“ I had not looked at his death would effect on you in this way. You were still of an age when you really needed a father. Thank goodness you had such a nice uncle, who really did try to take your father’s place until his untimely death. Despite what I have said, mine was always there when I wanted him, but he could also be an obstruction, at least I thought so.” said a thoughtful Alfred.
Alfred went on to tell him some of the problems they would encounter.
“We discovered there were many gullies we had to cross, as you have just seen, and these could fill with water very rapidly when there was rain. You will not see many now, as bridges have been made, where the road crosses the gullies. I remember the first time I saw a station, a lot of which, was in light open forest with no undergrowth, yet the grass was growing beneath the large eucalyptus. It still does grow everywhere, the sheep prefer to graze beneath the trees which keeps them out of the terrible heat.” Alfred explained.
Joe was very quiet, taking all this information in, but asking few questions, so Alfred carried on with his tales of adventure.
“In his book, one of the stories Pa wrote about was a true story we heard. At particular station the shepherd lost several thousand of his master’s merino sheep, the major portion of his herd. The herd was part of a herd of 4000 or so sheep, which had been brought over from England, but only 1500 remained after the drama of that night. The farmer had only recently taken delivery of them. On the night concerned, it had rained, and the shack of one of the workers was flooded. The bedding on which he was lying, was floating in the water. He went to the shepherd and his family, to wake them up, but the family was already up a tree sitting on a branch as a result of the flood.
The family was so frightened, they said they would not come down, so they continued their screaming, for what reason other than fear, as there was no one in the vicinity to hear them.
The two men tried in vain, to keep the sheep from getting caught in the flood. They tried to keep the sheep on higher dry ground, but the sheep would not oblige. They kept turning round to go to the ground they knew at the bottom of the gully. The shepherd and his colleague became exhausted before daylight arrived. When daylight arrived, they were faced with the sad sight of all those drowned sheep strewn all along the gully.”
“What on earth did the farmer say when he heard?” asked Joe “I didn’t hear that part of the story, but I don’t think he was in a position to say anything. After all, the men had tried hard, and I expect he appreciated their efforts” replied Alfred
Alfred’s father, William, had been getting rather tired of writing and thought, that even at the age of 60, it would be an interesting adventure to go gold digging, accompanied by his two sons, Alfred who was then a young man of 21 and his brother Charlton, was just three years younger. Gold digging was in vogue, worldwide. It would also be an opportunity to visit his brother Godfrey, the successful doctor cum farmer in Melbourne.
This arrangement had caused quite a lot of problems for his wife Mary and his two daughters, Anna and Meggie, who were left at home in England. William, in his usual confident way, said he would sort everything out. The strain it was going to give to the women folk did not come into his scheme of things. He just expected them to cope.
They had to move to a smaller house, to cut down on everyday running expenses, and hopefully earn extra, to help pay off the debts the trip had incurred. It was also hoped that the books William would write on his return, would raise the rest of the monies required. In actual fact, not much profit was made, but his books were very successful, and for many years, they were accepted as the only true report of the condition of the society and that of the environment for Australia. He had also spent a few days in Van Dieman’s Land , now known as Tasmania.
The family would have been used to William’s sudden decisions, because he always wanted to be successful in what ever he undertook, but he wanted it to happen yesterday. On this occasion William had tried to keep the enterprise secret from people outside the family. There was a particular person, who would want to go to with them on this journey. In this, William failed, because the man came on the same ship, not by design, but fate. On the journey, and much to Alfred and Charlton’s embarrassment, their father felt he had the power to help all these poor immigrants, to sort out the problems that arose in Australia. He made quite a name for himself, amongst the immigrants, and the officials.
The trip was going to cost a lot of money for the three men to travel all that way. They also needed the equipment, (some which was not needed as they were to find out in Australia), so they had needed to take out loans. This equipment, and other items they had acquired, was sold before they booked their return journey. The women, who were to be left behind, were supposed to contribute to the repayments, as well as support themselves.
Alfred explained all these embarrassing situations to Joe, as it had had something to do with Alfred’s decision not to return to England with his father and brother.
“How?” chipped in Joe.
“It would cost an awful lot money to return,” was the reply. “What if I had made a mistake, and decided after all I did not like Australia. Could I ask my parents to help me raise all that money once more? No. It was up to me now, to look after myself, a grown man does not go running to parents.”
More money, more expense, so he had taken the gamble to stay, hoping it was the right choice. What was there for him in England anyway? Go back to office work, which he disliked so much, yes he was happy now, but there had been times when he was not so sure.
Many years had now gone by now. There were roads between settlements, rather villages and small towns. He had often wondered how long the gold would last, it had run out in America, and was hopefully this would not repeating itself in Australia, but there were signs of it there. There were still unexplored areas, would they have gold? He had often wondered himself, what would happen should the gold diggers run out of areas to mine. Certain diggings had done so, even when his father was out in Australia. How much gold had Australia got any way? Still it was not really his worry. The Californian gold rush, the Australian gold rush, and now New Zealand was hoping for the same. Did all countries have gold, he asked himself of many occasions, but of course, for him at this time, there was no answer.
“Sorry Joe, I was deep in thought, thoughts which continually disturb me” said Alfred.
“What are they then” said Joe, his good and faithful friend.
“It is thoughts about the future of the country” said Alfred
“In what way”? asked Joe.
“I am concerned that the gold will run out, just as it has in other countries, like in California. There most of the miners had come from the East coast, speculating, but had been in America for a while. There were fresh incomers yes, but I don’t think they are like some of the incomers over here.” Alfred informed Joe. “So?”
“We started off with many of the new arrivals being criminals, many jumped their ships, when they heard there was gold, and leopards do not change their spots.”
“I see what you mean”. said Joe.
Alfred continued saying “With so many people, of that calibre, with no work or skills, what do they do? They have to live, they have to eat, and with no knowledge of the countryside at home or over here, as so many had grown up in cities”.
“I see what you mean. But I cannot help you on that one.”
Alfred had recently been appointed Warden in the Gippsland Province, where he was respected since he treated all the men fairly, regardless of who they were or where