks us up in the boat I won’t need it, Fremantle is relatively safe and anyway I think I’ll buy another one. I don’t like the thought of you being here on your own, a couple of people who were just passing through have said there has been a few problems with the blacks lately.
Fine, leave the gun with me if it makes you feel better. Don’t worry Dad I’ll be careful.
James emerged from the hut, Good morning, What’s for breakfast?
Bread and beans was the reply.
James sat down and commenced putting on his boots and socks, warming each sock before he pulled it on his foot.
Old John noticed that the socks had several holes in them. If Jenefer had been around she would have had them darned by now. He made a mental note to see if he could buy some when they got to Fremantle.
James I’m going to leave the gun with John when we head off to Fremantle.
That makes me feel a bit better Dad. It is just a bit of insurance. He doesn’t have to use it. Sometimes the fact that he is carrying it is enough.
This is the last of the beans James. See if you can bring us a couple of fish for dinner tonight, the larder is getting a little low.
Yes, I can do that. Tonight, will be the last night we eat together for a while. We had better have a good feed.
Before you two boys leave, sort out what you want me to pack in the boat and what you want to keep with you. I think we should all sleep in the hut tonight and then I can pull down that tent and pack it. That way we will have two tents to pitch when we finally all get to Fremantle.
We can do that now, John suggested, that loaf will be a bit longer before it is done.
Yes, I can do that very quickly, James stood up I don’t have much to pack.
He and John walked over to the tent and rummaged around and a few minutes later they appeared with a canvas bag each.
These two bags can go in the boat tomorrow morning, John held his up so that his father could see it, leave the rest in the hut.
Right boys that’s easy. This bread will be done if you want to come and get something to eat.
The three of them broke off a portion of bread and scooped a ladle of beans into bowl and sat around the table eating. When he had finished, Old John divided the remaining bread in two and sat the pieces in bowls ready for William and Jane when they woke up; then moved the pot of beans and sat it on a stone to one side of the fire where it would stay warm. He then gathered up the used bowls and spoons and put them in a wooden bucket. He would wash everything a bit later in the morning or maybe he would get the children to clean up.
The two boys left for work about 7am. John set off down the track where he always met a few other workers going to the mill. James made his way down the track that led to the beach where William Keats picked him up.
Old John sat for a while going over the things he had to do before they left and the things he would have to do when they arrived at their destination.
The appearance of the two youngsters brought him back to the present.
Good morning you two, I thought you were never going to wake up. He didn’t get much response from the two sleepy heads so he tried again. Would you like some breakfast? This time he at least got a nod of the head from each of them so he picked up the pot and spooned some beans into their bowls and spread a little sweet black treacle on their bread. Eat your beans first and then finish off with the bread. They nodded again, they knew better than to complain. He sat and watched them while they ate.
Young John arrived at the meeting place at the same time as William Gaze and they sat together on a log while they waited for the others to arrive. Their numbers had dwindled to four as more and more settlers left Clarence for the main settlement at Perth or Fremantle or journeyed south to the Murray or even left the Swan River altogether.
This will probably be my last few days working at the mill. William Keats is going to transport my Dad and the two youngsters and all our tents and other stuff up to Fremantle tomorrow morning.
I’ll be sorry to see you go John and I’ll miss your great company and our chats about things. I’m going to stay on here for a while. I have actually made an application for a grant of land along the river, south of the main settlement, inland from here. It seems I have a chance. I have sent in a reference from Mr Anderson detailing my good work here. He thinks the governor will look favourably on me as he recognizes that the mill workers, like us, have made a valuable contribution to the establishment of the settlement. It seems that some of the earlier land grants have been rescinded because the owners have not made any improvements and I could be considered for one of these.
The other two workers had arrived and the four of them set off at a brisk walk along the track that led to the mill. Later on that day, when Mr Anderson jangled the triangle to signal the lunch break, the two friends sat down together and had a chance to resume their conversation.
So, tell me more about this block of land that you might be lucky enough to get.
Well, as I was saying, it’s along the river south of the Perth settlement and could be big enough to grow a crop. William was quite enthusiastic. It is what I dreamed about having when I agreed to work with Peel and I thought I had lost any chance when that all collapsed.
One or two of the other workers including Mr Anderson were listening to William. You deserve it William you’ve worked hard here for the past year. I’ll miss you two boys when you leave but I was glad to help out.
Thanks Mr Anderson, the two boys echoed one another.
Mr Anderson continued, that area is known for having a few problems with the blacks so you will have to keep your wits about you. There have been one or two incidents between the Swan River tribe, that’s Yagan’s group, and the group down around the Murray River. I think their leader is Calyute. There were disputes over territory because the Swan River group has been hunting too far south and encroaching on the Murray River group’s territory. Around the southern side of the Swan between the Canning river and the coast is Beeliar territory. Their chief is that cranky old bugger who answers to the name of Midgegooroo. You can recognize him easily because he has a large lump on his forehead. Most people I’ve spoken to say he is not to be trusted. Always in the background spying things out so he can come back and steal them later on when no one is around. Mostly stuff he or his family can eat. Earlier in the year he stole two turkeys from Henry Bull’s farm, that’s up the Canning. A detachment of soldiers caught him in the act of plucking them. They gave him a good beating and took back the turkeys. It didn’t stop there though. The next day a group of Aboriginal men attacked a farm in Kelmscott further up the Canning and wounded a settler named Phillips. Speared him in the leg, pay back I think. If they had wanted to kill him they could have. They were just getting even for the beating given to the old man.
My guess is that kangaroo is getting a bit scarce around here now that the settlements at Perth and Fremantle have sizable populations that have to be fed and that has caused them to encroach on the territory to the south. It also would explain why groups of them are begging for food, especially flour. We will probably see a lot more stealing of things like grain, fowls, bread and potatoes. Wait until they get a taste for mutton and beef, then there will be trouble.
One of the other men interrupted in a puzzled voice. So, they do have some kind of claims over territory? I was under the impression that they were nomadic and just wandered all over the place following the game. He stopped and looked at Mr Anderson for an explanation.
Yes Doug, you are right they are nomadic to a certain extent. They don’t build permanent houses and villages. They have a territory that they have the right to hunt in and they move around in that territory to five or six maybe, good camping-places, where there is water and food. Where they camp is also determined by the weather and the time of year and what’s in season.
Well I certainly don’t want to get mixed up in any of their arguments. I think I’ll just keep to myself and stay right away from them. William looked around the group hoping for agreement with his suggestion.
It is difficult to do that Mr Anderson continued. You see the settlers who wish to farm are already building their houses and clearing and fencing on Aboriginal territory.
Doug directed another question towards Mr Anderson. So how would you know which is their territory? It’s not as if they have put up any fences. They can’t prove which bit of land they own.
You would have to ask them where the boundaries are. I can assure you they know where they are. It’s not like each of them owns separate blocks of land, each tribal group owns or rather has rights to a large tract of land collectively.
The group sat there silently while each of them tried to come to grips with what Mr. Anderson was saying.
So how do you know all this land business, Doug persisted
I’ve seen and heard it all before Doug. Spent some time in Sydney, talked to a lot of people who had first-hand experience on farms. Their laws are pretty much the same all over the continent. Amazing really. They virtually had a bloody war around the Hawkesbury River north of the main settlement. In Tasmania, they had to declare martial law and put a price on their heads because it got so violent.
Yes, but the settlers have good productive farms in those places. Doug interjected.
Not before they got rid of the blacks, or persuaded them not to resist. A lot of people were killed on both sides.
Mr Anderson’s incredible statement stunned them all into silence again. To some of them, what he was suggesting was outrageous. They stood up shaking their heads and went back to work.
There were still a few minutes left of the lunch break and John was curious to hear more from Mr Anderson. He was not the kind of man to shoot his mouth off and what he said maybe had some truth in it.
He walked over closer to Mr Anderson so that he could speak quietly. I just have a couple more questions if you don’t mind.
Yes John, what is it you want to know?
You said something about ‘payback ’how does that work?
I think it is part of their law for settling disputes and grievances. If a tribe is caught spearing a kangaroo on another tribe’s land there must be payback of the kangaroo or something else of equivalent value. If the poaching continues there may be bloodshed, wounding with a spear or even a killing. Trespass on other people’s land is not allowed without permission and or payment.
John nodded to show that he understood.
Payback applies to everything, women, food, deliberate or accidental killing for example. The punishment or retribution does not have to be meted out to the actual perpetrator it can be applied to someone else in the same tribe or family. Of course, it is better if it is the actual perpetrator who is punished.
John looked a bit puzzled so Mr Anderson continued. If I kill someone in your family you are entitled to kill me. If that is not possible or convenient you can kill someone in my family or tribe. That is usually the end of the dispute, otherwise the tit-for-tat killings would go on until no one was left. In the eastern colonies the Aborigines applied this pay back law to the white settlers. You can imagine where that led. John looked perplexed. So, what do you think will happen here in the west?
Well I think it will be fairly grim. The situation with the land is the same all over the continent. The Swan River, the Canning River and the Murray River and the large inlet south of here are not that much different to Port Jackson and Sydney Cove, the Hawkesbury River and the Derwent River. There are large groups of blacks who live around these water ways and they regard the land as theirs. When they realise that a lot of it is going to be fenced and cleared and that they will be denied access, they will not be happy.
John thought for a moment. So, what could we do to avoid the terrible situation you described in the eastern colonies?
Mr Anderson shook his head. Short of packing up and leaving there is very little we could do. Most people who have come to this colony have come here to get rich, to own land, to improve their station in life including the Governor, the soldiers and government officers. Some have invested a lot of money. If anybody gets in their way they will use whatever means is available to get what they want; and don’t forget they have the might of the British military backing them.
Thanks for taking the time to talk to me Mr Anderson. Your words have certainly put a different slant on the situation with the blacks.
You be wary whenever you encounter them. Remember they consider this land belongs to them and they have rules about who can come onto the land and who can hunt on the land. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that because they can’t read and write the way we do that they are not intelligent. They can read signs in the bush, around the rivers and in the air that we aren’t even aware exist. They are extremely observant of their surroundings. They know every inch of the land that is theirs. If you change anything or disturb anything they will know about it. This applies to you as well. Once they have seen you they never forget. If they come into your camp, they will remember every detail. The layout, how many men women and children and any possessions you have lying about.
As soon as the boys had left Old John got busy packing everything he could into several large trunks that had arrived on the ship with the family. The bedding linen, mattresses for himself and the two younger children he left in place in the hut. These he planned to stuff into a barrel, (that one of the other settlers had abandoned), on the morning of their departure. The cooking pots, pans, plates cups, knives and other cutlery would be packed in a wooden box, also on the morning of their departure. This left his tools and other hardware which were already packed in a box he had made for just that purpose.
The rest of the day he spent dismantling the extra tables and benches he had constructed for the tavern and stacking the timber ready for Young John to transport down to the beach. By the time, he had finished that, it was around two o’clock in the afternoon. Since it was their last day at Clarence he decided that the two children deserved a reward, to remember, in the days to come. The three of them spent a couple of hours walking along the beach down to where the wreck of the Rockingham remained stranded. The two children had a lovely time picking up bits of this and that along the high-water mark and examining shells and starfish and cuttlefish and a host of other treasures stranded on the sand as the water receded.
They were back at the hut around four thirty and it was time to light the fire and put the kettle on to boil and heat some water in the African cooking pot. Hopefully, James would have a few fish for their evening meal.
On the way home from the mill John and William lagged slightly behind the other members of the group so they could talk about their plans for the following week and their hopes for the future when they finally left Clarence.
So, John your father is leaving the hut and the tavern tomorrow morning bound for Fremantle.
Yes, William that’s right. He has purchased a town lot or at least half of one. We will go back to sleeping in tents until my father can build us a proper house.
He will try to get a bit of carpentry work to keep us going for a while. Eventually he would like to have a little farm, it is his dream, but he must put that on hold for a few years. The two young children take up much of his time. He doesn’t like to rely on James and me to provide the income needed for our living expenses.
And what about you, what will you do?
At first, I’ll take any work that I can find around the settlement. James, my brother, is of the opinion that there is money to be made supplying fish for the market. He is going to continue to work with William Keats. I might have a look at that if an opportunity arises. So, between the three of us, we should be able to survive.
And you William, tell me more about your plans.
It’s a bit of an unknown at the present. As I said I am waiting on the outcome of my application to the Governor for a grant of land. If that is successful, then I hope to establish a little farm. That is what I too have dreamed of. I would then like to grow some crops, keep some stock, have a vegetable garden. That’s what I dreamed about, maybe it will become a reality.
It’s a fine plan William and I wish you luck my friend. If there is ever anything I can do to help, you have only to ask and if its humanly possible I will be there.
Thanks John and likewise if you ever need a hand you can count on me. Our paths will diverge in the next week or so but no matter what the future holds we will always remain friends.
