Ravenswood Dreaming, page 9
More than that, we are brothers.
William there is something that troubles me and I feel I should speak out so that you can at least consider it.
John, by all means speak, for there can be no secrets and troubles between us.
At the end of lunch, I approached Mr Anderson and asked him to elaborate some more on what he had to say about the Aboriginal people.
Mmm! It certainly didn’t sound good but perhaps the settlers antagonized them and one thing lead to another and before they knew it the whole thing got out of hand. William looked at John for agreement.
It could be a little more complicated than that, John continued. He didn’t want to alarm William or frighten him. Rather he just wanted William (as Mr Anderson put it) to keep his wits about him and be on guard and prepared.
Mr Anderson’s thoughts on the matter are that the Aboriginal people believe that the land belongs to them and that we are in effect trespassing on their land.
William seemed confused. But they are nomadic and there are no indications that they own the land or are attached to it in any way.
You see William, he maintains that they don’t own the land individually, rather they own it collectively. Each group has the right to a very large tract of land and this gives them the right to move across, live, hunt and harvest and fish the rivers and estuaries.
William was silent so John continued. Whether we think that is right or wrong doesn’t matter, it’s what they believe. If we do anything to prevent them from exercising these rights to live, hunt and fish, they will resist. I just wanted you to be aware that when you are going about establishing your farm you may encounter this resistance.
Yes John, I understand what you are saying and thank you for your concern. Rest assured I will be cautious.
James was not finished, and one other thing. William inclined his head. Will you please buy yourself a gun and get a dog and I will sleep easier.
William smiled, I already had thought of that. The gun will be useful to shoot kangaroos and wildfowl for food, and a dog, I thought, would be good company.
They had arrived back at what was left of the Clarence village. William deviated towards his tent and John continued up the track towards the hut. The four other members of his family were sitting on the logs around the fire. They smiled and waved at him and the two younger children ran to meet him. They were both excited about the prospect of going to live in Fremantle and the boat trip in the morning. As they chatted happily he realised they really had little idea of what living in a town was like. Small though it was, the port was going to be a great new adventure for both of them. Jane grabbed his hand and led him over to the fire where she instructed him to sit down and then promptly installed herself on his knee. William took John’s bag and deposited it in the hut and then returned to sit next to him. For the next ten minutes, he had to listen to them talking about the events of their day. Packing up their things, the walk on the beach, the shells and other odds and ends they had gathered, the wreck of the Rockingham and finally the questions about what to expect when they move to Fremantle.
Old John who had been listening with a smile on his face stood up. Right you two that’s enough questions for now. John needs a bit of peace, he’s been working hard all day you know. Get your plates ready. James has nearly finished cooking the fish. Go around the other side of the fire and he will dish you some up, then come back to me and I’ll break you off a bit of bread.
When they all had some food, they sat around on the logs with their plates balanced on their knees eating the fish and throwing the bones into the fire. Old John surveyed the scene. It was a happy sight he thought, despite the events of the past year. They were all filled with a sense of optimism, anticipating a new beginning, starting tomorrow.
After they had eaten Old John washed up the plates and stacked them on one of the logs to dry in the heat from the fire. He then rinsed out the frying pan with boiling water and hung it up on a nail that he had driven into a tree for that purpose. He would use the pan in the morning to cook up some rice for their breakfast and then pack it in the box with the other utensils. He then returned to sit by the fire.
Time for bed you two, we’ve got an early start in the morning and a busy day ahead of us. He waited awhile then visited the hut to say goodnight. When he returned to the fire he held a bottle of port wine in one hand and three mugs in the other. I thought boys we would have a mug of wine to toast our new beginnings. They sat around the fire for another hour and talked again about the arrangements for the next morning and for the next seven or eight days so that they were clear in their minds what the plan was. Then they said goodnight and turned in for their final sleep as a family at Clarence.
The next morning Old John was up at daybreak. He walked a little way in to the bush and urinated behind a tree. He then scratched around and gathered some twigs, returned to the clearing and coaxed the fire back in to life, then put the kettle on to boil. He knew that Young John and James were awake and would be out soon. There was something he had to do.
He set off down a track into the sand dunes at the rear of the hut. On the way, he stopped and broke some sprigs off a t-tree, then continued on his way. In a few minutes, he arrived at the small clearing surrounded by wattles where his poor wife and infant son lay buried. The wattles were not yet in flower but he walked over to one side and picked some stems of yellow flowers that reminded him of buttercups and added them to the sprigs of t-tree. He placed the posy on the mound of sand at the base of the cross. I’ll be leaving today my love. We have to leave this place to give the children a better life in Fremantle. It’s not too far away, so once I have built them a house and got our finances in order, I’ll come back and see you and tell you how everyone is. Goodbye for now.
He turned and walked back along the track, wiping away a tear that had somehow managed to find its way onto his cheek.
As he had thought, John and James were up and had the rice cooking away in the pan and a very large round pat of dough baking in the African cooking pot. The two younger children were stirring and about to get dressed.
Old John took over the preparation of breakfast so that Young John could sit down and put his boots on. He looked up from stirring the rice. When you leave for the mill today John, be sure to take the gun with you and make sure you keep it loaded and with you each day.
Young John turned his head to look at his father, right you are Dad, I will do that I promise. Just leave me enough of that bread to take to the mill.
Will do, Old John nodded. Then added, I will buy another gun when I get to Fremantle.
The children were out of bed and dressed. Old John, fished the bread out of the cooking pot and broke off two pieces and placed one on each of their plates and added a generous serve of rice.
The two older boys helped themselves and sat down on the log to eat.
When Old John had eaten, he mixed up another batch of dough and placed it in the pot to cook. That would be for the four of them to eat during the day.
John was ready to depart for work. Old John stood up to shake his hand. I will leave you a frying pan and the kettle so you can boil water. When you leave for the last time you will have just that sheet of canvas, the kettle, the frying pan, the gun, a hammer and any food you have left. There should be enough flour and rice and hopefully James will bring you some fish the day after tomorrow or perhaps you can shoot a duck or something.
That sounds fine dad, I’ll see you in Fremantle in about a week. James can keep you up to date on how I am going. Don’t forget William Gaze is just down the way.
Now you take care son, this family needs you. He placed his hand on young John’s shoulder.
John walked over and hugged William and Jane. Now, you two make sure you help your Dad get set up in Fremantle. I’ll see you in a few days. He turned and picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder, shook James’ hand, took the gun from his father and set off down the track to meet William Gaze and the others.
Old John and James cleaned up the breakfast utensils and packed them into the box. They then pulled down the tent and rolled the bedding and packed it all into the barrel they had reserved for that purpose. The barrel had a lid but it would not be sealed as they did not have any wax.
There was little else to do so the four of them began ferrying everything down to the beach.
William Keats was just pulling his boat in nose first up the beach and burying the anchor in the sand. Hello everyone, he walked over and shook Old John’s hand. Good to see you again John. I keep up with how you are through James.
Old John smiled. We really appreciate this help William, it will save us a great deal of time and effort.
You are welcome, it is what friends do. You won’t regret this move John. There are a lot of opportunities in Fremantle and your family will be more secure and supplies are a bit easier to buy when a ship comes in.
Yes Will, we are all looking forward to building a new home and the children are very excited. There really isn’t much for them to do stuck out here at Clarence. There may even be an opportunity for them to attend a school and get some lessons as neither of them can read and write.
William turned to survey the luggage. Must be a bit more is there?
Yes, won’t be a minute
James and Old John made two more trips up to the hut to bring down the cask with the bedding, the tent and the box of wood.
While they were away, William turned the boat around and dropped an anchor out in the deeper water so that the boat was floating with its stern towards the beach. This would allow them to sail straight out into deeper water with the boat loaded. William called out for them to begin bringing the gear out and he carefully stowed it first under the front deck and then evenly distributed along the length of the boat. When all the items had been positioned to William’s satisfaction, he called to Old John to lift the two children in.
Now John, you sit just forward of the mast where you can steady the cask if it moves. The two little ones can sit on the luggage mid- ship and James you steady the boat while your Dad gets the anchor in and then you push off and jump in beside me in the stern.
Finally, they were all comfortably seated and James remained standing in the water with both hands firmly gripping the stern. William gave the order, Right, John pull the anchor on board. As soon as the boat began to move James clambered aboard. Within seconds Will had the sail up. It filled and they were under way. It was as smooth as silk. It was a manoeuvre that Will and James had done hundreds of times. The children cheered and clapped, they were on their way at last.
Back in the sand hills at Clarence a small furry Kangaroo with a sooty black tail, black tipped ears and black gloved hands ventured slowly out into a warm, sunny clearing. She tested the air. Something she did not recognize had been there recently. She listened intently turning her remarkable ears this way and that. She sensed nothing threatening. Satisfied it was safe she dug both hands deep into her pouch and turfed out her joey. It staggered to the upright position, very wobbly. After a while it took a few mistimed and clumsy hops which went in various directions, stumbled over some rocks, and finally stopped, on top of a mound of sand marked by a crucifix. It stood upright looking very pleased with itself. A couple of yards away its mother, with one eye on her joey, was nibbling the shoots of grass. The joey as if copying its mother bent down and tentatively nibbled, then stood up again and looked at its mother for her approval
William set a course at a sharp angle away from the beach and when they were out about one hundred yards he turned north parallel to the shore. The sturdy boat was not challenged by the small surface waves that were hitting her port bow and she was soon slicing through them at a steady speed. Every so often, to the delight of the children, a wave slopped against the boat sending a fine spray of chilly water over them and Old John.
To their left, off in the distance, they could see three ships anchored in the lee of Garden Island. Between the ships and the mainland were several smaller boats, with sails up, beating a course that would intersect with the course Will had set. After a while they realised that some of the boats were heading out to the ships and some were heading towards the mainland.
Three ships in today, Old John remarked.
Will nodded, yes two of them have been here a few days, the third one, the largest, arrived this morning just after dawn. Those boats are going to-and-fro’ ferrying cargo and passengers ashore. That’s a fairly good business to be part of John. There is no other way of landing cargo or passengers as the rock bar across the mouth of the river prevents any large vessels from entering.
Do they sail right up to Perth? Old John was interested.
No most of them will unload here in Fremantle. William continued to explain how the boats may have a mix of goods, passengers and luggage for Fremantle, Perth or further south. The various cargoes are landed on the beach just up from the mouth of the river. From there they are sorted for Fremantle, the coastal trade, or the boats that travel up and down the river to Perth and beyond. The river boats can be rowed or sailed depending on the wind conditions.
I see, Old John indicated he understood. At the same time, he could sense that James, who was looking straight at him with a slight smile on his face, was also very interested in the process.
Part 2
FREMANTLE
The sail boat arrived opposite the mouth of the Swan River around late morning. The offshore breeze was dying and they were getting intermittent gusts of wind from the south west when William steered a course that would take them safely over the shallow bar at the entrance. About one hundred yards inside the entrance William turned the nose for the south bank of the river and ran the boat up onto a sandy beach about twenty to thirty yards wide.
Above the beach, stretching away on either side was a low row of sand hills covered with scraggly, spreading bushes, rushes and grasses. Dividing the beach from the sand hills like a fringe was a wide continuous line of dark, dead seaweed, sticks, and other debris that had washed down the river and been deposited there at the high-water mark.
This is it people, Fremantle your new home. Welcome. William Keats was smiling at the two children. You can hop out now.
They did not need a second invitation. They clambered past Old John and literally leapt onto the shore and ran about twenty yards to the top of a low sand hill. From there they could see further up the beach to a landing place where several men were working at unloading a wide variety of items from two boats very similar to the one that had transported them here. Directly at the back of the sandhill a rough cart track ran parallel to the river bank for a short distance and then turned south and followed the contour behind the sandhills fronting the ocean. The others who had been securing the boat joined them on the top of the sand hill.
Will was explaining the lie of the land to Old John. He pointed to his left, further up there you can see one of the landing places for cargo coming in off the ships. As you can see there are a couple of boats being unloaded and loaded right now. That break in the sand hills, you can see, has been carved out to provide access so that the horse carts and drays can come down onto the beach and load up and turn around.
They could see where the beach sand had been churned up by the horses’ hooves and the heavy wheels of the carts and drays.
William then turned to face the track and continued This track leads to the main part of the settlement about half a mile south of here. He gave them a moment to absorb the information and then continued. While you and James start unloading the boat, I will walk up the beach to where those men are working and see if I can get some information on getting your goods transported into the settlement.
That sounds like an excellent idea Will. That will save us a bit of time. The sooner we can get our stuff onto the block the sooner James and I can get the tents pitched and we will then have somewhere to sleep tonight.
William set off walking up the beach to where the two boats were and James and Old John set to and began unloading their equipment and luggage off the boat and stacking it on the beach well above the waterline.
About twenty minutes later William arrived back with possibly good news. Apparently, the men were expecting a large dray to return inside the hour and they were of the opinion that, as they had only half a load, the owner would be only too happy to oblige them with a lift.
They resumed the unloading and had it completed in a few minutes and then Old John declared that they should sit down and have some lunch. This, consisted of a small bowl of boiled rice with some sweet syrup stirred through it for taste and a generous piece of cooking pot bread.
When they had finished eating Old John sent the two young ones up to sit on the top of the sandhill and watch for the returning dray.
Old John was wondering about a few things concerning life in Fremantle.
William, would you mind sitting with me and answering a few questions about Fremantle which might make things a little easier when we arrive?
Only too happy to John. But first I need you and James to give me a hand to drag the boat up above the high- water mark and dismantle the sails. James will attend to the sails. With that complete they sat down with their backs against the stern of the boat. Now what would you like to know?
The essential things I should know about life in Fremantle. Water, provisions, flour, salt, rice, fruit, vegetables, tea that sort of thing.
William sat down on a box of luggage and launched into a lengthy explanation. Old John learned that there were two wells not far from his block. That provisions mostly were in short supply and so those merchants who managed to procure quantities of those goods charged very high prices. That there was virtually no competition as the main government store was still on Garden Island. Most of the goods entering the colony from the store by-passed Fremantle and were sent up the river to the main settlement at Perth. The Fremantle merchants had a monopoly and were exploiting it
Old John frowned and ran his hand through his beard. So, it seems that the supply of food here in Fremantle is not much better than Clarence. We shall have to continue to rely on fish, ducks, birds and the occasional kangaroo.
