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All About History History of Australia 3rd Edition All About History
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All About History Book Of Greatest Battles Collective
It’s tough to condense the histor y of any nation into a book of any size. That’s particularly true of Australia, with its vast landscape, rich Aboriginal cultures, dramatic entrance into the European imagination, rip-roaring tales of a pioneer past, and relentless push for progress. In just a few centuries, Australia has gone from a largely self-contained hinterland to playing a key role on the world stage, in both wartime and peace. That journey hasn’t been free from setbacks, missteps and the occasional trek down the wrong path, but it has also been one of grit, determination and success, characterised by the boldness, strength and adaptability of the Aussie national spirit. From challenging the British Empire for control over its own destiny (while maintaining friendly relations) to defending itself and its allies from invasion, from tr ying to address past colonial mistakes to celebrating the cultural diversity that makes it unique, the histor y of Australia is, overall, a resounding success stor y that would make any nation proud.
Long
How
How
the ga me forever
46 Ned Kelly: Robber or revolutionary?
He’s a nationa l hero to some, a cun n ing crook to others - why is Austra lia so div ided over one of its most endur ing icons?
52 The federation of Australia
How si x indiv idua l colon ies ca me together to
56 5 shocking facts about the White Australia Policy
The repressive laws desig ned to
58 The Australian Settlement
Com ing out f rom the shadow of the Br itish Empire, Austra lia was ready to ma ke waves
60 The Boer Wars
As Br ita in went to wa r in South A f r ica, Austra lia was ready to offer suppor t
62 Heroes of the Victoria Cross: John Bisdee
The 1st Tasma n ia n Imper ia l Bush men’s Contingent in action aga inst the Boers at Wa r mbad, Rooikop, T ra nsvaa l, South A f r ica, 1 September 1900
66 Australia in World War I
As the world went to wa r Austra lia ns were ready to sig n up
68 Heroes of the Victoria Cross: Henry Dalziel
World Wa r I: Battle of Ha mel, 4 July 1918
72 Charge of the Light Horse
The Light Horse have a specia l place in Austra lia n h istor y, pa r ticula rly feted for their role in the Battle of Beersheba
78 Charge at The Nek: ‘Nothing but bloody murder’
Author, h istor ia n a nd battlef ield g uide
Stephen Cha mbers explores how my th-ma k ing a nd nationa lism have obscured the trag ic tr uth beh ind th is infa mous but icon ic battle
84 A sovereign nation
Bor n f rom necessity a nd the desire to be independent, Austra lia’s days as a dom in ion were numbered 32 58 52
86 Razor gangs: Sex, slashers and sly grog
In the wa ke of a new era for Austra lia, v icehung r y vagabonds r uled the streets of Sydney
92 The history of the Flying Doctor
The incredible h istor y of the Roya l Fly ing Doctor Ser v ice, a nd how one m in ister’s drea m helped those liv ing in the most remote pa r ts of the Austra lia n Outback
96 World War II
W hen Br ita in decla red wa r on Ger ma ny a nd its a llies, Austra lia wasn’t fa r beh ind
98 Australia’s Thin Green Line
In 1942 Austra lia stood on the br in k of invasion by the Japa nese Its last line of defence: citizen soldiers w illing to lay their lives on the line in the hellish conditions of the Kokoda T ra il
106 New Australians
A f ter World Wa r II the Austra lia n gover n ment rea lised that it needed to boost im m ig ration for the sa ke of productiv ity a nd defence
110 Timeline of the Royal Australia Regiment
K now n as the ‘R A R’, th is infa ntr y force is a sen ior reg iment in the Austra lia n A r my a nd has seen extensive action in major wa rs dur ing its h istor y
112 Western Pacific deployments
The R A R saw extensive action between 1950-72, f rom the f reezing conf lict in Korea to the jungles of Ma laya, Bor neo a nd Vietna m
114 Kapyong 1951
Th is intense battle was the most sig n if ica nt of the Korea n Wa r for the R A R, whose Th ird Batta lion helped save the capita l Seoul f rom com mun ist occupation
Meet the people who overca me prejudice to ach ieve g reat th ings 120 44 10
116 RAR heroes and commanders
The Roya l Austra lia n Reg iment s h igh ly professiona l person nel have included courageous troops, k n ights a nd a Victor ia Cross recipient
118 RAR in Vietnam
The reg iment was a rg uably the most sig n if ica nt m ilita r y component of Austra lia’s involvement in the deeply controversia l conf lict
120 Arts and culture Down Under
From the Heidelberg School to Ozploitation a nd Neighbours, Austra lia has a r ich legac y when it comes to loca l a r ts a nd culture
124 Indigenous rights
Abor ig ina l Austra lia ns a re still f ighting for their r ights a f ter centur ies of m istreatment
126 Hall of Fame: Indigenous Australians
A BORIGIN A L ARRI
4 .9 MILLION 4 20,000 60,000 DIE people in Austra lia includ ing 8,141 men in eight months of f ighting at Ga llipoli on the T urk ish coast
R A LIA BECOMES A NAT
Austra lia is badly h it by the worldw ide econom ic dow nturn, a nd f inds comfor t in its love of spor t On 6 Ja nua r y, 21-yea rold cr icketer Don Bradma n h its a world record
452 not out in a Sheff ield Sh ield ga me in Sydney.
Austra lia offers huge support to the A llies dur ing World Wa r II The Bombing of Da r w in, by 242 Japa nese a ircraf t, is the la rgest attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Austra lia
tha n 150,000 conv icts had been sent to terr itor ies across Austra lia
IMMIGR AT ION BOOM
A f ter the wa r, hundreds of thousa nds of m igra nts f rom Europe a nd the Middle East a r r ive in Austra lia Ma ny f ind jobs in the boom ing ma nufacturing industr y
COMING OF T HE BRI T ISH
Capta
The
T
GOL D RUSH
A
From Mount A lexa nder,
A group of Aboriginal Australian men pose w ith a boomerang
Aboriginal history of Australia
Long before Europea n colonisation, Austra lia was home to Aborigina l peoples, who have a long legacy of inhabiting the isla nd continent as well as rich a nd powerf ul ora l traditions that tell the stor y of the la nd
Wor ds by Charles Ginger
The huma n h istor y of Austra lia goes back at least 65,000 yea rs. W h ile a nth ropolog ists may d isag ree on the f iner points of exactly when a nd how the f irst huma ns a rr ived, what is cer ta in is that those f irst peoples quick ly lea rned how to live in ha rmony w ith a n elementa l la ndscape that was sometimes bountif ul, a nd sometimes ha rsh a nd unforg iv ing That la ndscape a nd its unique f lora a nd fauna lef t a n indelible ma rk on the Indigenous peoples’ my ths, legends a nd ora l h istor ies
The Dreaming
In the beg in ning there was da rk ness – a n impenetrable abyss devoid of even the r umour of life But then, 65,000 yea rs ago, someth ing stirred f rom w ith in the black ness: the spir it of life was emerg ing, a nd inside its m ind a beautif ul, sw irling drea m was ta k ing hold, one that would never end. A n inca ndescent f la me roa red for th, illuminating the spirit’s restless v isions Then ca me a ferocious w ind, itself followed by un relenting ra ins Clash ing, da ncing a nd intertw ining, these mighty elements waged wa r upon each other as the drea m intensif ied Eventua lly, exhausted by battle, they bega n to
cede ground to new v isions of sk ies, seas a nd la nd. The world was form ing, forged by competing powers whose f ur y dra ined the spir it of life, wh ich in turn dispatched the secret of drea ming to Ea rth a long w ith creator beings that would continue it.
First enter ing the spir it of Ba rra mundi the f ish, the secret descended into the depths w ith in its sleeping host (who w ished on ly to drea m of water a nd did not f ully comprehend the g if t bestowed upon h im) before passing on to the turtle Curr ikee, then Boga i the liza rd a nd on to Bunjil the eagle, w ith in whom the drea m took to the sk ies Coonera ng, a possum, next received the secret of drea m ing, then Ga ng urr u the ka nga roo, yet each creature w ished on ly to see the sk ies a nd the trees a nd the pla ins that would be its home, a nd none could understa nd the drea m
With music a nd laughter r ing ing in h is ea rs, Ga ng urr u passed the secret on to its f ina l keeper: ma n k ind. Descending into a drea m that encompassed a ll that had come before them, the f irst ma n a nd woma n a lso saw the com ing of Ea r th’s f irst ch ild
Content that its drea m was f ina lly understood, a nd that huma nity recognised its role as the g ua rdia n of its spir it breth ren, the spir it of life
sa nk into the ea r th a nd was at peace, the f irst of countless spir its to do so when their journey comes to a n end.
So, according to one account in the a n na ls of Abor ig ina l h istor y, bega n the universe a nd the world we in habit. Others say that colossa l creator beings, such as the Ra inbow Ser pent, helped to shape the r ivers, h ills a nd mounta ins, a nd prov ide fer tile la nd for life Form idable if a ngered, it is sa id that when a ra inbow a rcs th rough the sk y, it is in fact th is a ncient sna ke slither ing f rom one water ing hole to a nother
Other pa r ts of Austra lia a re sa id to have been created dur ing tita nic str uggles between spir its
The la nds a round the Jenola n Caves ( located in the Blue Mounta ins, just under 200 k ilometres west of Sydney) a re believed by the Gundung urra people to be the result of a f ight between the eellike Gura ngatch a nd h is quoll nemesis, Mirraga n.
As the beasts savaged each other, they tore the surrounding la nd apa r t a nd clea red a path for the Cox a nd Wollondilly r ivers that still supply Sydney w ith water today
W hether the la nds a nd r ivers of the world were formed by celestia l bra in or colossa l braw n, the Drea m ing, as th is per iod of creation is k now n
TIDDALIK THE FROG
A s Aboriginal cave ar t and oral histories testif y, the histor y of Australia is awash with wondrous creation stories that help to explain how the world came to be One tale is the stor yof Tiddalik
Waking one morning with an unquenchable thirst, Tiddalik the frog proceeded to consume ever y drop of fresh water he could f ind Eventually the once-parched amphibian had drained ever y lake, river and watering hole around condemning all other living things to an unrelenting thirst If the frog couldn t be convinced to relinquish the water then ever y thing would die
Joining forces, man and beast convened a council to tr y and formulate a solution Af ter various ideas
had been mooted and then dismissed, a wise old owl suddenly came up with an inspired answer: make Tiddalik laugh
Gathering around the giant frog, various animals took it in turns to dance, sing and regale Tiddalik with hilarious anecdotes, but the frog remained worr yingly unmoved The fate of all life in Australia appeared sealed Then an eel slithered for th and began a series of bizarre contor tions
A s the eel f inished its per formance with a whirl of spins and pirouettes, Tiddalik could take no more His huge mouth twisted into a thunderous laugh, and a tsunami rushed free from his quivering belly The land was once more adorned with glistening lakes and rivers The land was saved
to the Abor ig ina l people, is the centra l basis for a ll life The creator beings, be they the Ra inbow Ser pent or h is r iva l Dirawa ng (a n unseen entity that the Bundja lung people of New South Wa les v iew as their protector aga inst the multi-coloured menace of the ser pent) rema in on Ea r th, hav ing tra nsformed themselves into sacred sites or capr icious elements like thunder a nd lightning The spir its a re ever-present, a nd it is they who have preorda ined life, mea ning that a ll ma n must do is live w ith in the conf ines of div inely instilled r ules a nd he w ill k now peace and rema in at one w ith the natura l world a round h im The totem ic belief system of Austra lia’s f irst people dictates that these great spir its permeate a ll life, forever rooting huma nity to the Ea r th.
THE R A INBOW SER PENT IS A CR EATOR DEIT Y IN ABOR IGINAL AUST R AL IAN M Y THOLOGY
Even so, the f irst ma n a nd woma n to wa lk upon the new world not on ly drea med of their f uture ch ild, but a lso of travelling fa r a nd w ide, wh ich begs a key question: how did they reach the g iga ntic isla nd that is Austra lia in the f irst place?
A land divided Austra lia has not a lways been the huge isla nd that dom inates the bottom r ight-ha nd corner of modern maps, for it was once con nected to New Guinea as pa r t of a n 8.6-m illion-k ilometresqua re la ndmass k now n as Sa hul. Severed f rom A nta rctica a round 30 m illion yea rs ago, Sa hul dr if ted slowly nor thwa rds until it collided w ith what is today Southeast Asia The impact of the
Austra lia-New Guinea tectonic plate h itting its Eurasia n counter pa r t jolted New Guinea out of position a nd r ippled dow n into the Torres Stra its to the south Yet despite th is ea r th-shudder ing meeting of plates, New Guinea a nd Austra lia were connected by la nd until as recently as 8,000 yea rs ago. Fur thermore, wh ile r ising sea levels consumed the terr itor y between them, la nd br idges emerged dur ing times of lower sea levels It is likely, therefore, that ea rly huma ns reached Austra lia f rom southern Asia by isla nd hopping (on ly 90 k ilometres sepa rated the isla nd of T imor f rom Sa hul dur ing per iods of low seas), a nd they probably ca me ashore on ba mboo raf ts W hether these ha rdy travellers were dr iven by a n urge to colonise new la nds, were seek ing to escape population pressures or were swept ashore rema ins unclea r, but wh ile the question of why they ca me may never be a nswered, when they did so is becoming increasingly clea r
Between 2012 a nd 2015, a rchaeolog ists f rom the University of Queensla nd, work ing a longside the
loca l Mirra r Abor ig ina ls, excavated a rock shelter in Madjedbebe in A rn hem La nd (a n a rea located in Austra lia’s Nor thern Terr itor y a nd heav ily populated by Abor ig ina l Austra lia ns), a nd what they unea r thed im mediately rew rote the h istor y of the f irst settlers to reach Austra lia.
Secreted beneath the pa rched ea r th were numerous tools dating back 65,000 yea rs, setting back the clock on huma ns a rr iv ing on the continent by a round 20,000 yea rs at a stroke
A mong their ma ny f inds, the tea m uncovered seed-gr inding tools a nd och re crayons that would have been used to ma ke pigments Edge-ground hatchets that predate a ll prev iously uncovered exa mples were a lso dug up
In order to be cer ta in about the age of the a r tefacts they had found, the tea m utilised radioca rbon dating a nd optica lly stimulated lum inescence (OSL – a method that measures how much time has passed since sa nd gra nules last saw sun light) to accurately date the site.
Not on ly did the f indings revolutionise our understa nding of Abor ig ina l Austra lia n – a nd thereby huma n k ind’s – h istor y, but they suggested that the f irst settlers in Austra lia sha red their a r id home w ith megafauna for approximately 20,000 yea rs before the la nd g ia nts beca me extinct
This 9-ton granite depiction of T iddalik can be found near the tow n of War w ick in southeast Queensland
Aboriginal history of Australia
Numerous exa mples of cave a rt discovered th roughout Austra lia suppor t th is hy pothesis, w ith ma ny la rge a nima ls depicted a longside huma ns in va r ious scenes
If the f indings of a sepa rate excavation at a site ca lled Moy jil in Wa rrna mbool, Victor ia, conf irm what some scientists believe, huma ns may well have dwelt in Austra lia for 120,000 yea rs Unfor tunately the most recent studies were cur ta iled by the outbrea k of the COV ID-19 pa ndem ic, but th is a ncient Abor ig ina l cliff top may soon surrender secrets that could utterly tra nsform the current na rrative of huma n evolution in Austra lia a nd beyond.
A skeletal story
To date, the oldest huma n fossil found in Austra lia is thought to be between 20,000-40,000 yea rs old Unea rthed in 1974 at La ke Mungo (a dr y la ke situated in southwest New South Wa les), the rema ins of LM3 (La ke Mungo Ma n) a re believed to
have belonged to a ma n who lived up to 40,000 yea rs ago a nd died at the r ipe old age (for a n ea rly huma n) of 50 A fforded a ceremonia l bur ia l a nd dusted in red och re, LM3’s rema ins revea led the tr ue age of some importa nt Abor ig ina l bur ia l r ites
Five yea rs pr ior to LM3’s excavation, a rchaeolog ists had found the bones of LM1 (La ke Mungo Woma n), a fema le thought to have been a live between 19,000-24,700 yea rs ago a nd one of the oldest k now n people to have been cremated Kow Swa mp in nor thern Victor ia is a nother key Abor ig ina l location that was once home to the rema ins of over 22 people, wh ile the Keilor a rchaeolog ica l site (a lso in Victor ia) has proffered the rema ins of both ma n a nd megafauna as well as 31,000 -yea r-old hea rths, mea ning it is one of the ea rliest k now n sites of huma n habitation.
Yet by fa r the most fa mous Abor ig ina l la ndma rk is U lur u, or Ayers Rock Mea ning ‘great pebble’, U lur u has w itnessed huma n activ ity for a round 30,000 yea rs, a nd wh ile it is not littered w ith bones, it is rega rded as sacred by the
A na ng u people, who believe the rock is a place of rest for creator spir its Fa med for cha ng ing colour th roughout the day, U lur u is thought to have formed under water 60 m illion yea rs ago
The first peoples
To a n outsider it may seem that the term ‘Abor ig ina l’ ser ves as a na me for a single population, a dispa rate but ultimately homogeneous people. However, in tr uth there a re hundreds of d if ferent cla ns (pr ior to the a r r iva l of Br itish settlers in 1788 there were perhaps as ma ny as 500), each equipped w ith their ow n tong ues a nd belief systems
W h ile the major ity of Indigenous Austra lia ns lived in coasta l a reas, others occupied isla nds off the ma in la nd, including the T iw i Isla nds to the north a nd Tasma nia in the south Others rema ined closer to New Guinea, settling on the Torres Stra it Isla nds above the northern tip of Queensla nd
A lthough they a re classif ied as Abor ig ina ls, the Torres Stra it Isla nders a re of Mela nesia n descent a nd sha re ma ny tra its a nd customs w ith the people of what is today Papua New Guinea. They differ f rom their ma inla nd cousins ling uistica lly, spea k ing Ka law Lagaw Ya, Mer ia m Mir a nd the English-based Torres Stra it Creole, a nd their population (wh ich today sta nds at a round 32,500 people) compr ises f ive cultura l groups: Mer ia m (Eastern), Guda Ma lv ilga l (Top Western), Ma lv ilga l (Nea r Western), Kulka lga l (Centra l) a nd Ka iwa laga l (In ner Isla nds)
A s w ith other Abor ig ina l cla ns, the Tor res Stra it Isla nders have a m ix of beliefs, w ith some subscr ibing to the Drea m ing creation stor y wh ile others heed the teach ings of Taga i, a deity who con nects the isla nders to the sta rs a nd instr ucts that ever y th ing beneath them has a r ightf ul place
A nother major group is the A na ng u Ma in ly present in the Centra l Western deser t, th is collective of tr ibes includes the Ngaa nyatja rra, P itja ntjatja ra a nd Ya n kuny tjatja ra peoples. To their north live the Wa rlpir i, w ith a population of up to 6,000 (a round ha lf of whom still spea k the Wa rlpir i la ng uage) that div ides its people into eight groups, subsections linked to k insh ips that dictate a n indiv idua l’s r ight a nd obligations w ith in the fa m ily
These a re just a few of the ma ny different groups of Abor ig ina l people that have inhabited
U lur u (also k now n as Ayers Rock) is held as a sacred resting place for spirits in the
Aboriginal faith
The Rainbow Serpent slithers across this cave painting in Central Australia
Austra lia for thousa nds of yea rs – a ha rdy, industr ious collection of settlers who sha re ma ny r ites a nd beliefs but a lso continue to preser ve their ow n Yet despite their ma ny different ways, the descenda nts of the f irst people to ca ll Austra lia home a re a ll lin ked by one activ ity: agr iculture
Finding and farming
W hen the f irst Br itish settlers a rr ived in Austra lia in 1788, it ser ved their interests to depict the natives as roa m ing savages, nomads w ith no sense of direction or pur pose, let a lone a grasp of someth ing as adva nced as fa r m ing In fact, as ma ny ea rly colonists pr ivately admitted, noth ing could have been f ur ther f rom the tr uth By the time the Br itish were creeping across Austra lia n terr itor y, the Abor ig ina ls’ days of hunting a nd gather ing were a n a ncient memor y These people didn’t just appreciate the basics of agr iculture: they were masters at it
Upon f irst a r r iv ing in Austra lia, ea rly huma ns had no choice but to sur v ive by hunting native species a nd gather ing a ny ava ilable food (ma inly in the form of nuts, seeds, sh r ubs a nd f r uit a nd vegetables). Locating precious water ing holes would a lso have been imperative for these a ncient people. However, over time, as w ith populations elsewhere (a lthough much later), Indigenous Austra lia ns bega n to develop some h igh ly soph isticated agr icultura l methods as they en ha nced their k nowledge of the la nds they now lived on
Va r ious Br itish settlers attested to the natives’ sk ill in th is a rea in their pr ivate records a nd draw ings One such image depicts Abor ig ina l women digg ing in a deliberately deforested a rea for murong (a ty pe of ya m), wh ile a nother account descr ibes Indigenous Austra lia ns using stone k nives to ha r vest m illet over a stretch of 1,000 acres. Others noted how they would leave the bottom pa rt of a pa rsnip ya m (k now n as a murnong) in the ea rth in order to ensure that f resh ones would grow.
Even more impressive was their use of strateg ica lly pla nted trees a nd excavated water ing holes to help keep a nima ls away f rom crops, a process that had the added side effect of ma k ing hunting easier as nea rby a n ima ls were conta ined by the natura l ba rr iers
Despite the ha rsh env ironment, a gra in belt cur ved across vast swathes of Austra lia, a nd the natives were k now n to be able to preser ve up to 50 k ilog ra ms of g ra in inside a n a n ima l sk in for leng thy per iods of time Ca ref ully craf ted haystacks were used to r ipen seeds that were then used to ma ke bread, a nd 30,000 -yea r-old gr ind stones found in Cuddie Spr ings in eastern Austra lia ma ke Indigenous Austra lia ns the world’s f irst ba kers
Mounds of ea rth a nd hollowed trees were used respectively as ovens a nd f ireplaces in wh ich bread could r ise a nd f ish (caught using ingen ious traps built at different heights so that they could be sna red dur ing a drought or a f lood, or w ith
An Aboriginal Australian family butcher a hunted kangaroo in this image f rom the 1880s
Aboriginal history of Australia
ma n made estua r ies that f un nelled them into holding ponds) could cook, as well as other meats
Ma ny cla ns were a lso k now n to descend upon the Austra lia n A lps to catch Bogong moths w ith nets
The unfor tunate insects were pulver ised into a paste that could then be used to ma ke ca kes But perhaps most impressive of a ll was the ability of the Centra l Deser t peoples to ha r vest the bush tomato for thousa nds of yea rs in a climate la rgely devoid of ra infa ll.
The use of strateg ic burning, pla nting a nd clea r ing helped to cultivate a beautif ul la ndscape that Thomas Mitchell (who would become assista nt sur veyor genera l of New South Wa les in 1827) would descr ibe as “a n extensive pa rk” Understa nding that their for tunes were intr insica lly lin ked to the hea lth of the la nd, Abor ig ina l Austra lia ns a lways ensured their methods would help to ma inta in good soil qua lity, a nd they went to great lengths to avoid impacting the la ndscape beyond what was needed for sur v iva l Nonetheless, their y ields were rema rkable, w ith ev idence of 10,000 people occupy ing one tow n.
T rag ica lly, the a r r iva l of the Br itish would result in the upsetting of th is ca ref ully ma inta ined equilibr ium, w ith Austra lia regressing into a la nd of ha rsh sh r ubs a nd weeds as the natives who once tended it saw their bountif ul la nds w renched f rom them
Aboriginal inventions
For wa rd-think ing fa rming techniques a re fa r f rom the Abor ig ina l people’s on ly legac y As the say ing goes, necessity is the mother of invention, a nd ca r v ing out a liv ing in such a n inhospitable la ndscape mea nt they had to adapt fast, resulting in a n a rray of ingenious inventions
A rg uably the most recognisable creation is the boomera ng, wh ich was usua lly fash ioned by cutting a tree root off at the point where it connected to the ma in tr unk. The wood could then be heated to ma ke it more ma lleable before being shaped into its iconic cur ve It would then be treated w ith grease a nd decorated, sometimes w ith cla n emblems a nd sy mbols
Idea l for k nock ing out a f leeing ka nga roo or bird, boomera ngs were used for both hunting a nd f ighting, w ith some featur ing a th icker clubbed end to enha nce the tool’s letha lity Even though they were not a ll that w idespread th roughout Austra lia, the fact that a 10,000-yea r-old exa mple was uncovered in Wy r ie Swa mp, South Austra lia, testif ies to th is un ique weapon’s longev ity
A nother craf ty tool was a thermoplastic resin made f rom grass trees. A tree would be battered into g iv ing up its resin, wh ich would then be clea ned ready for heating. Once wa rm the resin would become stick y, idea l for gluing stone a nd wood together to ma ke tools a nd weapons
Water bags were yet a nother invention that enabled Austra lia’s resourcef ul ea rly settlers to sur v ive Fash ioned f rom the sk in of a wa llaby, these impermeable sacks a llowed for the ca rr y ing
WALKING WITH GIANTS
It s no secret that Australia is home to a vast wealth of beautiful and, in some cases, downright bizarre animals Yet while kangaroos, koalas and the duck-billed platypus are all synonymous with Down Under, what about the creatures that roamed the plains of Australia before them? What kind of curious creatures inhabited this vast and harsh land before and even during the period of humans arriving? The answers are many and mar vellous
Prior to the dominance of Australia’s kangaroos, there lived a two-metre-tall giant descendant of the Outback s famous hoppers: the Procoptodon goliah Weighing up to 240 kilograms, this enormous shor t-faced species of kangaroo was too large to hop, but its muscular legs (which ended in a single claw) would have propelled it across the plains it inhabited, and it eng thy arms (which culminated in double-clawed paws) were ideal for reaching and stripping the leaves it fed on Fossils dated to 46,000 years ago mean it is highly likely that early humans will have encountered this apparently ag gressive vegetarian
s
Another mammoth herbivore that plodded across Australia until 25,000 years ago was the Diprotodon the largest marsupial to have ever lived Tipping the scales at 2,800 kilograms, this rhino-sized furr y mammal is a distant relative of koalas and wombats and is thought to have inspired tales of the dreaded Bunyip
Scientists are still unsure as to why this slowmoving animal (which was almost six feet tall at the shoulder) became extinct with some arguing that humans hunted them into the abyss, while others believe climate change may have been responsible
A s you would expect from a land that specialises in breeding lethal animals per fectly equipped for killing, not all of the megafauna that prowled ancient Australia subsisted on leaves and shoots
The marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex or ‘pouch lion ), as its name sug gests, cer tainly didn t Boasting the most power ful bite of any mammal to have ever lived this squat muscular and utterly fearless predator (which became extinct around 30,000 years ago) was capable of bringing down a Diprotodon, relying on its stripes to keep it camouflaged until an unsuspecting animal approached Pouncing on its target, this hunter may have used its blade-like claws to tear at its prey while sinking its teeth into its throat
of water over relatively long dista nces, fending off the ver y rea l th reat of dy ing of th irst in the m iddle of the deser t
Natura l remedies were a lso a n a rea of pa r ticula r expertise Sk in conditions a nd pa inf ul ulcers were treated w ith latex, a nd liquids such as tea tree oil were ha r vested to combat infections. Ta n nin (a compound found in leaves, tree ba rk a nd va r ious f r uits) would have been applied to ca lm inf la m mation a nd relieve pa in
Not a ll inventions were designed for ser ious pur poses The didger idoo, wh ich is the oldest w ind instr ument k now n to ma n a nd has 45 different na mes, was ca r ved f rom va r ious woods including euca ly ptus (a nd or ig ina lly ba mboo according to some of the na mes g iven to th is complex instr ument) T raditiona l didger idoo ma kers k now how to locate trees that have seen their inter na l deadwood str ipped by ter m ites, ma k ing for the perfect hollow tube needed to shape the instr ument. Once the wood has been clea ned a nd tr im med, a wa x sea l ca n be applied to the mouthpiece.
Simple in its appea ra nce, a didger idoo is in fact exceptiona lly ha rd to play correctly The unique sound that ema nates f rom the w ide, open end of the instr ument is created by the player consta ntly v ibrating their lips a nd deploy ing a method k now n as circula r breath ing Th is involves ta k ing a ir in v ia the nostr ils wh ile at the sa me time breath ing
The ferocious marsupial lion is believed to have been a slow r unner but an able climber
A classic example of Aboriginal cave art, this unusual painting may depict a mimi, creator spirits that are said to have taught man how to hunt and cook
“Dependent on eac h other for sur v iva l, I nd igenous Austra l ia ns had no use for f ul l-sca le con f l ict”
stored a ir out of the mouth using the tong ue a nd cheeks Seasoned players ca n use th is tech nique to ma inta in a note for m inutes at a time a nd play for up to 50 m inutes w ithout pause.
L aw of the Outback
As w ith ma ny a ncient cultures, the ea rly Abor ig ina ls deemed men to be super ior to women Adult ma les r uled terr itor ies k now n as estates, a nd it was com mon for a newly ma rr ied woma n to move into her husba nd’s terr itor y a nd join h is ba nd (a group that consisted of two or more fa m ilies that travelled a nd ca mped together, although of ten indiv idual fa milies would sleep a nd cook sepa rately) For their pa r t, ma les were cha rged w ith g ua rding sacred sites w ithin their estates a nd a rra ng ing the relig ious ceremonies required to ma inta in the la nd.
As dictated by the unw r itten but universa lly understood laws of the Drea m ing, la nd could not be tra nsferred to a nother ba nd (or indiv idua l for that matter), but ba nds could venture fa r a nd w ide in sea rch of food, thereby delineating a ‘ra nge’ they could return to later, a nd a llowa nces were a lso made between groups that perm itted the excha nge of resources in times of food shor tages, enabling one ba nd to encroach on the terr itor y of a nother purely for the pur pose of borrow ing supplies in order to sur v ive
The major ity of people were born into categor ies f rom wh ich they could never leave These subdiv isions were used to brea k a la rger group dow n into easily referenced pa r ts a nd helped to establish ma r ita l bounda r ies, ma rked out a dista nt relative f rom outsiders, a nd even played a role in
FRIGHTFUL FOLKLORE
Ever since humans first began gathering around a campf ire and swapping stories monsters have been a fundamental par t of cultures and religions, and Aboriginal Australians are no exception
One of the most terrif ying creatures to haunt the dreams of Aboriginals (and keep children from wandering of f into the woods alone) is the Yara-mayha-who Standing at about four feet, this smooth, red-skinned hairless humanoid lurks in treetops waiting for a wreckless human to pass by Plunging from the tree, this stumpy parasite will latch onto their victim and begin drinking their blood using their sucker-covered f ingers and toes
Taking just enough to incapacitate their prey, the Yara-ma-yha-who will then swallow the unconscious person head-f irst and waddle of f to f ind some water before curling up for a nap Upon waking it will
relig ious r itua ls by determ ining a n indiv idua l’s persona l responsibilities
Abor ig ina l society f unctioned th rough k insh ip, in wh ich ever yone was addressed w ith a close fa m ilia l na me, such as ‘father’ extending to uncles a nd ‘mother’ being used for aunts. These older generations would expect the utmost respect f rom their ch ildren, gra ndch ildren, nieces a nd nephews Kin na mes str ictly def ined a ll relationsh ips a nd determ ined whether two people could appropr iately couple, sha re a joke or were to completely avoid each other Siblings of the opposite sex of ten spent la rge pa r ts of their lives apa r t af ter ch ildhood, a nd men were forbidden f rom interacting w ith a ny fema le who was or could potentia lly be rega rded as h is mother-in-law.
P r ior to developing into a woma n, a g irl would of ten sta r t liv ing w ith her husba nd a nd thereby be seen by the rest of the ba nd as ma rr ied (a lthough in some groups a couple was on ly considered ma rr ied upon the bir th of their f irst ch ild) The number of w ives a ma n could ta ke va r ied w ildly between different Abor ig ina l groups, but accounts of some men hav ing as ma ny as 29 prove that polyga my was a w idely accepted custom
ABOR IGINAL WAL
K A BOU
T T R ADITIONS W ER E MISUNDERSTOOD BY W HITE COLONISTS AS AIMLESS WANDER ING
Ma rr iage tied fa m ilies together, a nd it was incumbent upon the ma le to repay h is new fa m ily for h is br ide, wh ich of ten resulted in the new husba nd a nd w ife swapping brothers for sisters It was a lso com mon for ma rr iages to be a rra nged before the f uture spouses were even born, a nd it was seen as v ita l that a g irl’s betrotha l was a rra nged before she reached puber ty, a per iod dur ing wh ich she could be tota lly secluded f rom socia l life.
If a w ife tired of her husba nd or found h im unsatisfactor y, her options were lim ited, w ith elopement in the a rms of a better suitor her on ly rea listic choice. Unsur pr isingly, men held the power when it ca me to ma r ita l str ife, as they were able to simply ha nd a disappointing w ife off to someone else (assum ing that person could be conv inced to wed her instead) or he could just decide to term inate the ma rr iage w ith v ir tua lly no wa rning or off icia l process required Still, unfa ir as th is may sound, Abor ig ina l women a re not rega rded by h istor ia ns as hav ing been a severely dow ntrodden group, a nd the men that acted as their keepers a nd g ua rdia ns cer ta in ly had to ea rn the r ight to do so.
A boy’s life could cha nge sudden ly between the age of six to 16 (depending on the laws a nd customs of h is ba nd) when h is initiation bega n With the sound of women wa iling a nd demonic cha nting echoing in his ea rs (this r ite of passage m im icked the mourning process so as to g ive the boy a new life as a n adult upon completion of h is initiation), a boy would leave ca mp a nd emba rk on a ser ies of educationa l a nd disciplina r y lessons in order to mould h im into a ma n. Circumcision would then follow, af ter wh ich
regurgiate its still-living prey and then enjoy another sleep, providing the unluck y and no doubt shocked person a chance to flee However if the same person should be caught by the Yara-ma-yha-who again, they will begin to take its form, gradually losing their hair and turning red until they too begin to hide in the treetops waiting for blood
Another terrif ying entity that Aboriginals must beware of is the Bunyip Af forded numerous dif ferent guises ranging from a large cat-like animal to a scaled lizard, bunyips dwell in inland waters such as swamps and lakes, where they lurk beneath the sur face Should a person stray too close to the water the beast will lunge for wards and clamp them in its jaws, and no amount of kicking and screaming will save a victim from being pulled into the water and consumed
Given its terrif ying description you’d forgive someone for wanting to put an end to any Bunyip they encountered, but to do so is to guarantee death One
unfor tunate captain aboard a boat that was disturbed by a Bunyip ignored the pleas of his crew and shot the animal Within days his skin was dotted with oozing sores, and two weeks af ter the incident he died a gasping, agonising death
A buny ip clenches a doomed v ictim in its powerf ul jaws
he could beg in to engage in adult activ ities such as hunting
Intr ig uingly, in spite of the solid socia l r ules a nd taboos that controlled Abor ig ina l life, ea rly Austra lia ns bowed to no ch ief nor listened to the governa nce of a ny r uling body Because ever yone unquestionably believed that life was predeterm ined, there was no need to insta ll a leader to direct ba nds or la rger groups In order to ma inta in control, a burden of self-restra int a nd sha me was placed on a ll, the fea r of being ostracised for breach ing a sacred law prov ing more of a th reat even tha n div ine retr ibution. In the case of the ultimate cr ime, a n inquest would seek to un mask the k iller v ia div ination.
Warfare and weaponry
Connected as they were to their homela nds, a nd dependent upon each other for sur v iva l, Indigenous Austra lia ns had no use for f ull-sca le conf lict However, that is not to say that inter-tr iba l
Aboriginal history of Australia
v iolence never f la red up – in fact, it was a reg ula r pa rt of life
Due to Abor ig ina l socia l str uctures shun ning the concept of a n indiv idua l accr uing power a nd recr uiting followers, ra iding pa rties were relatively sma ll The need to preser ve as ma ny ba nd members as possible in order to source food a nd water a lso m ilitated aga inst la rger forces attack ing other enca mpments But it on ly took a few wa rr iors to inf lict ca rnage
Equipped w ith spea rs (wh ich could be propelled f urther a nd faster w ith a woomera, a spea rth row ing dev ice), clubs, boomera ngs a nd sh ields, a ra iding pa r ty would of ten wa it until nightfa ll before assaulting a ta rget.
The motivation beh ind these br uta l attacks, in wh ich a few enem ies or a pa rticula r ta rget could be sla in, was not the a n nexation of new la nd or the eradication of a n entire tr ibe, because the aggressors, like a ll Abor ig ina l Austra lia ns, believed la nd ow nersh ip could never be cha nged W hy r isk
death or ser ious injur y snatch ing terr itor y you w ill never be con nected to a nd thereby leave the ea r th that bore you? No, the cause of most conf lict was either retr ibution (perhaps for a murder) or the ta k ing of women, who would then become w ives, mothers a nd foragers that would en ha nce the prospects of a ba nd’s sur v iva l
The a rr iva l a nd aggressive expa nsion of Europea n settlers eventua lly forced ba nds to join together a nd f ight in more traditiona l pitched battles in a bid to defend their homes a nd la nds. Sadly, when com ing up aga inst the adva nced f irea rms of the invaders, the Indigenous Austra lia ns had little to no cha nce of v ictor y. Slowly but surely, la nds that had been ca ref ully tended by the Abor ig ina l people for thousa nds of yea rs were invaded a nd ha nded to wh ite Europea n settlers w ith no k nowledge or love for their newly acquired terr itor ies Austra lia, a nd the lives of its 300,000 to 1 m illion Abor ig ina ls, would never be the sa me aga in
A n Aboriginal musician plays an elaborately decorated didgeridoo
The promise of a great southern la nd captivated sa ilors, pirates, mercha nts, k ings a nd even popes. We discover how strong w inds, astra l bodies, religious fer vour a nd economics led to Austra lia
Wor ds by James Hoar e
On 20 Aug ust 1770, the f lag of Great Br ita in was hoisted over the silver sa nds to f lutter in the breeze Th ree volleys were f ired by the la nding pa rty, a nd then a nswered by the Ba rk Endeavour, moored in the bay
Ja mes Cook a nd h is crew had been at sea for 724 days a nd it had been 141 days since they had lef t New Zea la nd beh ind. Less tha n 100 -strong, a tiny sh ip in a vast ocea n, they had mapped the coastline, before tack ing west to Va n Diemen’s La nd, then north in sea rch of the eastern coast of Terra Austra lis Incognita – the un k now n la nd of the south – prom ised in h is sea led orders
Ostensibly in the Pacif ic to w itness the ra re tra nsit of Venus across the sun, their’s was a
swashbuck ling secret m ission in the na me of discover y, w ith a roya l wa rra nt to cla im unsettled la nds for the crow n, a nd record a lien sights a nd sk ies for science W hen explorer, astronomer a nd en lighten ment hero Lieutena nt Ja mes Cook stepped ashore a nd cla imed the great southern la nd for Br ita in – na m ing the whole eastern chun k of th is vast continent New South Wa les in the process – he wasn’t discover ing a new world so much as he was meeting a n old f r iend.
The drea m of Austra lia had dom inated the Europea n exploration of Asia for 400 yea rs, a nd had been a my th of Atla ntea n propor tions for much longer Cook wasn’t the f irst to a rr ive, f lag in ha nd, a nd stretched out before h im was a road paved w ith sh ipw reck, wa r, spice a nd pirac y, but
The Great Land to the South
Western Australia
Captain: William Dampier
Ship: HMS Roebuck
Nationality: English
Date Of Discovery: 26 July 1699
Northern Australia
Captain: Willem Janszoon
Ship: Duy f ken
Nationality: Dutch
Date Of Discovery: 26 Februar y 1606
Eastern Australia
Captain: James Cook
Ship: HM Bark Endeavour
Nationality: English
Date Of Discovery: 20 August 17 70
New Holland
Western Australia
Captain: Dirk Har tog
Ship: Eendracht
Nationality: Dutch
Date Of Discovery: 25 October 1616
Perth
Key
William Janszoon (1606)
Dirk Hartog (1616)
Abel Tasman (1642)
William Dampier (1699)
James Cook (1770)
Great Southern Ocean
Tasmania
Captain: Abel Tasman
Ships: Heemskerck and Zeehaen
Nationality: Dutch
Date Of Discovery: 24 November 1642
Brisbane
“ T he d rea m of Austra l ia dom i nated
Europea n ex ploration of A sia for 400 yea rs, a nd had been a my th of Atla ntea n propor tions muc h longer”
f irst, there had to be the idea itself. That idea was a lready well established.
15,913 k ilometres (9,888 m iles) a nd well over 1,000 yea rs away, P y thagoras set light to Cook’s imag ination A round 530 BCE, the Methusela h of mathematics had deca mped to Croton in modern Ita ly to escape the ty ra n ny in h is Greek isla nd homela nd of Sa mos T ravelling w idely f rom Eg y pt to India before founding h is school of ideas a nd gather ing h is followers, he put h is exper iences to work, dev ising the theorem that bea rs h is na me, a nd a slightly less well-k now n one about the musica l va lues of va r ious lengths of str ing
P y thagoras was a lso credited w ith the notion that our world was a sphere, a nd so there had to be a vast la ndmass to the south to ba la nce th is orb. T wo centur ies later, A r istotle adva nced th is theor y based on the circula r shadow of the Ea rth dur ing a luna r eclipse a nd the cha ng ing places of constellations the f ur ther south you sa iled In the wa ke of A r istotle’s studies of the night sk y, the Roma n geographer Pomponius Mela (1st centur y) produced maps div iding the world into northern a nd southern zones, a nd later the Greco-Roma n astrologer, astronomer, geographer a nd a ll-round busy th inker Claudius P tolemy (90–168 CE) compiled a ll the k nowledge that he could of the
world’s reg ions into h is im mense Geographia, adding that the route to the great southern la nd was no doubt impassible due to “monstrosities ”
The idea of th is new expa nse – Terra Austra lis – took root in the foundation of Rena issa nce geography a nd ca r tography, until ever y map ca me w ith a vag uely def ined great southern la nd Just as Cook’s 1768 m ission – a fact-f inding expedition for the Roya l Society of London – ca me w ith its sea led orders to increase the reach of the Br itish Empire, it was politics a nd econom ics that set h is spir itua l predecessors off on their voyages of discover y.
In 1368, the m ighty Mongol Empire, that stretched f rom Eastern Europe to the Sea of Japa n, collapsed, r uling out the overla nd journey to the r iches of Ch ina a nd India The sur pr isingly cordia l relationsh ip between the Kha n a nd the Pope was replaced by tensions between Ch r istia n Europe a nd the r ising Isla m ic Ottoma n Empire, wh ich closed the overla nd routes to the east Their ha nd forced by dema nd for spices, silk, tea a nd porcela in, the merca ntile nations – the Por tug uese a nd Spa nish at f irst, a nd then the Dutch, French a nd English – bega n to look for sea routes into the India n Ocea n a nd beyond
W h ile the Europea n super powers bega n to look upon their maps a nd globes a new, the powerf ul Ta m il mercha nt dy nasties of Sr i La nka established their ow n ma r itime trade empire that stretched its f ingers across South East Asia between the 9th a nd 14th centur ies Their holds stuffed w ith the luxur ies of India, a nd the traditiona l Ta m il proverb “cross the ocea ns a nd acquire gold” on their lips, they made their presence felt th rough a r t a nd a rch itecture in Tha ila nd, Java, Ma laysia, Vietna m a nd Ca mbodia. By the 18th centur y – though their once great empire had declined, replaced by colonia l Por tug uese, a nd then Dutch a nd Br itish –Ta m ils were trading w ith the Europea n settlers in New Zea la nd a nd Austra lia Yet there’s ev idence to suggest that they’d been there before: a 14th centur y sh ip’s bell, beautif ully inscr ibed in Ta m il, was found in 1836 being used as a Māor i cook ing pot
PY THAGOR AS WAS THE F I RST K NOW N EU ROPEAN TO THEOR ISE ABOU T A GR EAT
SOUTHERN CONTINENT
Now locked in a merca ntile Cold Wa r, follow ing a belligerent race for terr itor y a nd trade across the gradua lly opening globe, the Por tug uese a nd Spa nish reached a f rosty impasse w ith 1494’s Treaty of Tordesillas, div iding Nor th a nd South A mer ica between them, a nd then 1529’s T reaty of Za ragoza wh ich div ided Asia
The Por tug uese crow n had rolled across East A f r ica, India a nd into Ma laysia, w ith the city of Ma lacca a nd the nutmeg a nd clove-r ich Spice Isla nds of the Ba nda Sea at the centre of their interests They even set up a trading post on the isla nd of T imor in 1590, on ly 720 k ilometres (448 m iles) f rom what is now Da r w in in the Northern Terr itor ies. Cla im ing much of Asia as their ow n a nd setting the r iva l Spa nish up for a f uture toehold in the spice-f ree Ph ilippines,
Janszoon’s ‘little dove’ Trade
The Great Land to the South
AUSTRALIA’S DISCOVERY OF THE WORLD
While European explorers tacked ever closer, Australia’s nearer neighbours had already reached out for the great southern land, and it had reached back to them
Between the 16th and 18th centuries (possibly as early as the 12th) Makassan trepangers – sailors from Sulawesi (now par t of Indonesia) who har vested sea cucumbers for a Chinese market –traded f ishing rights with indigenous Australians for cloth, tobacco, metal axes, knives, rice and gin, and the Aboriginals traded tur tle shells, pearls and c ypress pine in return Some Aboriginals willingly joined Makassan crews to collect trepang
The Makassan legac y ranged from smallpox to new words With somewhere between 350 and 750 languages or dialects spoken by the same number of Aboriginal tribes, Makassar became the coastal lingua franca Many words closely related to Javanese and Indonesian are still in use by Aboriginals today The Makassans may have lef t the trappings of their faith, too, with some historians arguing that elements of Islam (adopted by Sulawesi in the 15th centur y) made their way into Aboriginal Australian ceremonies
Contact with the Makassans span the Yolgnu s whole world on its axis, as they became focused on the sea craf ting resilient dugout canoes in Makassan style that allowed them as far out as the Torres Strait Islands and New Guinea The Torres Strait Islanders themselves craf ted outrig gers and ocean-going dugouts up to 20 metres long for trade with both the mainland and New Guinea – a practice that continues even now, and is protected by the Torres Strait Treaty from all customs and border controls
In this, at least, the way of life shared uninterrupted by the Australian Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders for over 40,000 years has gone unchanged
Only Cook ’s courage and cool leadership averted complete disaster on his voyage up Australia’s east coast
The Makassar people were early traders w ith indigenous Australians
a nd precious little else, the Za ragoza line neatly bisected New Guinea, a nd though they may not have k now n it, a lso that fabled Terra Austra lis Incognita
With the suppor t of Pope Clement V III a nd King Ph illip III, Pedro Ferna ndez de Queirós set off f rom Per u in 1603 w ith th ree sh ips to f ind a nd cla im Terra Austra lis for Spa in. Leav ing nav igation “to the Will of God” a nd la nding on Va nuatu, just west of Fiji – m ista k ing it for h is pr ize – he dubbed it La Austr ia lia del Espír itu Sa nto, the Souther n La nd of the Holy Spir it, before attempting to found a colony ca lled Nova Jer usa lem (a nd a holy order, the Knights of the Holy Ghost, to protect it) Nova Jer usa lem collapsed ignom iniously th rough the hostility of the Ni-Va nuatu a nd h is ow n crew
Ironica lly, it was actua lly de Queirós’s secondin-com ma nd, Luís Vaz de Torres, who ca me the closest to rea lising h is drea m Sepa rated f rom de Queirós, de Torres led the two rema ining sh ips to Ma nila W hen w inds forced h im south of New Guinea instead of nor th, he a nd h is crew beca me the f irst recorded sea men to nav igate the stra it that now bea rs h is na me, div iding New Guinea in the nor th f rom Austra lia in the south. Though he may not have locked eyes on the nor thern shore of the great southern la nd, he ca me a mazingly close W h ile de Queirós’s div ine m ission scattered, h is masters fa red little better In 1578, the status quo was rocked when King Sebastia n I of Por tuga l died w ithout heir, prompting a Spa nish invasion in 1580 that saw King Ph illip III’s father unite both th rones Spa in ga ined Por tuga l’s colonia l possessions, a nd those increasingly v ulnerable a nd fa r-f lung Portug uese colonies ga ined Spa in’s multitude of enem ies Over the next two decades, Eng la nd, Fra nce a nd the newly independent Dutch Republic snapped at the I ber ia n Union’s heels in North A mer ica, South A mer ica, Ind ia, A f r ica a nd South East Asia – tea r ing off chun ks of la nd, piece by bloody piece In 1605, the Duy f ken (‘little dove’), its eight ca n nons blackened by Spice Isla nds sk irm ishes w ith the Por tug uese, sa iled f rom Java, newly fa llen under Dutch inf luence, to explore the coast of New Guinea on beha lf of the Dutch East India Compa ny (VOC) Capta ined by Willem Ja nszoon, he beca me the f irst recorded Europea n to set foot on Austra lia in 1606, th in k ing it was the continuing western coastline of New Guinea (m issing the Torres Stra it a ltogether – a nd it would ta ke Cook, over a centur y later, to conclusively prove that Austra lia was a sepa rate la ndmass) Finding it swa mpy a nd in hospitable, the crew of the gently na med Duy f ken proved themselves a ny th ing but, as a m icable ea rly encounters w ith the Abor ig ina l Austra lia ns turned sour when the
THE ROA R ING FORTIES W INDS M ADE JOU R NEYS SOU TH FASTER FOR EXPLOR ERS
Dutch abducted some of their women, prompting a c ycle of attack a nd repr isa l that forced them back to sea Ja nszoon was followed in 1616 by Dirk Ha r tog on the Eendracht’s ma iden voyage Becom ing sepa rated f rom a VOC f leet crossing the Cape of Good Hope, he took adva ntage of the ‘Roa r ing For ties’ –powerf ul westerly w inds that could cut a journey shor ter by months – a nd whether by accident or design, he shot across the India n Ocea n fa r more southerly tha n was usua lly safe. The Eendracht reached Western Austra lia a nd lef t a f lattened pew ter din ner plate as its testimony Tha nks la rgely to VOC’s enthusiasm for speed over lives –the compa ny insisted its capta ins ta ke adva ntage of the Roa r ing For ties, rega rdless of the da nger
– the Dutch caught sight of Austra lia ma ny times over the next few decades, gradua lly shading in more a nd more of their maps, w ith ma ny more of them lef t smashed aga inst the rocks The oldest of these w recks was the T r ya ll, sunk in 1622 en route to Java f rom Ply mouth a nd capta ined by Joh n Brooke The T r ya ll represented a n ach ievement by wh ich Cook could sca rcely be inspired – the f irst English ma n to clap eyes on the great southern la nd was a lso the f irst Europea n to sin k w ith in her treacherous currents
W h ile reck lessness had catapulted Europea ns onto a ntipodea n shores, the meticulous Abel Tasma n was a different breed. He had the sh ip’s ca r penter sw im ashore to pla nt the f lag, rather tha n r isk a sh ip on un k now n rocks, to cla im Va n Diemen’s La nd in 1642 (now k now n as Tasma nia) in honour of A nthony va n Diemen, the governorgenera l of the Dutch East Indies Va n Diemen had ea rned that pr iv ilege – under h is stewa rdsh ip, the
Aboriginal seafarers used dugout canoes
Dutch East Indies beca me a centre for f ra ntic mapma k ing a nd ter r itor ia l expa nsion, a nd Tasma n was entirely on message w ith h is employer’s way of doing th ings With so much intr icate deta il captured th rough draw ings, dia r ies a nd maps on h is voyage to Tasma nia, a nd then across the Tasma n Sea to become the f irst Europea n to reach New Zea la nd, Cook used h is w r itings over a centur y later as a reference, la nding in Pover ty Bay to cla im it for Br ita in
Tasma n returned to Austra lia once more in 1644, mapping the northern shores a nd choosing the na me that would suppla nt Terra Austra lis –New Holla nd. It would sur v ive both Cook a nd the colony of New South Wa les, a nd on ly 180 yea rs af ter Tasma n f irst uttered the na me ‘New Holla nd’ would it be off icia lly replaced by ‘Austra lia’ If Abel Tasma n was the exa mple that Ja mes Cook followed, then Willia m Da mpier was the (somewhat dubious) legend that Cook aspired to
The Great Land to the South
A Br itish bucca neer f rom humble beg in nings, he had circum nav igated the globe a record-brea k ing th ree times, w r iting the bestselling A New Voyage Round The World in 1697 a nd rescuing the ma n who would become Da niel Defoe’s Robinson Cr usoe His adventures impressed the Br itish Adm ira lty so much that in 1699 – 29 yea rs before Cook’s birth – Da mpier was g iven the helm of the HMS Roebuck, a nd a com m ission to explore New Holla nd a nd uncover the eastern coast that would later fa ll to Cook. Da mpier collected a n unprecedented cata log ue of Austra lia n pla nts a nd w ildlife before the rotting Roebuck bega n to ta ke on water. A f ter some slipshod repa irs a llowed them to return home – the east coast m ission aba ndoned – the un likely natura list was later ma rooned on Ascension Isla nd Cour t-ma r tia lled for losing the vessel in h is cha rge a nd deemed “un f it to com ma nd a ny of HM’s sh ips, Da mpier promptly returned to the
life of a sa nctioned Jack Spa rrow, but not before releasing A Voyage To New Holland in 1699, r ich w ith deta il of f lora, fauna, rocks a nd even preva iling w inds
Though Da mpier had fa iled in h is most strateg ica lly importa nt goa l – a nd lost h is sh ip doing so – h is voyage pre-empted a pa radigm sh if t, not just in Br itish th in k ing but in French too. However, th is took nea rly a nother centur y to mater ia lise, a nd it would aga in be politics a nd prof its that saw nav igators, bota nists, explorer a nd East Indiamen dispatched w ith f lags for planting The colonia l horse-trading a nd nation-swapping that closed the Seven Yea rs’ Wa r in 1763 saw Spa in, Fra nce a nd Br ita in ease into a sta nd-off fa r messier a nd more convoluted tha n Por tuga l a nd Spa in in the 15th a nd 16th centur ies, a nd once more the boom ing empires had nowhere lef t to expa nd but into the un k now n
Nava l off icers – who, like Cook, had proven their wor th in the fa r-f lung theatres of the last wa r – were dispatched to the Pacif ic w ith increasing reg ula r ity by a conf lict-sca le nav y w ith a peacetime sur plus of sh ips, men, money a nd exper ience. In quick succession, the Adm ira lty sent Com modore Joh n By ron in 1765 a nd then Capta in Sa muel Wa llis in 1766 on the HMS Dolph in, a nd Capta in Ph illip Ca r teret on the HMS Swa llow in 1766, a nd then Cook h imself in 1769 – a ll spreading the red, wh ite a nd blue across a swathe of Pacif ic isla nds, the prom ise of Terra Austra lis never fa r f rom their m inds
As Ja mes Cook a nd h is predecessors raced south just as Tasma n a nd Torres had done before them, their French counter pa r ts at their heels, the map of Austra lia would continue to be shaded in inch by inch W hether their sa ils were buffeted by econom ic, politica l or imper ia l forces as much as by the Roa r ing For ties, their ach ievements rema in a tr iumph of reason a nd discover y. W hen Cook f ina lly felt Austra lia n sa nds cr unch beneath h is feet, it’s tr ue that he was building on older expeditions – the w r itings of Tasma n, Da mpier a nd, more recently, Wa llis at h is ha nd – as well as the ideas at its hea r t stretch ing back to A ncient Greece, but h is discover ies would become the foundation for a colony, a nd eventua lly a nation
It would be ma ny more yea rs before Europea n settlers k new for a fact that the la nd Cook had cla imed as New South Wa les was con nected to New Holla nd, a nd wasn’t con nected to Va n Diemen’s La nd, just as it took Cook to prove that these scattered chun ks of a much gra nder countr y weren’t con nected to New Zea la nd or New Guinea (tha n ks in pa r t to the Spa nish keeping Torres’ voyage to themselves).
Their vessels cutting across un k now n ocea ns a nd into a lien hor izons, these men – th is cast of th inkers, seafa rers, pirates a nd traders f rom across centur ies – closed a chapter in Austra lia’s long h istor y, a nd for better a nd for worse a new one was about to beg in
How punitive crimina l sentences, a gruelling journey a nd yea rs of backbrea k ing labour forged the modern-day la nd dow n under
Wor ds by Ben Biggs
There wasn’t much in the way of merc y for a common cr imina l in 18th-centur y Br ita in You could be bra nded or wh ipped for a relatively m inor offence a nd for repeat offenders, the ha ngma n’s noose awa ited The inf rastr ucture of the cr im ina l justice system was as outdated as the punish ments it dished out, a relic of medieva l times a nd unable to keep up w ith the burgeoning population a nd a n exponentia l cr ime rate A r udimenta r y police force was still over a centur y away, so w ith some help f rom the night’s watch, v ictims of cr ime were expected to obta in a n a rrest wa rra nt, gather a mob a nd then apprehend the cr im ina l themselves. Once the accused was ha nded over to the author ities they were expected to pay the cost of prosecution, wh ich was of ten beyond the mea ns of the work ing class As if that wasn’t incentive enough to simply ta ke it on the proverbia l ch in, if the v ictim pursued the cr imina l through court, they could face reta liation f rom members of the
Australia’s first penal colony
“Br ita i n […] si mply looked to a vast w i lder ness br i m m i ng w ith oppor tun it y on the fa r side of the world: Austra l ia”
ga ng they belonged to Unsur pr isingly, a h igh number of cr imes simply went un repor ted
The cour ts themselves were a lso poorly equipped, w ith a rcha ic leg islation that a llowed those cun ning cr im ina ls that a rr ived at the cour t dock to easily slip th rough the f ingers of the law. The biggest thorn in a mag istrate’s side was ‘Benef it of Clerg y’, a prov ision by wh ich f irsttime offenders could simply quote the f irst verse of Psa lm 51, beg in ning: “Have merc y upon me, O God ” to effectively get themselves off the hook Th is was a th rowback to a time when it was deemed that on ly those of the cloth could read a nd k now the Bible, a nd thus were beyond the jur isdiction of a ny th ing but a church cour t
A lthough ma ny 18th-centur y criminals couldn’t read, by rehea rsing th is verse they could easily avoid a br uta l punish ment a ltogether a nd wa lk away w ith their f reedom a nd reputation intact
As a result, the cr ime rate rose in Br ita in wh ile death sentences beca me a n ever yday tool in a judge’s a rsena l, used as a draconia n way of reducing the number of cr im ina ls on the street as much as a deterrent. Even so, a state-sa nctioned blood bath of ha ng ings for the dozens of cr imes that a cr im ina l could receive capita l punish ment for was someth ing the Br itish govern ment wa nted to avoid So, in 1718 a nd w ith the New World of A mer ica f irm ly in sight, the T ra nspor tation Act was put in effect
T ra nspor tation was a lega l way of send i ng conv icted cr i m i na ls abroad to labou r i n the new colon ies The act a l lowed for two categor ies of pu n ish ment for two d if ferent ty pes of of fence: for those that wou ld nor ma l ly receive ‘Benef it of Clerg y ’ , the judge cou ld ha nd out seven yea rs of overseas labou r i nstead of a bra nd i ng or a wh ippi ng Capita l cr i mes cou ld be repea led at the d iscretion of the judge a nd if he was i n a mercif u l mood, a death sentence cou ld be reduced to a m i n i mu m 14 -yea r tra nspor tation sentence It solved the pressi ng issues of cheap labou r i n the new world, removed cr i m i na ls f rom the streets a nd emptied ja i ls; for the Br itish gover n ment it seemed l i ke the perfect solution Thus Br ita i n forged its new colon ies on the blood a nd sweat of conv icts Th is was such a popu la r for m of pun ish ment that 50,000 people were tra nspor ted to A mer ica f rom 17 18 to 1786, a nd when the A mer ica n Revolution broke out, ma k i ng tra nspor tation to New Eng la nd i mpossible, Br ita i n d id n’t consider cha ng i ng its pol icy but si mply looked to a vast w i lder ness br i m m i ng w ith oppor tu n ity on the fa r side of the world: Austra l ia
The ‘Fi rst Fleet ’ , as it ’ s now k now n, set sa i l for Austra l ia on 13 May 1787 a nd consisted of 11 sh ips: two a r med Roya l Nav y vessels, th ree supply sh ips
CRIME AND GRIME IN 18TH-CENTURY BRITAIN
People in 18th-centur y Britain used the term criminal in much the same way we do today: someone who committed a crime and was taken to cour t was a ‘criminal’ and was referred to as such It didn’t matter if they were a star ving waif stealing an apple from a grocer s stall for the f irst time, the branding didn’t distinguish them from a highwayman murderer or career house breaker It was generally held that anyone who would stoop to commit a crime was already morally bankrupt and was star ting a spiral down into a life of villainy, if they weren’t there already there
There was a real underclass of criminality that had developed as a result of a justice system that didn’t believe in rehabilitation and simply flog ged, branded, executed or gave hard labour to miscreants and hardened lawbreakers alike In the f ilthy, crowded cities of 18th-centur y Britain and with no social security net shor t of the dreaded workhouses, cer tain types of criminal stuck together Prostitutes, beg gars, thieves, con men (or mountebanks as they were known) and more benef ited from a hierarchy that was formed, from which a kind of ‘master’ criminal was drawn
a nd si x cr i m i na l tra nspor ts housi ng 736 conv icts i n tota l T he f leet ’ s ad m i ra l was A r t hu r Ph i l l ip, a work i ng- class m i l ita r y ma n who had ascended th roug h the mercha nt nav y f rom apprentice at 13, before g iv i ng up h is civ i l ia n ra n k to joi n the Roya l Nav y as a sea ma n two yea rs later He was a selftaug ht nav igator a nd excel led i n other ma r iti me d iscipl i nes wh ich gave h i m a d isti nct edge over h is peers a nd a l lowed h i m to ta ke cha rge of h is ow n f leet as ad m i ra l aged 50 He was a lso a d iscipl i ned, fa r-sig hted a nd prag matic leader who bel ieved slaver y wou ld on ly h i nder the prog ress of the new colon ies, yet wasn t a f ra id to use the ha ng ma n s noose to ma ke a n exa mple of those conv icts who broke the r u les repeated ly
On ly a few of those aboa rd had been g iven tra nspor tation sentences for v iolent cr i mes that wou ld other w ise have necessitated a death pena lty A mong those g u i lty of lesser cr i mes were 70 -yea r old El izabeth Beck ford, g iven seven yea rs for stea l i ng a wheel of cheese, 11-yea r old Ja mes Grace, tra nspor ted for stea l i ng r ibbon, a nd n i ne -yea r old Joh n Hudson, a ch i m ney sweep a lso g iven a d ispropor tionately ha rsh sentence for com mon la rceny Ad m i ra l Ph i l l ip had hoped for tradesmen to set up the new colony but not on ly was he d ismayed by the la rgely u nsk i l led
rabble he was presented w ith, he was appa l led at the treatment the cou r ts had meted out to the pr isoners wh i le thei r fate was decided
A lthough the cra mped cond itions that awa ited them below deck cou ld ha rd ly be considered com for table, Ph i l ip had hoped that each conv ict was at least bei ng g iven the best cha nce of su r v iv i ng the jou r ney that thei r pa rdon a f forded them: the sorr y state that they were ma rched f rom the ja i l
Captain James Cook claimed Australia for Britain
Admiral A rthur Phillip was the f irst governor of New South Wales, and founder of Sydney
Australia’s first penal colony
“Rega rd less of c r i me, age, eth n ic it y or gender, nea rly a l l were ma l nour ished, l ice -i n fested a nd wea r i ng rags”
i n sug gested other w ise Rega rd less of cr i me, age, eth n icity or gender nea rly a l l were ma l nou r ished l ice -i n fested a nd wea r i ng ba rely enoug h i n the way of moth- eaten rags to h ide thei r modesty It en raged Ph i l ip that not on ly was the gover n ment deny i ng h i m the sk i l led labou r he wou ld need to ef fectively establ ish a colony, but the rag-tag d regs of Br ita i n ’ s gaols had been ha lf-broken before they had even lef t the shore Never theless, he was neither goi ng to be delayed nor d ishea r tened, a nd so Ph i l ip saw the Fi rst Fleet th roug h what wou ld have been a d isti nctly u npleasa nt eig ht-month jou r ney to a ha rbou r 12 k i lometres (7 5 m i les) south of moder n- day Syd ney, stoppi ng of f at South A mer ica a nd South A f r ica a long the way
The last of the f leet la nded at its f i na l desti nation i n Bota ny Bay relatively i ntact on 20 Ja nua r y 1788
None of the sh ips had been lost on the jou r ney a nd on ly 48 of the wou ld-be colon ists had d ied, a rema rkably low statistic for the ti me
However, the new colony was nowhere nea r
the pa rad ise that explorer Capta i n Ja mes Cook, who cha r ted the reg ion on h is 17 72-17 75 voyage had pa i nted Cook a r r ived du r i ng the month of May a nd had na med the natu ra l ha rbou r for the d iversity of its vegetation, a lso noti ng its abu nda nce of f ish But at the heig ht of the Austra l ia n su m mer when the Fi rst Fleet a r r ived, the la nd was w ithered a nd the sti ng rays Cook had ta l ked about were nowhere to be seen The sha l low bay a lso prevented the sh ips f rom d roppi ng a nchor close to the shorel i ne, so cond itions for a f ledg l i ng colony on shore were fa r f rom idea l The water was mostly brack ish, the bay’s topog raphy wou ld ma ke it d if f icu lt to defend a nd the soi l was poor w ith sl i m potentia l for g row i ng crops f rom the g ra i n they had broug ht w ith them At least there were plenty of strong trees a nd the natives a n abor ig i na l cla n ca l led Cad iga l weren’t hosti le But the fea r of attack f rom abor ig i na ls or foreig n powers look i ng to usu r p h is c la i m to t he la nd led A r t hu r Ph i l l ip to sea rch elsewhere He took a sma l l pa r ty of th ree boats nor th the next day to d iscover a much more su itable, sheltered site for a colony w ith fer ti le soi l a nd f resh water Cook had ca l led it Por t Jackson but had n’t entered t he ha rbou r, so Ph i l l ip took t he l iber ty of rena m i ng it Syd ney
It wasn’t just the d regs of the pr isons that had been upended i nto the Fi rst Fleet One pa r ticu la r thor n in Ph illip’s side was the pr ick ly Major Rober t Ross The Scottish ma r i ne had a reputation for hav i ng a ha i r-tr ig ger temper, but it wasn’t u nti l Ph illip was tr y i ng to set up the colony that he d iscovered just how i nsubord i nate he cou ld be He ref used to a l low ma r i nes u nder h is com ma nd to super v ise conv icts or to sit i n cou r t on conv ict tr ia ls, he was lazy, qua r rel led w ith h is of f icers a nd com ma nders a l i ke a nd genera l ly made Ph i l l ip s job of gover n i ng t he colony more d i f f icu lt Ph i l l ip had a l ready i nstr ucted h is l ieutena nt, Dav id Col l i ns, to ta ke a sma l l pa r ty of seven f ree men a nd 15 conv icts to Norfol k Isla nd, a sma l l isla nd 1,412 k i lometres (87 7 m i les) d i rectly east of Austra l ia They a r r ived a month a f ter the settlement of Syd ney a nd over the cou rse of a yea r, more conv icts were sent to help w ith what appea red to be a prom isi ng i ndustr y Perhaps to avoid outr ig ht con f l ict as much as the need for a m i l ita r y presence on the isla nd Ph illip decided to send the su rly major over to Norfol k w ith a reti nue of ma r i nes i n 1790 It was not a successf u l relocation Ross conti nued to a rg ue w it h L ieutena nt G over nor Col l i ns a nd h is ow n men He decla red ma r tia l law for fou r months a f ter the 540 -ton H MS Si r ius attempti ng to br i ng over a compa ny of ma r i nes escor ti ng conv icts was w recked on a cora l reef No l ives were lost but the sh ip a nd a l l its prov isions per ished, wh ich on ly pi led the pressu re on the isla nders In the space of
WHO WORE THE FIRST ‘POMS’ ?
THE FERRYMAN
Crime: Stealing sugar
Jamaican-born Billy Blue was sentenced to seven years transpor tation in 1796 that saw him leave for Botany Bay in 1800 He f inished his sentence and became a ferr yman across Sydney Harbour, married in 1805 and had six children
THE WILD WHITE MAN
Crime: Receiving stolen goods
Former soldier William Buckley managed to escape incarceration when he arrived in Australia Buckley was adopted by a friendly tribe of Aboriginals, the Wathaurung, who believed he was the returned spirit of a recently deceased tribesman and became a respected member of their community
MOTHER AUSTR ALI A Crime: Stealing a frock Mar y Ann Wade was the youngest convict sent aboard the second fleet at 11 years old af ter her death sentence was commuted to transpor tation On arrival she was taken to Nor folk Island where she later had two children Her descendants today number in the tens of thousands
Captain Cook taking formal possession of New South Wales
HMS Endeavour, the British Nav y research vessel commanded by Captain Cook
a few yea rs, Norfol k had tu r ned f rom a sma l l cottage i ndustr y settlement to a n i ntensive labou r ca mp worked by the worst of the Austra l ia n ma i n la nd’s c r i m i na ls a nd overseen by m i l ita r y of f icers who proved d if f icu lt to ma nage Ross was sent back to Syd ney i n 1791 a nd was promptly depor ted back to Br ita i n a f ter bei ng rel ieved of h is com ma nd Even a f ter Ross lef t though, Norfol k Isla nd was sti l l used pr i ma r i ly as a pr ison isla nd for the worst of the worst f rom the Austra l ia n ma i n la nd The treatment of its
“Bac k-brea k i ng work bui ld i ng roads a nd br idges could last a ny th i ng f rom 14 to 18 hours a day, seven days a week ”
conv icts u nder the com ma nd of Gover nor Da rl i ng beca me even more br uta l
The system that A r t hu r Ph illip set up aimed to extract the best use of ever y conv ict A few cu rsor y deta i ls l i ke thei r place of bi r th, rel ig ion a nd physica l ma rks l i ke sca rs or tattoos were noted to identif y them, before they were asked about thei r prev ious trade a nd level of l iteracy to establ ish thei r vocation Extra labou rers, prov id i ng they worked wel l, were a lways ha ndy but a nyone w ith a trade was va luable A s the pena l colon ies of Bota ny Bay a nd Syd ney spread i nto Austra l ia’s r u ra l reg ions, the trades of a Wester n civ i l isation beca me soug ht a f ter Now, not just ca r penters, sm iths a nd fa r mers were i n dema nd, but housema ids, na n n ies, por ters
A DAY IN A CONV ICT’S LIFE
a nd other ser va nts were requ i red for the f ree m ig ra nts seek i ng thei r for tu ne i n a new cou ntr y Rega rd less of thei r backg rou nd ever y conv ict was assig ned a trade: the educated were f reed f rom men ia l labou r a nd got of f l ig htly w ith the job of helpi ng w ith the isla nd s ad m i n istration, wh i le the job of some w ives a nd mothers was si mply to help popu late the colon ies
For those tasked w ith bu i ld i ng the houses a nd i n f rastr uctu re i n the f i rst few decades of the colon ies, l ife was a shade toug her Leg i rons were w idely used a nd the conv icts’ overseers w ielded thei r wh ips l ibera l ly Back-brea k i ng work bu i ld i ng roads a nd br idges cou ld last a ny th i ng f rom 14 to 18 hou rs a day, seven days a week Thoug h the a i m
Australia’s
3 June 1787
Hav ing sur v ived a pla n ned mutiny that never saw f r uition, the f leet a r r ived at the Spa n ish Ca na r y Isla nd of Tener ife to resupply w ith food a nd water, stay ing there for one week One conv ict attempted to escape but they were genera lly well behaved
5 August 1787
The jour ney across the Atla ntic to South A mer ica was notably hot a nd uncomfor table Disease a nd pa rasites like lice a nd roaches spread, wh ile water was rationed A s a result, a number of conv icts d ied W hen the f leet reached R io, Ad m ira l Ph illip ordered the sh ips be thorough ly clea ned
13 May 1787
A tota l of 11 sh ips ca r r y ing over 1,420 new colon ists, over ha lf of wh ich were conv icts set sa il on a jour ney to the other side of the world that would ta ke more tha n eight months Their supplies included a number of anima ls includ ing rabbits pigs, horses a nd sheep a nd rats, of course
penal colony
13 October 1787
Despite the pun ish ment for lewd activ ities, prom iscuity was r ife aboa rd the sh ips, especia lly where the fema le conv icts were a llowed to exercise on deck Undoubted ly, some had conceived ch ild ren by the time the f leet had reached the souther n tip of A f r ica to resupply a nd pick up livestock for the new colony
– ostensibly at least – was to refor m these conv icts i nto new colon ists by the end of thei r sentence a nd there was even a cha nce for them to ea r n thei r f reedom for good behav iou r, there was no doubt they were bei ng pu n ished for thei r cr i mes
Those tra nspor ted for more ser ious cr i mes cou ld face the death pena lty if they were caug ht escapi ng or at the ver y least face even ha rder ti me as colon ists on Norfol k Isla nd Neither d id those ser va nts who were assig ned to the households of the f ree m ig ra nts have a n easy ti me of it They were at the mercy of thei r masters a nd v u l nerable to abuse
Conv icts weren’t completely w ithout r ig hts, thoug h The colon ia l gover n ment pa id for thei r food a nd clothes, so if a conv ict ’ s master wasn’t feed i ng or cloth i ng them properly, was g iv i ng them d ispropor tionate physica l pu n ish ment or not a l low i ng them enoug h rest, the conv ict cou ld have thei r compla i nt hea rd If the defenda nt was fou nd g u i lty the conv ict cou ld be reassig ned to someone else a nd thei r for mer master or m istress cou ld lose thei r r ig ht to have conv icts work for them at a l l i n the f utu re
The fema le tra nspor tees of Bota ny Bay a nd Por t Jackson were treated sepa rately f rom the men – the 120 -strong conv ict roster on one of the si x pr ison sh ips of the Fi rst Fleet was enti rely fema le, for a sta r t W hen they a r r ived, they were sent to a pr ison ca l led a ‘fema le factor y ’ , where they lau ndered clothes, sewed a nd spu n wh i le they were awa iti ng assig n ment Ma ny of the women tra nspor ted to
18 January 1788 Hav ing braved the f ierce
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J’avais une peur, une peur de loup. Je m’habillai sous une porte. Puis je me mis à marcher tout droit. Je croyais pour sûr qu’il y avait quelqu’un de tué et que les gendarmes me cherchaient déjà. Je gagnai la grand’route de Rouen. Je me disais qu’à Rouen je pourrais me cacher très bien.
Il faisait noir à ne pas voir les fossés, et j’entendais des chiens qui aboyaient dans les fermes. Sait-on tout ce qu’on entend la nuit?
Des oiseaux qui crient comme des hommes qu’on égorge, des bêtes qui jappent, des bêtes qui sifflent, et puis tant de choses que l’on ne comprend pas. J’en avais la chair de poule. A chaque bruit, je faisais le signe de croix. On ne s’imagine point ce que ça vous émouve le cœur. Quand le jour parut, v’là que l’idée des gendarmes me reprit, et que je me mis à courir. Puis je me calmai.
Je me sentis faim tout de même, malgré ma confusion; mais je ne possédais rien, pas un sou, j’avais oublié mon argent, tout ce qui m’appartenait sur terre, dix-huit francs.
Me v’là donc à marcher avec un ventre qui chante. Il faisait chaud. Le soleil piquait. Midi passe. J’allais toujours.
Tout à coup j’entends des chevaux derrière moi. Je me retourne. Les gendarmes! Mon sang ne fait qu’un tour; j’ai cru que j’allais tomber; mais je me contiens. Ils me rattrapent. Ils me regardent. Il y en a un, le plus vieux, qui dit:
—Bonjour, mamzelle.
—Bonjour, monsieur.
—Ousque vous allez comme ça?
—Je vas t’à Rouen, en service dans une place qu’on m’a t’offerte.
—Comme ça, pédestrement?
—Oui, comme ça.
Mon cœur battait, monsieur, à ce que je ne pouvais plus parler Je me disais: «Ils me tiennent.» Et j’avais une envie de courir qui me frétillait dans les jambes. Mais ils m’auraient rattrapée tout de suite, vous comprenez.
Le vieux recommença:
—Nous allons faire route ensemble jusqu’à Barantin, mamzelle, vu que nous suivons le même itinéraire.
—Avec satisfaction, monsieur.
Et nous v’là causant. Je me faisais plaisante autant que je pouvais, n’est-ce pas; si bien qu’ils ont cru des choses qui n’étaient point. Or, comme je passais dans un bois, le vieux dit:
—Voulez-vous, mamzelle, que j’allions faire un repos sur la mousse?
Moi, je répondis sans y penser:
—A votre désir, monsieur.
Puis il descend et il donne son cheval à l’autre, et nous v’là partis dans le bois tous deux.
Il n’y avait plus à dire non. Qu’est-ce que vous auriez fait à ma place? Il en prit ce qu’il a voulu; puis il me dit: «Faut pas oublier le camarade.» Et il retourna tenir les chevaux, pendant que l’autre m’a rejointe. J’en étais honteuse que j’en aurais pleuré, monsieur. Mais je n’osais point résister, vous comprenez.
Donc nous v’là repartis. Je ne parlions plus. J’avais trop de deuil au cœur. Et puis je ne pouvais plus marcher tant j’avais faim. Tout de même, dans un village, ils m’ont offert un verre de vin, qui m’a r’donné des forces pour quelque temps. Et puis ils ont pris le trot pour pas traverser Barantin de compagnie. Alors je m’assis dans le fossé et je pleurai tout ce que j’avais de larmes.
Je marchai encore plus de trois heures durant avant Rouen. Il était sept heures du soir quand j’arrivai. D’abord toutes ces lumières
m’éblouirent. Et puis je ne savais point où m’asseoir Sur les routes, y a les fossés et l’herbe ousqu’on peut même se coucher pour dormir. Mais dans les villes, rien.
Les jambes me rentraient dans le corps, et j’avais des éblouissements à croire que j’allais tomber. Et puis, il se mit à pleuvoir, une petite pluie fine, comme ce soir, qui vous traverse sans que ça ait l’air de rien. J’ai pas de chance les jours qu’il pleut. Je commençai donc à marcher dans les rues. Je regardais toutes ces maisons en me disant: «Y a tant de lits et tant de pain dans tout ça et je ne pourrai point seulement trouver une croûte et une paillasse.»
Je pris par des rues où il y avait des femmes qui appelaient les hommes de passage. Dans ces cas-là, monsieur, on fait ce qu’on peut. Je me mis, comme elles, à inviter le monde. Mais on ne me répondait point. J’aurais voulu être morte. Ça dura bien jusqu’à minuit. Je ne savais même plus ce que je faisais. A la fin, v’là un homme qui m’écoute. Il me demande: «Ousque tu demeures?» On devient vite rusée dans la nécessité. Je répondis: «Je ne peux pas vous mener chez moi, vu que j’habite avec maman. Mais n’y a-t-il point de maisons où l’on peut aller?»
Il répondit: «Plus souvent que je vas dépenser vingt sous de chambre.»
Puis il réfléchit et ajouta: «Viens-t’en. Je connais un endroit tranquille ousque nous ne serons point interrompus.»
Il me fit passer un pont et puis il m’emmena au bout de la ville, dans un pré qu’était près de la rivière. Je ne pouvais pus le suivre.
Il me fit asseoir et puis il se mit à causer pourquoi nous étions venus. Mais comme il était long dans son affaire, je me trouvai tant percluse de fatigue que je m’endormis.
Il s’en alla sans rien me donner. Je ne m’en aperçus seulement pas. Il pleuvait, comme je vous l’ disais. C’est d’puis ce jour-là que j’ai des douleurs que je n’ai pas pu m’en guérir, vu que j’ai dormi toute la nuit dans la crotte.
Je fus réveillée par deux sergots qui me mirent au poste, et puis, de là, en prison, où je restai huit jours, pendant qu’on cherchait ce que je pouvais bien être et d’où je venais. Je ne voulus point le dire par peur des conséquences.
On le sut pourtant et on me lâcha, après un jugement d’innocence.
Il fallait recommencer à trouver du pain. Je tâchai d’avoir une place, mais je ne pus pas, à cause de la prison d’où je venais.
Alors je me rappelai d’un vieux juge qui m’avait tourné de l’œil, pendant qu’il me jugeait, à la façon du père Lerable, d’Yvetot. Et j’allai le trouver. Je ne m’étais point trompée. Il me donna cent sous quand je le quittai, en me disant: «T’en auras autant toutes les fois; mais viens pas plus souvent que deux fois par semaine.»
Je compris bien ça, vu son âge. Mais ça me donna une réflexion. Je me dis: «Les jeunes gens, ça rigole, ça s’amuse; mais il n’y a jamais gras, tandis que les vieux, c’est autre chose.» Et puis je les connaissais maintenant, les vieux singes, avec leurs yeux en coulisse et leur petit simulacre de tête.
Savez-vous ce que je fis, monsieur? Je m’habillai en bobonne qui vient du marché, et je courais les rues en cherchant mes nourriciers. Oh! je les pinçais du premier coup. Je me disais: «En v’là un qui mord.»
Il s’approchait. Il commençait:
—Bonjour, mamzelle.
—Bonjour, monsieur.
—Ousque vous allez comme ça?
—Je rentre chez mes maîtres.
—Ils demeurent loin, vos maîtres?
—Comme ci, comme ça.
Alors il ne savait plus quoi dire. Moi je ralentissais le pas pour le laisser s’expliquer.
Alors il prononçait, tout bas, quelques compliments, et puis il me demandait de passer chez lui. Je me faisais prier, vous comprenez, puis je cédais. J’en avais de la sorte deux ou trois pour chaque matin, et toutes mes après-midi libres. Ç’a été le bon temps de ma vie. Je ne me faisais pas de bile.
Mais voilà. On n’est jamais tranquille longtemps. Le malheur a voulu que je fisse la connaissance d’un grand richard du grand monde. Un ancien président qui avait bien soixante-quinze ans.
Un soir, il m’emmena dîner dans un restaurant des environs. Et puis, vous comprenez, il n’a pas su se modérer. Il est mort au dessert.
J’ai eu trois mois de prison, vu que je n’étais point sous la surveillance.
C’est alors que je vins à Paris.
Oh! ici, monsieur, c’est dur de vivre. On ne mange pas tous les jours, allez. Y en a trop. Enfin, tant pis, chacun sa peine, n’est-ce pas?
Elle se tut. Je marchais à son côté, le cœur serré. Tout à coup, elle se remit à me tutoyer.
—Alors tu ne montes pas chez moi, mon chéri?
—Non, je te l’ai déjà dit.
—Eh bien! au revoir, merci tout de même, sans rancune. Mais je t’assure que tu as tort.
Et elle partit, s’enfonçant dans la pluie fine comme un voile. Je la vis passer sous un bec de gaz, puis disparaître dans l’ombre. Pauvre fille!
L’Odyssée d’une fille a paru dans le Gil-Blas du mardi 25 septembre 1883, sous la signature: M .
LA FENÊTRE.
JE fis la connaissance de Mme de Jadelle à Paris, cet hiver. Elle me plut infiniment tout de suite. Vous la connaissez d’ailleurs autant que moi..., non... pardon... presque autant que moi... Vous savez comme elle est fantasque et poétique en même temps. Libre d’allures et de cœur impressionnable, volontaire, émancipée, hardie, entreprenante, audacieuse, enfin au-dessus de tout préjugé, et, malgré cela, sentimentale, délicate, vite froissée, tendre et pudique.
Elle était veuve, j’adore les veuves, par paresse. Je cherchais alors à me marier, je lui fis la cour. Plus je la connaissais, plus elle me plaisait; et je crus le moment venu de risquer ma demande. J’étais amoureux d’elle et j’allais le devenir trop. Quand on se marie, il ne faut pas trop aimer sa femme, parce qu’alors on fait des bêtises; on se trouble, on devient en même temps niais et brutal. Il faut se dominer encore. Si on perd la tête le premier soir, on risque fort de l’avoir boisée un an plus tard.
Donc, un jour, je me présentai chez elle avec des gants clairs et je lui dis:
—Madame, j’ai le bonheur de vous aimer et je viens vous demander si je puis avoir quelque espoir de vous plaire, en y mettant tous mes soins, et de vous donner mon nom.
Elle me répondit tranquillement:
—Comme vous y allez, monsieur! J’ignore absolument si vous me plairez tôt ou tard; mais je ne demande pas mieux que d’en faire l’épreuve. Comme homme, je ne vous trouve pas mal. Reste à
savoir ce que vous êtes comme cœur, comme caractère et comme habitudes. La plupart des mariages deviennent orageux ou criminels, parce qu’on ne se connaît pas assez en s’accouplant. Il suffit d’un rien, d’une manie enracinée, d’une opinion tenace sur un point quelconque de morale, de religion ou de n’importe quoi, d’un geste qui déplaît, d’un tic, d’un tout petit défaut ou même d’une qualité désagréable pour faire deux ennemis irréconciliables, acharnés et enchaînés l’un à l’autre jusqu’à la mort, des deux fiancés les plus tendres et les plus passionnés.
Je ne me marierai pas, monsieur, sans connaître à fond, dans les coins et replis de l’âme, l’homme dont je partagerai l’existence. Je le veux étudier à loisir, de tout près, pendant des mois.
Voici donc ce que je vous propose. Vous allez venir passer l’été chez moi, dans ma propriété de Lauville, et nous verrons là, tranquillement, si nous sommes faits pour vivre côte à côte...
Je vous vois rire! Vous avez une mauvaise pensée. Oh! monsieur, si je n’étais pas sûre de moi, je ne vous ferais point cette proposition. J’ai pour l’amour, tel que vous le comprenez, vous autres hommes, un tel mépris et un tel dégoût qu’une chute est impossible pour moi. Acceptez-vous?
Je lui baisai la main.
—Quand partons-nous, madame?
—Le 10 mai. C’est entendu?
—C’est entendu.
Un mois plus tard, je m’installais chez elle. C’était vraiment une singulière femme. Du matin au soir elle m’étudiait. Comme elle adore les chevaux, nous passions chaque jour des heures à nous promener par les bois, en parlant de tout, car elle cherchait à pénétrer mes plus intimes pensées autant qu’elle s’efforçait d’observer jusqu’à mes moindres mouvements.
Quant à moi, je devenais follement amoureux et je ne m’inquiétais nullement de l’accord de nos caractères. Je m’aperçus bientôt que mon sommeil lui-même était soumis à une surveillance. Quelqu’un couchait dans une petite chambre à côté de la mienne, où l’on n’entrait que fort tard et avec des précautions infinies. Cet espionnage de tous les instants finit par m’impatienter. Je voulus hâter le dénouement, et je devins, un soir, entreprenant. Elle me reçut de telle façon que je m’abstins de toute tentative nouvelle; mais un violent désir m’envahit de lui faire payer, d’une façon quelconque, le régime policier auquel j’étais soumis, et je m’avisai d’un moyen.
Vous connaissez Césarine, sa femme de chambre, une jolie fille de Granville, où toutes les femmes sont belles, mais aussi blonde que sa maîtresse est brune.
Donc un après-midi j’attirai la soubrette dans ma chambre, je lui mis cent francs dans la main et je lui dis:
—Ma chère enfant, je ne veux te demander rien de vilain, mais je désire faire envers ta maîtresse ce qu’elle fait envers moi.
La petite bonne souriait d’un air sournois. Je repris:
—On me surveille jour et nuit, je le sais. On me regarde manger, boire, m’habiller, me raser et mettre mes chaussettes, je le sais.
La fillette articula:
—Dame, monsieur..., puis se tut. Je continuai:
—Tu couches dans la chambre à côté pour écouter si je souffle ou si je rêve tout haut, ne le nie pas!...
Elle se mit à rire tout à fait et prononça:
—Dame, monsieur..., puis se tut encore.
Je m’animai:
—Eh bien, tu comprends, ma fille, qu’il n’est pas juste qu’on sache tout sur mon compte et que je ne sache rien sur celui de la personne qui sera ma femme. Je l’aime de toute mon âme. Elle a le visage, le cœur, l’esprit que je rêvais, je suis le plus heureux des hommes sous ce rapport; cependant il y a des choses que je voudrais bien savoir...
Césarine se décida à enfoncer dans sa poche mon billet de banque. Je compris que le marché était conclu.
—Écoute, ma fille, nous autres hommes, nous tenons beaucoup à certains... à certains... détails... physiques, qui n’empêchent pas une femme d’être charmante, mais qui peuvent changer son prix à nos yeux. Je ne te demande pas de me dire du mal de ta maîtresse, ni même de m’avouer ses défauts secrets si elle en a. Réponds seulement avec franchise aux quatre ou cinq questions que je vais te poser. Tu connais Mme de Jadelle comme toi-même, puisque tu l’habilles et que tu la déshabilles tous les jours. Eh bien, voyons, dismoi cela. Est-elle aussi grasse qu’elle en a l’air?
La petite bonne ne répondit pas.
Je repris:
—Voyons, mon enfant, tu n’ignores pas qu’il y a des femmes qui se mettent du coton, tu sais, du coton là où, là où... enfin du coton là où on nourrit les petits enfants, et aussi là où on s’asseoit. Dis-moi, met-elle du coton?
Césarine avait baissé les yeux. Elle prononça timidement:
—Demandez toujours, monsieur, je répondrai tout à la fois.
—Eh bien, ma fille, il y a aussi des femmes qui ont les genoux rentrés, si bien qu’ils s’entre-frottent à chaque pas qu’elles font. Il y en a d’autres qui les ont écartés, ce qui leur fait des jambes pareilles aux arches d’un pont. On voit le paysage au milieu. C’est très joli des deux façons: Dis-moi comment sont les jambes de ta maîtresse?
La petite bonne ne répondit pas.
Je continuai:
—Il y en a qui ont la poitrine si belle qu’elle forme un gros pli dessous. Il y en a qui ont des gros bras avec une taille mince. Il y en a qui sont très fortes par devant et pas du tout par derrière; d’autres qui sont très fortes par derrière et pas du tout par devant. Tout cela est très joli, très joli; mais je voudrais bien savoir comment est faite ta maîtresse. Dis-le-moi franchement et je te donnerai encore beaucoup d’argent...
Césarine me regarda au fond des yeux et répondit en riant de tout son cœur:
—Monsieur, à part qu’elle est noire, madame est faite tout comme moi. Puis elle s’enfuit.
J’étais joué.
Cette fois, je me trouvai ridicule et je résolus de me venger au moins de cette bonne impertinente.
Une heure plus tard, j’entrai avec précaution dans la petite chambre, d’où elle m’écoutait dormir, et je dévissai les verrous.
Elle arriva vers minuit à son poste d’observation. Je la suivis aussitôt. En m’apercevant, elle voulut crier; mais je lui fermai la bouche avec ma main et je me convainquis, sans trop d’efforts, que, si elle n’avait pas menti, Mme de Jadelle devait être très bien faite.
Je pris même grand goût à cette constatation qui, d’ailleurs, poussée un peu loin, ne semblait plus déplaire à Césarine.
C’était, ma foi, un ravissant échantillon de la race bas-normande, forte et fine en même temps. Il lui manquait peut-être certaines délicatesses de soins qu’aurait méprisées Henri IV. Je les lui révélai bien vite, et comme j’adore les parfums, je lui fis cadeau, le soir même, d’un flacon de lavande ambrée.
Nous fûmes bientôt plus liés même que je n’aurais cru, presque amis. Elle devint une maîtresse exquise, naturellement spirituelle, et rouée à plaisir. C’eût été, à Paris, une courtisane de grand mérite.
Les douceurs qu’elle me procura me permirent d’attendre sans impatience la fin de l’épreuve de Mme de Jadelle. Je devins d’un caractère incomparable, souple, docile, complaisant.
Quant à ma fiancée, elle me trouvait sans doute délicieux, et je compris, à certains signes, que j’allais bientôt être agréé. J’étais certes le plus heureux des hommes du monde, attendant tranquillement le baiser légal d’une femme que j’aimais dans les bras d’une jeune et belle fille pour qui j’avais de la tendresse.
C’est ici, madame, qu’il faut vous tourner un peu; j’arrive à l’endroit délicat.
Mme de Jadelle, un soir, comme nous revenions de notre promenade à cheval, se plaignit vivement que ses palefreniers n’eussent point pour la bête qu’elle montait certaines précautions exigées par elle. Elle répéta même plusieurs fois: «Qu’ils prennent garde, qu’ils prennent garde, j’ai un moyen de les surprendre.»
Je passai une nuit calme, dans mon lit. Je m’éveillai tôt, plein d’ardeur et d’entrain. Et je m’habillai.
J’avais l’habitude d’aller chaque matin fumer une cigarette sur une tourelle du château où montait un escalier en limaçon, éclairé par une grande fenêtre à la hauteur du premier étage.
Je m’avançais sans bruit, les pieds en mes pantoufles de maroquin aux semelles ouatées, pour gravir les premières marches, quand j’aperçus Césarine, penchée à la fenêtre, regardant au dehors.
Je n’aperçus pas Césarine tout entière, mais seulement une moitié de Césarine, la seconde moitié d’elle; j’aimais autant cette moitié-là. De Mme de Jadelle j’eusse préféré peut-être la première. Elle était charmante ainsi, si ronde, vêtue à peine d’un petit jupon blanc, cette moitié qui s’offrait à moi.
Je m’approchai si doucement que la jeune fille n’entendit rien. Je me mis à genoux; je pris avec mille précautions les deux bords du fin jupon, et, brusquement, je relevai. Je la reconnus aussitôt, pleine, fraîche, grasse et douce, la face secrète de ma maîtresse, et j’y jetai, pardon, madame, j’y jetai un tendre baiser, un baiser d’amant qui peut tout oser.
Je fus surpris. Cela sentait la verveine! Mais je n’eus pas le temps d’y réfléchir. Je reçus un grand coup, ou plutôt une poussée dans la figure qui faillit me briser le nez. J’entendis un cri qui me fit dresser les cheveux. La personne s’était retournée—c’était Mme de Jadelle!
Elle battit l’air de ses mains comme une femme qui perd connaissance; elle haleta quelques secondes, fit le geste de me cravacher, puis s’enfuit.
Dix minutes plus tard, Césarine, stupéfaite, m’apportait une lettre; je lus: «Mme de Jadelle espère que M. de Brives la débarrassera immédiatement de sa présence.»
Je partis.
Eh bien, je ne suis point encore consolé. J’ai tenté de tous les moyens et de toutes les explications pour me faire pardonner cette méprise. Toutes mes démarches ont échoué.
Depuis ce moment, voyez-vous, j’ai dans... dans le cœur un goût de verveine qui me donne un désir immodéré de sentir encore ce bouquet-là.
La Fenêtre a paru dans le Gil-Blas du mardi 10 juillet 1883.
SOUVENIRS.
JE traversais Rouen, l’autre jour. Nous sommes au moment de la foire Saint-Romain.
Figurez-vous la fête de Neuilly, plus importante, plus solennelle, avec une gravité provinciale, un mouvement plus lourd de la foule qui est aussi plus compacte et plus silencieuse.
Plusieurs kilomètres de baraques et de vendeurs, car les boutiques sont plus nombreuses qu’à Neuilly, les gens de campagne achetant beaucoup. Marchands de verrerie, de porcelaines, de coutellerie, de rubans, de boutons, de livres pour les paysans, d’objets singuliers et comiques en usage dans les villages, puis des montreurs de curiosités, que le Normand des champs appelle des «faiseux vé de quoi», et une profusion de femmes colosses dont semblent fort amateurs les Rouennais. Une d’elles vient d’envoyer à la presse locale une lettre aimable pour inviter MM. les journalistes à venir la visiter en s’excusant de ne pouvoir se présenter elle-même chez eux, ses dimensions lui interdisant toute sortie.
... Se plaint de la grosseur qui l’attache au rivage.
Enfoncé Louis XIV!
Puis voici des lutteurs: l’aimable M. Bazin qui parle comme à la Comédie-Française, en saluant le public de l’index.
Voici encore un cirque de singes, un cirque de puces, un cirque de chevaux, cent autres curiosités de toute espèce. Et un public particulier: gens de la ville endimanchés, aux mouvements sérieux et modérés, mais bien accordés, l’homme et la femme manœuvrant
d’ensemble, avec une sage gravité, comme si la nature eût mis en eux une même manivelle; gens de la campagne aux mouvements plus lents encore, mais différents, l’homme et la femme ayant chacun le sien, couple détraqué par des besognes diverses: le mâle courbé, traînant ses jambes; la femelle se balançant comme si elle portait des seaux de lait.
Ce qu’il y a de plus remarquable dans la foire Saint-Romain, c’est l’odeur, odeur que j’aime, parce que je l’ai sentie tout enfant, mais qui vous dégoûterait sans doute. On sent le hareng grillé, les gaufres et les pommes cuites.
Entre chaque baraque, en effet, dans tous les coins, on grille des harengs en plein air, car nous sommes au plus fort de la saison de pêche, et on cuit des gaufres, et on rissole des pommes, des belles pommes normandes, sur de grands plats d’étain.
J’entends une cloche. Et tout à coup une émotion singulière me serre le cœur. Deux souvenirs m’ont assailli, l’un de mes premiers ans, l’autre de l’adolescence.
Je demande à l’ami qui m’accompagne:
—C’est toujours lui?
Il a compris et il répond:
—C’est toujours lui, ou plutôt toujours eux. Le violon de Bouilhet y est encore.
Et j’aperçois bientôt la tente, la petite tente où l’on joue, comme on jouait dans mon enfance, cette Tentation de Saint Antoine, qui ravissait Gustave Flaubert et Louis Bouilhet.
Sur l’estrade, un vieux homme à cheveux blancs, si vieux, si courbé qu’il semble un centenaire, cause avec un polichinelle classique. Songez donc, madame, que mes parents aussi l’ont vue, cette Tentation de Saint Antoine, quand ils avaient dix ou douze ans! Et c’est toujours le même homme qui la montre.
Sur sa tête est pendue une pancarte où on lit: «A céder pour cause de santé.» Et s’il ne trouve pas d’amateur, le pauvre vieux, le spectacle naïf et drôle dont s’amusent, depuis plus de soixante ans, toutes les générations de petits Normands, disparaîtra.
Je monte les marches de bois, qui tremblent, car je veux voir encore une fois, une dernière fois peut-être, le saint Antoine de mon enfance.
Les bancs, de misérables bancs étagés, portent un peuple de petits êtres, assis ou debout, babillant, faisant un bruit de foule, le bruit d’une foule de dix ans. Les parents se taisent, accoutumés à la corvée de chaque année. Quelques lampions éclairent l’intérieur sombre de la baraque.
La toile se lève.
Une grosse marionnette apparaît, faisant, au bout de ses fils, des gestes bizarres et maladroits.
Et voilà que toutes les petites têtes se mettent à rire, les mains s’agitent, les pieds trépignent sur les bancs, et des cris de joie, des cris aigus, s’échappent des bouches.
Et il me semble que je suis un de ces enfants, que je suis aussi entré pour voir, pour m’amuser, pour croire, comme eux. Je retrouve en moi, réveillées brusquement, toutes les sensations de jadis; et dans l’hallucination du souvenir, je me sens redevenu le petit être que j’ai été autrefois, devant ce même spectacle.
Mais un violon se met à jouer. Je me lève pour le regarder. C’est aussi le même: un vieux encore, très maigre, et triste, triste, à longs cheveux blancs rejetés derrière une tête creuse, intelligente et fière.
Et je me rappelle ma seconde visite à saint Antoine. J’avais seize ans.
Un jour (j’étais élève au collège de Rouen en ce temps-là), un jour donc, un jeudi, je crois, je montai la rue Bihorel pour aller montrer des vers à mon illustre et sévère ami Louis Bouilhet.
Quand j’entrai dans le cabinet du poète, j’aperçus, à travers un nuage de fumée, deux grands et gros hommes, enfoncés en des fauteuils et qui fumaient en causant.
En face de Louis Bouilhet était Gustave Flaubert.
Je laissai mes vers dans ma poche et je demeurai assis dans mon coin bien sage sur ma chaise, écoutant.
Vers quatre heures, Flaubert se leva.
—Allons, dit-il, conduis-moi jusqu’au bout de ta rue; j’irai à pied au bateau.
Arrivés au boulevard, où se tient la foire Saint-Romain, Bouilhet demanda tout à coup:
—Si nous faisions un tour dans les baraques?
Et ils commencèrent une promenade lente, côte à côte, plus hauts que tous, s’amusant comme des enfants, et échangeant des observations profondes sur les visages rencontrés.
Ils imaginaient les caractères rien qu’à l’aspect des faces, faisaient les conversations des maris avec leurs épouses. Bouilhet parlait comme l’homme et Flaubert comme la femme, avec des expressions normandes, l’accent traînard et l’air toujours étonné des gens de ce pays.
Quand ils arrivèrent devant saint Antoine:
—Allons voir le violon, dit Bouilhet.
Et nous entrâmes.
Quelques années plus tard, le poète étant mort, Gustave Flaubert publia ses vers posthumes, les Dernières chansons.
Une pièce est intitulée: Une Baraque de la foire.
En voici quelques fragments:
Oh! qu’il était triste au coin de la salle, Comme il grelottait, l’homme au violon. La baraque en planche était peu d’aplomb Et le vent soufflait dans la toile sale.
Dans son entourage, Antoine, en prière, Se couvrait les yeux sous son capuchon. Les diables dansaient. Le petit cochon Passait, effaré, la torche au derrière.
Oh! qu’il était triste! Oh! qu’il était pâle! Oh! l’archet damné, raclant sans espoir; Oh! le paletot plus sinistre à voir Sous les transparents aux lueurs d’opale!
Comme un chœur antique au sujet mêlé, Il fallait répondre aux péripéties Et quitter soudain pour des facéties, Le libre juron tout bas grommelé!...
Il fallait chanter, il fallait poursuivre, Pour le pain du jour, la pipe du soir; Pour le dur grabat dans le grenier noir; Pour l’ambition d’être homme et vivre!
Mais parfois dans l’ombre, et c’était son droit, Il lançait, lui pauvre et transi dans l’âme, Un regard farouche aux pantins du drame, Qui reluisaient d’or et n’avaient pas froid.
Puis—comme un rêveur dégagé des choses, Sachant que tout passe et que tout est vain, Sans respect du monde, il chauffait sa main Au rayonnement des apothéoses!
