GAINING COLONIAL EXPERIENCE
Having returned to the ship after the incidents related in the last
chapter, and having somewhat soothed my agitated feelings, and changed
my apparel, Thorkill and I were under the necessity again of returning
on shore; which we did, and had no difficulty in finding the depot or
place prepared for the reception of the immigrants. I had yet scarcely
noticed anything on land, but we saw now at a glance that the town was
very small, or perhaps it would be more correct to say that the town was
large but thinly inhabited. In Queensland we generally estimate the size
of a place by the number of public-houses which it contains, and in
Bowen there were three of these institutions. Grass was growing
luxuriantly enough in the main street, and altogether it did not, as we
came along, strike us that people here seemed remarkably busy. But when
we came down to the depot, the scene was changed.
The depot was a large building, or series of buildings, without
particularly good accommodation, but it had the advantage that there
was plenty of room for everybody. I felt quite glad to again see the
familiar faces of the other immigrants, although we had only been
separated a few hours. There was a large kitchen attached to the place,
and a vast quantity of bread and beef and potatoes had been left there,
more than could possibly be eaten by those present. Two or three
butchers among the immigrants, too, were quite in their element here,
cutting up the bullocks, and all the girls seemed to have formed
themselves into a committee in order to dress the meat in various
appetizing ways. But what seemed the most encouraging feature of all was
to see thirty or forty saddle-horses "hung up" outside the fence and
their owners walking about among the men offering them engagements. The
girls were also in great request. A number of English ladies stood about
the yard, or went in and out of the kitchen. They all seemed to want the
girls who were doing the cooking, and what between the English ladies
who kept trying to attract their attention, their own sweethearts--who
had now the first opportunity since they left Hamburg to speak to
them--and the preparation of food for six hundred and odd people, they
certainly had enough to do. It was comical to watch them. Among the men
the scene was but one degree less animated. They might, I am sure, all
have been engaged that first day if they had liked. A number were
engaged, and over and over again were offers made to them of further
engagements, until at last they turned their backs to the Englishmen who
seemed almost to implore some of them to sign agreements. They were all
offered the same terms--thirty pounds for twelve months, and rations.
The girls got only twenty or twenty-five pounds a year, but there seemed
to be very little difference between the agreements. The Queenslanders
would go for the biggest and most able looking of the men first, and
when they had secured them, engage the others with the same terms. I saw
my "boss" down there, and went home with him for supper. I was received
with the greatest kindness by his family, and he himself could not have
looked more friendly if I had been a long-lost relation. He proved to be
a contractor, and had also a carpenter's shop and showroom attached to
his place. He took me into the shop and showed me several things, and
asked me could I make this or that? There was nothing in the shop that a
boy who had served two years of his life in Copenhagen could not make,
but when I said "yes," he seemed greatly pleased with me, and patted me
on the back. We could not understand each other very much. After tea, I
was shown into a neat room, where stood a nice bed, a chest of drawers,
table, chair, &c. This was to be my abode.
My "boss," however, returned at once and gave me to understand that he
wished me to go with him up to town, and have a general look round. He
gave me first of all a pound sterling, which had the effect of greatly
raising my spirits. Then he took me from the one public-house to the
other, and that made me still more hilarious, especially as he would not
allow me to change my pound; and at last he took me to a store, where a
German presided behind the counter over a lot of ready-made clothes.
Through the German as interpreter, he told me that he would advise me to
buy some new clothes after the Queensland pattern, and that he would
advance sufficient of my wages to cover the cost. I bought then white
trousers, a crimean shirt, a big slouch hat, and a red belt, and put all
on at once. This is the orthodox Queensland costume in the bush, but in
my own eyes I looked a regular masquerader, as I now swaggered down
among the immigrants in my new transformation. I was quite a hero among
them at once, being able to boast of my splendid appointment, and I
believe I had to relate twenty times that evening what I had had for my
supper at my master's place. I might, perhaps, tell it to the reader,
because it seemed to me at that time most astonishing, although it
really--with very little variation--is the ordinary food everybody eats
all over the country, as soon as one comes away from the single man's
hut in the bush.
In the morning we generally had fried steak, white bread, and butter. No
beer or schnapps are ever put on the table in this country, but instead
of that one drinks tea by the quart at every meal. At dinner-time the
ordinary menu will be some sort of roast meat and vegetables, with a
pudding after. At supper one will get more meat and vegetables, and more
bread and butter and tea. It is all very good, but there is a frightful
sameness about it. I used at first to long for one of those plain yet
delicious dishes which the Danish housewives make at home. But I do not
believe English people would eat it, if it were put before them. They
seem to think that anything which is not a solid junk of roast beef must
be un-English. I have almost come to the same way of thinking myself.
But that evening in the depot we did not criticise the bill of fare. The
immigrants all thought they were going to fare in the same sumptuous
way. Poor fellows, they did not, as a rule.
Next day, Thorkill came to me with sparkling eyes, and told me he had
been so fortunate. A gentleman from Port Mackay, a sugar planter, had
engaged him and twenty-five others, all for thirty pounds a year, and
they were to sail again for the plantation next day. He understood it
was not far away. We might be able to see one another occasionally. He
had told the planter that he had studied agriculture, and the planter
had said he was a good fellow.
"These--Englishmen--are--so--kind,--I--am sure--he--is--a--nice--man.
Perhaps he will make something of me by and by, when I can talk
English."
Poor Thorkill; I see him in a single man's hut on a plantation among
twenty-five others, or with his hoe on his shoulder coming and going to
the fields. He went away the next day, and I fully expected he would
have written to me, but he did not. I did not know his address, and I
did not hear of him again until three years after, when I met him on the
diggings.
As many of the immigrants were going away--they did not themselves know
where--in another day or two, it was suggested by some one that there
should be a theatrical display at the depot in the evening; and the idea
was taken up with enthusiasm by some of the leading spirits among us. It
had, before I arrived that morning, been agreed that the play should be
a French pantomime. For the information of any one who might never have
seen anything of the kind, let me say that it was a one act farce, in
which the persons act by pantomime alone. Cassander is an old man; his
daughter Columbine loves Harlequin, a young man who always dances about
Columbine when Cassander does not see them. Then there was Pierrot, the
foolish but funny man-of-all-work, who is set to catch Harlequin, but is
always "bested"; and the staid old lover whom Cassander wishes Columbine
to marry. Not much rehearsal was needed to play the piece, and the
dresses were also easily made up on short notice. It had further been
decided in my absence that I was to play Harlequin, but I objected very
much. At last I was forced into it in a manner, because I was a pretty
fair dancer at that time, and they had nobody else. What consoled me
greatly was, that I was to wear a black mask, so that I knew that if my
feelings should get the better of me while on the stage, that I might
make as many faces behind the mask as I liked. The whole town was to be
invited, and we gave five shillings to the bell-crier to announce
through the streets that some renowned artists had arrived at the depot,
and were going to give a grand performance that night at seven o'clock.
We worked away hard that day in rehearsals, fitting of dresses, stage
making, quarrelling, and in a few other things which are indispensable
on such occasions. In the evening the whole building was crammed full of
English people; there were even some ladies. Our own people had all back
seats. Everything went well. Our orchestra consisted of three
violinists. There were scores of musicians among us, but these were the
best, and were used to play together. Then the blanket which served for
a curtain went up, and we began to act our parts. Everything went well
excepting that Pierrot, whose face was chalked over, began to perspire
very much, and the chalk came off; but that was nothing. It was reserved
for me to spoil the whole proceeding. It came about this way: the fellow
who played Columbine was a big, flabby-looking chap, and he looked very
nasty indeed in women's clothes. As it was my part to dance about
Columbine and make love to him--or her--as you please, I had also to
snatch kisses from him about a dozen times during the evening, but of
course I understood he knew sufficient of acting not to inflict the
punishment of real kissing on _me_. The first time, however, when my
turn came, he turned his face full upon me, and the osculation could be
heard all over the room. This happened two or three times, and every
time people laughed and applauded; but it made me regularly wild. So as
he tried it again I tore the mask off my face before I had time to
think, and cried: "Look here, if you do that again I won't play." That
brought the house down with great applause and homeric laughter; but I
got so upset over it that it was impossible for me to go on the stage
again, and the play came to an abrupt end.
The only one of all the immigrants that remained at the depot after a
fortnight was over, was a sickly little individual whom everybody on
board had been in the habit of pitying or jeering at, as the case may
be, and who now seemed quite unable to obtain employment. He was then
sent up to Townsville, to try there, and as I happen to know what became
of him, and as his short career affords a striking instance of what
perseverance will do for a man in Queensland, I will state how he fared.
It appears that he at last obtained employment in the ---- Hotel in
Ravenswood, to help the girls in the kitchen at cleaning knives,
plucking fowls, and the like. He had to sign an agreement whereby he
bound himself to remain for three years. The wages for the first year
were ten pounds, for the second fifteen, and for the third twenty
pounds. These are the smallest wages I have ever heard of in this
country for a white man, but our friend thought nothing of that, and
stuck to his work. He could cut hair and shave; I think he had been in a
barber's shop at home. When he brought the guest's shaving-water in the
morning, he would always offer his tonsorial services at the same time.
Of course he would be paid. When he was paid, he would generally say,
"You have not got a few old clothes you do not want?" Then most people,
as he looked so poor and insignificant, would either give him a lot of
clothes, or some money to buy with; and it was pretty well known in that
town where one might buy second-hand clothing for cash. If a guest went
away from the hotel, he would always be there hat in hand, holding the
horse. If one said to him, "Will you come and have a drink?" he would
answer, "No, thank you, sir; please, I would rather have the money." In
that way, while everybody called him "poor fellow," he was scooping in
sixpences, shillings, and even half-crowns every day. As he gave
satisfaction to his master, he was promised, as a make-up for his small
wages, that if he stayed the three years out, he should have as a
present permission to build a barber's shop alongside the hotel, and be
charged no rent. He did stay the three years out, and although I was in
his confidence as little as anybody else, I am very sure he had then his
three years' wages in his pocket and a good deal more besides. Then he
had built a small shop alongside the hotel. It was very small, but it
was in the proper place for doing business; and he began at once a
roaring trade. Sixpence for a shave, a shilling for hair-cutting, and
half a crown for shampooing! He had also ready-made clothes for sale,
hop beer, ginger beer, fruit, saddlery, and much more. People who had
anything for sale might go to him and be certain that he would offer
them a cash price for whatever it was. He opened his shop at seven
o'clock in the morning and shut it at twelve o'clock at night. On
Sundays, indeed, he was supposed to shut for three or four hours; but
one had only to knock at his door to bring him forward. Meanwhile, I do
not believe his old master, or any one else, could have obtained credit
from him for a sixpence. The usual thing in his shop was to see half a
dozen men sitting in his back room waiting to be shaved or shampooed,
and half a dozen standing by the counter in the front room, while he
would jump like a cat among them trying to serve them all at once. But
now I see I have made a mistake. I have written that "his short career
affords a striking instance of what perseverance might do for a man in
this country." That might be true if the story ended here, but it does
not. He was a great miser. His principal food, as he himself assured me,
was the rotten fruit in the shop. When a banana or an apple became
quite unsaleable, he would eat it. He had no assistant in the shop, and
could, therefore, never possibly take any outdoor exercise. At last he
fell sick, and the doctor told him he must go out on horseback every
day, and have plenty of nourishing food. He never bought a horse, and he
never altered his way of living. At last, when it was too late, he got
somebody to stand in the shop for him, for he was then too weak to stand
there himself; and he died in the back room a week after. But even the
day before he died I saw him sitting in the shop trying to direct the
assistant and keeping control over the money-box. I heard how much he
had made, but I forget. Anyhow, it was thousands, and all made in a few
years!
Now I will relate what happened to me the first Sunday I passed in
Queensland, and to do that I must recall to the reader's memory another
of my shipmates, the naval Lieutenant A. He had got married as soon as
we came ashore, to the young lady who I always understood was his
intended wife, and they had already rented a little house and made
themselves very comfortable. On the Saturday, he came to me and told me
that he had carried a letter of introduction from home to a gentleman
who was one of the first civil servants in Bowen. This gentleman he had
seen, and as an outcome of the interview, he had been invited to come
with his wife to the Englishman's place on Sunday forenoon to be
introduced to his family, and that Mr. and Mrs. ----, as well as A. and
his wife, were all then to walk to a large garden which lay a mile or so
outside the town. He promised himself great pleasure and much advantage
from the acquaintance, and as a special favour to me, he said: "Now Mr.
---- said to me that I might invite one of our shipmates to come with
us, and I shall invite you." I thanked him very much for the honour he
did me.
"You understand," said he, "that I would like very much to make a good
impression, not only for myself, but for our country too. I am not in
the least afraid to invite _you_, still excuse me for reminding you that
this man has much influence in Brisbane, and I have no doubt he could
make it worth your while too to be on your best behaviour."
When he was gone, I began to look over my wardrobe, and found that I
could yet make a brave show. Still, I had a great doubt in my mind
whether it would not be the more correct thing to dress myself in my
Queensland clothes--that is, the slouch hat and the moleskins. But as I
did not seem to know myself in them at all, I decided that it was best
to make the most of the clothes I had with me from home, although it was
not without some misgivings that I came to this conclusion. My
swallow-tail coat had been torn, and although it was mended by a tailor,
it was not good enough to wear again on such an occasion, but I had a
nice new jacket I had bought in Hamburg, also a beautifully got-up
white shirt and white waistcoat. As to the belltopper, it was done for.
No more should I go into society in that belltopper, and the Queensland
hat seemed only fit company for the crimean shirt and the moleskins. I
therefore went and borrowed a tall hat for the purpose from among the
immigrants, and as I came back with it, I bought a pair of gloves for
half a guinea in a shop.
The next forenoon, punctually at eleven o'clock, I was outside of A.'s
house in all my glory. A. and his wife were gone, however, and I then
bent my steps towards the house to which I had been directed. As soon as
I came near, I saw A. standing outside the house talking to a gentleman,
whom I at once understood to be the man who had invited us. He looked a
gentleman all over. Yet the same indescribable sort of swagger which I
had noticed in everybody else I had yet met in the country seemed also
to hover about him. I might here observe that this swagger is not
exactly native to this colony. It is only put on for the benefit of new
arrivals. As I came up A.'s friend stood with his feet wide apart, and
was in the act of lighting a meerschaum pipe. A massive gold chain hung
across his well-nourished stomach. I could see that if I had not dressed
myself to my best ability, I should have made a grave mistake. Although
I had scarcely lifted my eyes to him yet, I noticed these details as A.
introduced me to him, while I saluted him as we always salute one
another in Copenhagen. Perhaps I was just a little more than usually
polite. My hat was at my knee as A. said, "Mr. ----, Mr. ----." But the
Englishman did not seem remarkable for his politeness. On the contrary,
I felt very angry at his behaviour. He never changed his position in the
slightest degree; he seemed only to give a sort of self-satisfied grunt,
"How de do, how de do."
There is no mistake about it, I began to wish I had not come. It was not
as though I had not been polite enough; I felt certain both that I could
make a bow with anybody, and that I had saluted and been saluted by
greater dignitaries before than he. Why then should he slight me?
thought I. Was it the custom in this country to invite people on purpose
to insult them? They began to speak to me, and I understood that the
ladies who were to take part in the excursion were inside finishing
their toilet, and would be out directly. A. could see, no doubt, that I
was not pleased, and of course he could also guess the reason. He had
been in England too, and was well versed in English customs, so he said
to me, "It is foolish of you to feel offended because Mr. ---- did not
take his hat off to you. Indeed, it was you who looked ridiculous. I am
sure you never yet saw any one take off his hat to another in this
country. It is not an English custom. Indeed it is specially distasteful
to English people. So do not do it again. Of course it did not matter."
When I heard that I was in humour again. I could forgive every one so
long as they did not offer me a wilful insult. But was it not strange,
thought I? And there he stood, as easy as could be, smoking his pipe in
the street. Well, there is nothing like it, after all. What is a man
without his pipe? I had mine in my pocket, but I had never dreamed of
taking it out till now. I did not know what to make of things, but I
thought that if such training as I had received was at fault, perhaps it
would be well to imitate those whose training was correct. So I took my
pipe out of my pocket and borrowed a match from Mr. ---- to light it
with. Mine was only a clay pipe, and I could scarcely help laughing to
myself meanwhile, because it seemed to me very strange. But I was
determined now to show I knew English manners, and so I puffed away.
Just now Mr. ----'s wife came out of the glass doors on the verandah.
She had also dressed to make a good impression, because she was rustling
with silk and satin, and shining with gold brooches and chains all over.
The doors were opened for her by a servant, and Mrs. A. was also there.
As Mrs. A. told me afterwards, they had watched me through the glass
doors while I was saluting the husband, and probably the Englishwoman
was at that moment under the impression that I intended to go down on my
knees before her. But if she thought that, all I can say is that she was
mistaken. I was not going to look ridiculous this time. She made a bow
to me something of the sort, as I take it, that one of the Queen's maids
of honour have to practise before her majesty--a most profound
obeisance. But I stood brave. With my feet apart, in English fashion, I
puffed away at my pipe, and nodded at her, saying, "How de do? How de
do?"
At this juncture of affairs, I became aware that nobody seemed pleased.
The lady drew herself up and seemed surprised. Her husband appeared to
regard me with a lively interest. So did two women in a house opposite.
A., in a sort of consternation, repeated the formula of introduction. I
felt the blood surging to my face, and my courage fast forsaking me.
Then it occurred to me that as I myself had not the least idea what the
words "how de do" meant which I had employed in saluting her, that
perhaps it was not a proper expression before a lady, and that it would
have been better if I had said something of which I did understand the
meaning. So as A. repeated the form of introduction, Mr.---- and
Mrs.----, I said with great desperation, "Good day, missis."
Then I swallowed a whole mouthful of tobacco smoke (it is such strong
tobacco one smokes here, and I had not been used to more than a cigar on
rare occasions), and then--I must--expectorate. For the life of me I
could not avoid it, but where to do it, whether in front of me or behind
me, I did not know, and so I compromised and spat to the side. While all
this occurred I felt as guilty as any criminal condemned before a
judge, and still where it came in I did not know, because had not A., on
whose English experience I wholly relied, told me scarcely ten minutes
before, that "to take the hat off to one another was not an English
custom--that it was, indeed, specially distasteful to English people"?
What then could I think? You may judge of my feelings when A., now
shaking with rage and entirely forgetting himself, exclaimed to me in
Danish, "You are an unmannerly dog. Has no one ever taught you yet to
take your hat off to a lady? There he stands, smoking a stinking pipe
right in her face."
Oh, yes! oh, yes, indeed, my humiliation was at its highest point.
Quarrelling in our own language, and ready almost to fight! Mrs. ----
disappeared indoors again. Mrs. A. dared not follow her, but walked down
the street a little, not knowing where to put herself, and Mr. ----
becoming more and more boisterous with me for an explanation. It did not
last long, but long enough--quite. Then I went and sat, regardless of
all appearance, on the verandah, while A., with much humility, tried to
explain the matter to our host. Mr. ---- did not quite seem to relish
the joke. He came up to me and informed me with much gravity that A. had
explained the matter to his satisfaction. "But," said he, "you will
certainly find that in this country it is the custom to salute a lady
with a great deal more politeness than you used just now towards my
wife. It is a lesson, I assure you, sir, you cannot learn too quickly."
Half of this I understood and half I guessed. He did not know, however,
that his own mode of salutation would in Copenhagen have been thought
just about as bearish as what he was now correcting me for. I rose to
bid him good-bye, because I was determined to go home as the right
course now to pursue; but as I took off my hat to him again my
crestfallen appearance seemed to amuse him, because he began to laugh,
and when I had reached the corner of the house he came after me,
insisting that I should come back. I declined, until I could see that by
remaining stubborn I should only give still greater offence, and so we
returned and went into the drawing-room to have a glass of wine. Mrs.
---- came now into the room, and with well-bred kindness tried to put me
at my ease again. But although they now seemed to have forgiven me, and
were preparing to start for their walk, I felt that I could not go with
them, and after asking A. in my presence to offer my apology to the lady
herself, I took up my hat, and, bowing profusely to all, went away.
The reader may guess that I was not very proud of myself when I came
home and flung myself on my bed. My career in Queensland had indeed
opened in a very unpropitious manner. I had not been a week in the
country yet, and it appeared I had made myself look more foolish
wherever I had been than I had thought it possible to do. First the
bottles--what disgrace was not that, fighting with the blacks in the
street scarcely an hour after coming ashore; and poor Thorkill, who had
invested his last sixpence, on my recommendation, in buying empty
bottles! Then at the depot the evening after, when I somehow again had
been the laughing-stock of them all--a regular "Handy Andy"; and now
to-day, when I had started out with the best intentions, and had only
succeeded in making a never-to-be-forgotten picture of myself--and that
after having borrowed a "belltopper" to look grand in! Now I had to
return that piece of furniture to the owner, and when he asked me how I
had enjoyed the company of my grand acquaintances, probably I should
have to tell a falsehood about it in order to hide my shame. One
consolation was that I had yet the gloves--they were my own to do with
as I liked. I had paid ten and sixpence for them, more than half my
fortune. Faugh! was ever any one like me? Was that all I had come to
Queensland for? But at all events this should not happen again. If I
could find an ass bigger than myself, thought I, I should be satisfied,
but never again as long as I lived would I seek the acquaintance of
people who by any stretch of imagination might think themselves my
superiors.
Then I called in from the backyard a whole troup of dirty, lazy blacks,
who were lying there basking in the sun in an almost naked condition,
and made them understand that I would give them all my home clothes if
they would perform a war dance in them for my instruction and pleasure.
One of them put on my swallow-tail coat and belltopper (he had no
breeches), another got my overcoat, one of the ladies put on my jacket
(she had nothing else), another put on my woollen comforter, not round
her neck but round her waist, where it was of more use. At last I took
my flute, and the whole troup kept screaming and dancing about in the
backyard while I played, until my "boss" came and interrupted the
proceedings. I felt a grim sort of satisfaction. Alas! there is no
saying what is to become of any of us before the end is over. Clothes
are lifeless things, yet how often had I not brushed them and thought it
important that they should look well! I really felt a kind of remorse
when I saw these filthy blacks lie wallowing in them amid a flock of
yelping curs.
And now I fell to work at my trade in earnest. The houses in Bowen are
all built of wood, and a very easy affair it is for any one to build
them. Indeed housebuilding in the small Queensland towns can scarcely be
called a trade, insomuch that any practical man who can use carpenter's
tools could easily build his own house. A hammer and a coarse saw was
about a complete set of tools on many jobs we did up there. Still, large
wooden houses filled with all the most modern comforts are also
constructed, and in such none but the best workmanship is tolerated, so
there, of course, a tradesman is indispensable. At all housebuilding,
too, a man who is constantly at it acquires a quickness which would
altogether outdistance the novice, but one may learn as he goes in that
trade, and the best men I have met in the carpenter trade out here are
men who never served their time to it.
There were no saw-mills in the town, nor was there any suitable timber
to saw in the bush, so that we depended for a supply on an occasional
schooner, or on what the steamers sometimes would bring. At times we had
no timber at all. Then we had to make furniture out of the packing-cases
in the stores, or the "boss" would buy an old humpy and pull it down,
and we had to try to make a new one out of it. My employer had engaged
another carpenter besides myself from among the immigrants. This man had
got married at the depot to one of the girls, and they lived in a small
house. He had thirty shillings a week, of which, of course, most went to
keep house. But Bowen is one of the very few non-progressive towns on
the coast, and houses stood empty in all directions, so that he only had
to pay a nominal rent. Our "boss" seemed to have plenty of work always,
and, besides ourselves, there were two and sometimes three English
carpenters employed. We had to work like boys for them, because we could
not very well be sent anywhere by ourselves, as we could not speak to
people about the work to be done. One thing I might mention here, and
which I think very unfair, is this, that nobody took the trouble to
speak English to us, but they seemed even to go out of their way to
teach us a sort of pigeon English, which, of course, would demonstrate
our inferiority to the individual who addressed us. Although I do not
dislike either English, Scottish, or Irish people, I think it a great
delusion of theirs that they are more hospitable to foreigners, or
cosmopolitan in their way of thinking, than other nationalities, but
that they are under the impression that they are the salt of the earth
is certain. Meanwhile my mate and I did the best we could to vindicate
the honour of our country. I felt myself daily getting stronger and more
active; the change of air did wonders, and so was it with my mate. After
a while, we found we could fully hold our own. The English tradesmen
were very fond of showing how much they could do, but as we both began
to get up to their standard they would, as we worked under them, knock
us off what we were doing and put us to something else, often with the
evident intention of making the "boss," when he came, think we had not
done much, or did not understand our work. So one day I had a terrible
quarrel with the man with whom I was working on that account, and then
he began to denounce us all for cutting the wages down. I had no
intention of cutting down his wages, and I did not know in the least
what wages he got, but when he told me that he received three pounds
sterling every week I thought that the "boss" had treated me very badly.
I learned then that three pounds are the ordinary weekly wages for
carpenters in Queensland, and I told the English carpenter that I would
immediately ask the "boss" for an increase in _my_ wages to that amount,
and that if he would not give it to me I would not do more work than I
got paid for. I had been there six months at that time, and had never
taken any money of my wages beyond what I received when I started, but
when I asked for three pounds per week my employer was very
dissatisfied. I wanted him to cancel the agreement. He refused, and I
accused him of having taken an unfair advantage of me. He assured me
that as he had got me he would keep me. "Very well," said I, "do your
best to obtain your pound of flesh, but do not charge too high a day's
wages when you send me away after this; I might not suit."
From that day there was war between us, war to the knife. Still I was,
and had been, well treated there, and so far I had done my best to
deserve it. When I think of it now, I am glad that before this occurred
I had an opportunity to show my willingness. What my master's profit on
me was I do not know, but it cannot have been large. What with my
inability to speak the language, the learning how to handle the
different tools used here, and one thing and another, it was
unreasonable for me to expect the full wages at once. When I compare my
fate with that which befell some of the other immigrants, I ought to
have thought myself very fortunate. Some of these were sent out in the
bush around the town, and among those who were a few miles distant, I
heard much dissatisfaction existed. I will here relate how some, at
least, were treated. One man and his wife, and four single men, were
engaged at a station fifty miles away. Their agreements were all the
same, thirty pounds per annum and rations. The woman, however, was not
engaged. When they arrived at the place they found a small house in the
middle of the bush. When they asked where were their rooms or place to
camp in, their employer told them they might camp anywhere they liked as
long as they did not come inside _his_ house. They had then got some
bags and branches of trees put together and slept under them, but there
was no protection from rain, and the poor woman, who was not well at the
time, thought she was going to die. Instead of food, they were served,
as I have before stated, with raw beef and flour. The reader may imagine
what sort of doughboys they were making. This was strictly and correctly
the truth, although these poor people certainly never knew the true
intent of the agreement. They would not work, they said, unless they got
proper food, but their employer was abusing them every day. They had to
fell trees and split timber for fences. Of course such hard work, with
no cooked food to eat and no bed to sleep in, was an unreasonable thing
to expect from them. After six or seven weeks of this one of them went
away, empowered by the others to go to town and complain for the others.
He came into town, where he told me what I now relate; but his "boss"
was after him quickly, and instead of obtaining redress, he was put in
the lock-up fourteen days for absconding from his hired service, and
then compelled to go back again! While he was in the lock-up, my "boss"
used to send him up three good meals every day. People who may read this
at home will no doubt think that there must be great brutality somewhere
for people to be treated like this. I agree with them. Yet the same
treatment and fare comes light to an old hand. He knows what to expect,
and is prepared for it. As men travel about from place to place in
search of work, it is absolutely necessary for them to carry everything
with them and to be their own cooks too. They have their tent, blanket,
food, billy, sometimes a frying-pan, all bundled together with their
clothes and strapped on their backs, or, if they are well-to-do, they
have a horse to carry the "swag" for them, or even two horses, one being
to ride on. There is really no reason why a man should not possess a
couple of horses here, but still they as often do not. The billy serves
all purposes: in it the meat is cooked, the tea is boiled, and on extra
occasions the plumduff too.
It is only just to say that the custom of forcing men to camp out in
their own tents and to cook their own rations is growing more and more
out of use. In most places in the bush the employer now provides at
least shelter for his men: in many places they have the food cooked as
well; yet there are to this day thousands of people in Queensland who
live as I have just described, and who never see vegetables from one
year's end to another.
The reader will, therefore, see that I was comparatively fortunate in
this, that I had both shelter and food while I was learning the language
and accustoming myself to the country. But after my request for more
wages had been refused, I did as little work as possible, indeed I may
say I did scarcely anything. I played quite the _gamin_ with the old
gentleman, until one day he offered to let me go, and then free once
more I promised myself never again to sign away my liberty.