DUTCHMAN S GOLD. Finding the lost nugget

DUTCHMAN’S GOLD

Finding the lost nugget by

RONALD E VLIETSTRA

( including an English translation of an account by Johannes Vlietstra first published in 1868 )

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Self published by Ronald E. Vlietstra

This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the author.

© Ronald E. Vlietstra 2002

Title:Dutchman’s Gold

ISBN 1 876763 90 6

Published through Rio Bay Publishing 122 Dalkeith Road Nedlands WA 6009 http://www.riobay.com.au

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I retired from the practice of cardiology on the eve of the new millenium to pursue passions that had been held in check by the obligations of being a doctor, husband and father. My first task was to discover the true nature of my father’s ancestry. I wanted to figure this out not only for myself but also for my children and their descendants. With few other time commitments, and stimulated by what I unearthed, the project soon blossomed, and I had to juggle family and ancestor stories to find a balance between cursory reminiscence and pedantic detail. I hope that the result will be of interest to students of family history, the Dutch language and early Australasia. Numerous people and agencies helped me along the way. I am grateful to Martin Vlietstra and Karen Brim, who I met on the internet, for igniting a spark of optimism that I could find Dutch family details if I made the effort to look. Kees Stada searched his Terschelling database and confirmed my ancestors’ link with that island. Archivist Douwe Gubbels alerted me to Johannes’s little book, and Professor M J van Lieburg, Professor of Medical History at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, and an expert on 19th century Dutch medical life, provided information on my ancestor’s medical accreditation and practice. I was lucky when the Municipal Archives in Leeuwarden directed my enquiry for family information to Hein Walsweer of Sint Jacobiparochie, Friesland. Hein’s dedication to genealogical accuracy must surely owe something to his own Frisian ancestry and the stoic single-mindedness that goes with it. He combines a scholar’s knowledge of genealogy with the persistence of a bloodhound. When the scent is weak he knows where to sniff. Mariska Hammerstein had the difficult challenge of translating a document written in old Dutch into modern English. She travelled to Terschelling to learn about island life, and sent me maps and pictures of places in the Netherlands and Australia mentioned in the translation. Her interpreting task was made more difficult by Johannes’s use of phonetic spelling for some Australian place and person names, presumably because he had no resource for checking the correct version (typical examples are Hop Senbaai for Hobsen’s Bay and negrid tobacco for Negro-head tobacco). The reconnection between my family and the St Geertruidsleen Family Foundation owes much to Douwe Smit, the Foundation’s Secretary, who iii

confirmed our lineage and provided more ancestral documentation. My need to understand the writings of the Foundation convinced me to start learning to read Dutch. I made minor spelling and word changes in the translation of Johannes’s account to make it more contemporary in style. I tried to limit these intrusions so that the original substance and tone of the work is preserved. Where possible I included annotations to document dates and sources. In some areas I may have erred in having too many of these, in others not enough. I hope however that the reader will recognise an effort to present as credible a picture of events as possible. For the same reason I included everything that Johannes wrote, including his final three stories, rather than arbitrarily exclude parts that seemed less relevant. To preserve the historical value of the original Dutch version, I incorporated all of it, letter for letter (including any apparent typos), in its original format, as an Appendix. This allows for alternative or more expert interpretation in the future. Although Johannes’s account did not contain maps, my daughter, Lucy Vlietstra, generated some to help orient the reader to the widely scattered, and sometimes sparsely populated, locations mentioned. I have cited additional sources in the endnotes, including various state and national archives that provided documentation on Johannes and his family, and personal communications that resolved some of the mysteries that cropped up along the way. The list of credits is however far from complete considering the hundreds of web-sites that I searched for names, dates, and events. Before the internet age no researcher could possibly so quickly learn as much without leaving home. I found bibliofind.com particularly useful as an on-line international source of out-of-print books. In addition to offering their encouragement, New Zealanders Amelia Townshend, Stewart Mackay and John Crockett each added unique information and insights. The completion of the book owes much to my two Writer’s Digest instructors, Sharon DeBartelo Carmack and Katherine Scott Sturdevant. Like alpine guides they steered me past family memoir ice fields, crevasses and precipices, and suggested many worthwhile trails to explore. Finally I wish to thank Tom Vanderveldt and Riobay Publishing for their support in bringing the project through its final stages. Tom and his colleagues deserve a medal for the help they offer novice genealogists and historians. There is a saying that “the study of history is how the dead bury the living.” At times, I almost suffocated on 19th century trivia. Therefore I iv

very much appreciate the sympathetic encouragement of my wife Kate who frequently rescued me from myself, despite my daily tormenting her with fresh family trivia. Her forbearance has been saintly and her comments constructive. It is to her and our children Nicholas and Lucy that I dedicate this book. Ronald Vlietstra.

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INTRODUCTION I could scarcely believe what I was reading on the computer screen. Could it really be that I had stumbled onto something so remarkable? Now excited, I re-read Mr Gubbels’ e-mail message from the Netherlands. “Did you know that your ancestor wrote a small book describing his adventures?” No, I did not. He went on to explain that, in 1868, my great grandfather, Johannes Vlietstra, had published a vivid account of 13 years of adventures in the Far East and in Australia. It was written in Dutch, and he would send me a copy. As I sat there, in a noisy Auckland, New Zealand cybercafe, surrounded by teenagers surfing the internet, I realized that I might have struck gold. I was going to get my hands on a long-forgotten nugget of family history, describing my ancestor’s life, in his own words. Like the goldminers of old, I wanted to shout “eureka”. Douwe Gubbels is the archivist at the little folk museum (the Behoudenhuys) on the island of Terschelling, one of the Netherlands most northern and remote settlements. I had e-mailed him just a few days earlier as part of my digging into the Vlietstra family history. Now I had unearthed something special, a time capsule that had been forgotten for generations. I could hardly wait to tell my younger brother, Keiran. It was America’s Cup time in Auckland, March 2000, and we had boat tickets to watch one of the Cup Final races on the sunny Hauraki Gulf. But that event suddenly seemed of little importance, when compared to another sailing adventure that had started 150 years ago. I had always been curious about my ancestors, especially the ones who had stuck me with such an unusual surname. Not a day goes by without having to spell it out or phonetically pronounce it. “It’s like Fleet Street. Fleet…stra,” I enunciate over and over. Even so, most people still get it wrong. I try to make it easier for them by saying that it took me a few years to get it right myself. In New Zealand, where I grew up, nobody seemed to have come across that name before. That’s not surprising, as other than my immediate family, I have never come face to face with any other person named Vlietstra. Perhaps it is for this reason that people sometimes suggest that we have been spelling it incorrectly. Might an earlier illiterate Vesta or Fleester have messed up the spelling? My father used to say that the name was Dutch and meant “babbling brook”. It is Dutch all right, but where he picked up the rather poetic vii

translation I may never know. It used make for a polite laugh, because he was an enthusiastic talker and storyteller and the babbling part just seemed to fit. Nothing much was known about the Dutch those days in New Zealand. One never came across them in the street or in social studies. I must have been a teenager before I ever heard Dutch being spoken. It sounded mysterious and unlearnable. Europe seemed very far away, and Holland even more so. The only Dutchman I had heard of was Abel Tasman who had “discovered” New Zealand in 1642. He originally named it Staten Land but it became known as New Zealand in honor of the Dutch province of Zeeland. The irony of his discovering a land that was already populated by the indigenous Maori people was not lost on me, but I could not understand why he didn’t have the sense to claim my beautiful homeland for Holland. It was also a mystery as to when and how the original Vlietstras came from the Netherlands (or Holland as we referred to it) to New Zealand. My father was unsure. He was only five years old when his own father was tragically killed in an accidental fall from an upstairs window of the hotel he managed, apparently during an asthma attack. His mother, Mary Elizabeth (we called her Nanzie), had the unenviable task of raising my father and his six siblings, during the Depression, teaching in rural New Zealand schoolhouses. She was all of five feet tall, and must have weighed no more than a hundred pounds. But even in her seventies, when I knew her, her mental toughness showed. When she spoke her children jumped to respond and so did her grandchildren. When I was a youngster it was this same wrinkle-faced little matriarch who nurtured the seed of my curiosity about my ancestors. “Your great grandfather was called John. He was christened Johannes, but he used the name John when he came from Holland to New Zealand. It made things easier,” she said, in that raspy high-pitched way she had of speaking. Silently I wondered why he hadn’t changed the Vlietstra part too. That would have made things a darn site easier for all of us. “He came here for the gold. And stayed.” She was referring to the hectic Otago gold rush of the 1860s. I had learned all about it in school. Tens of thousands of money-hungry sailors, shopkeepers, farmers, tradesmen, even doctors and ministers had dropped what they were doing on the other side of the world and rushed to remote rural New Zealand when the news of gold broke. The population of our southern province of Otago ballooned from 12,000 to more than 76,000 people in just three years. I wondered what would those people have been like. How did Johannes fit in? Did he find gold? viii

She also told me that his father had been a doctor. Perhaps it was her schoolmistress skill that made her sweeten the pot by claiming that there was a sum of money set aside in Holland payable to any Vlietstra descendant who took up medicine as a career! This appealed to me a lot because I was already planning on a medical career and the prospect of a financial windfall as well just seemed to confirm the wisdom of my choice. The lack of any further information inevitably led to questions and speculation in my schoolboy mind. What kind of people, doctors and adventurers, were the Dutch Vlietstras? How did they live their lives? Were there secrets being kept hidden from me? Was there failed monarchy, treachery, robbery, even murder in the closet? The less I knew, the more I wanted to know. I was going to be a doctor and an adventurer too, and I was determined that I would find out more when I made my personal pilgrimage to Holland to claim my birthright, the nest-egg that had been sitting, growing all these years. The years passed, I studied my way through medical school, married my fellow-student sweetheart Kate and we had two children, Nicholas and Lucy. My parents were by then divorced and living in distant parts of New Zealand. My medical career was almost all consuming, and it led, in 1972, to our permanently leaving New Zealand for the United States and the famous Mayo Clinic. I was training to be a cardiologist and we became the only Vlietstras in Minnesota. Having an odd name did not seem so unusual in the United States. Many people had them. Their families had been immigrants from places like Poland, Czechoslovakia, Norway and Vietnam, places that seemed to specialize in difficult names. My name even looked straightforward in comparison to some. I also learned that many of those who had simple sounding names had just picked a name out of the air, so escaping the frustration of spelling and re-spelling that had plagued me. Not only were there Meyers who had been Meyerbergs, but a Nielubowicz could be transformed into Neale and a Shimizu might well end up as a Smith. Some didn’t even know their original name, just that it was much longer and harder to deal with. They were happy not to be burdened by it, or “lumbered with it”, as we would say in New Zealand. Most people knew very little about their family history. They might say, “I’m half Norwegian and half German”, but it was more of a family mantra than the result of any investigation. It wasn’t necessary to explore any further. For them, history seemed to start the day they were born. On trips around the United States I would check for my surname in telephone directories of big cities. There were none listed in Chicago, New York or ix

Los Angeles. There were three pages of Ryans in Boston, but not one Vlietstra. I did learn from occasional patients visiting Mayo that the Vlietstra name had been spotted in Iowa, Michigan or the Dakotas, where there were communities of Dutch immigrants. However I still did not meet any of these rare species. There were no other Doctor Vlietstras listed in US medical directories, nor did any appear in the enormous encyclopedias of medical literature. For these reasons I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted like an old friend when I did eventually travel to the Netherlands in 1973. People spelt my name with ease, and pronounced it smoothly and gracefully. Usually they assumed that I could speak Dutch as well. They took me to be one of them and I felt very much at home. My Dutch hosts told me that the name came from the north, from a province called Friesland. Many Frisian names end with “-stra” such as Dykstra, Terpstra and Westra. Still the locals could not give me much insight intothe meaning of my name, other than it was “a nice Frisian name”. The Dutch dictionary that I bought at Amsterdam’s Schipol airport did confirm my father’s belief that “vliet” does mean “brook” or “stream”. This was not enough to satisfy my curiosity, but at least it was a place to start. By now I was beginning to give up on ever confirming my grandmother’s financial nest-egg story, but I still wanted to know more. One Saturday morning, on a visit to the Rochester, Minnesota, Public Library, my thirteen year old son Nick enthusiastically asked “Can we go to the genealogy section, dad?” “What for?” I said, puzzled. “I’d like to learn more about our family,” he replied. “My homeroom teacher said we could find out stuff in the genealogy section”. “There’s not much point looking there, Nick,” I said. “I think I still have the airline tickets that we used coming to the United States.” However I got the message and we agreed to start investigating on our next visit to New Zealand. Later that same year, 1981, while it was sunny summer in New Zealand and the rest of the South Pacific, and Minnesota was buried under frozen snow, the two of us traveled to the town where I had grown up, Dunedin, in the Otago province of New Zealand. For a few years in the late 1800s this South Island Scottish settlement had been the largest city in the country. Prosperity from the gold rush had financed sturdy neo-Gothic gray stone churches, banks, stores, warehouses, mansions and monuments. The country’s first university had been established there in 1869, attracting worldly intellectuals and proud Scottish traditions. The people of those x

days might have passed on but we were there to rummage through their attic. We met with family members, catalogued their stories, and waded through old family photographs. I had half expected some older relatives to be irked by our prying into family affairs. Quite the opposite, they seemed flattered. They laughed when Nick told them that they were each a number on his family tree. We visited and photographed gravesites throughout the province of Otago and wandered through old gold fields. We sat in the Dunedin Public Library and poured over dozens of microfilm birth and death records and voting registries. We learned much about my mother’s family but relatively little about my father’s. His stories about his mother, two brothers, and four sisters were, as always, interesting and amusing, but they led us no further backwards in time. It seemed, no pun intended, that we were at a dead end. During the 1980s I made repeated visits to New Zealand with Kate or one or other of the children. These Christmas trips were primarily to escape the harshness of Minnesota’s winter, but each time we would visit the tiny flower-smothered cottage in the North Island farming town of Te Kuiti where my father, Stan, and his second wife, Dorothy, lived. Stan seemed to recognize that his days were numbered. His breathing was so labored that he had to stop smoking cigarettes. Perhaps more ominously he had stopped drinking alcohol when we visited at the end of 1987. “Lost the taste for it,” he said, without showing any remorse. For something that had been so central in his life it seemed almost tragic. “I’ve got something I want to show you.” My children Nick and Lucy, and I sat either side of him on the old blue sofa. Stan was an inveterate prankster, so you could never be sure what surprise he had in mind. This time he was being serious. It was a photo journal of his life that he had put together. It included pictures of him in his army uniform, the jeep wreck on the Pacific island of Fiji that ended his military service, his wedding day, his children at various ages and more recent ones of him as a competitive sportsman, playing that quaint British precursor of shuffle-board, lawn bowls. It was as if he wanted his part remembered in the long continuum of our family. After his death, from lung cancer, in 1988, Dorothy sent me the album along with clippings and typed copies of his favorite jokes. It was like a having a map of his genetic make-up, his genome. It was during one of these annual New Zealand trips, late in the 1980s, that Nick and I stumbled onto an idea that should have been already obvious. If all the Vlietstras in New Zealand descended from a common ancesxi

tor, then it should be very easy to find them in the New Zealand national Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. We scribbled off a request for a search of all recorded Vlietstra death records from 1870 until 1925. For the princely sum of NZ$94.35 (about US$50) we uncovered a treasure trove of new details. Most interestingly we discovered that my great grandfather Johannes had died in 1921 at the age of 89 years. He was buried in Wanaka, previously called Pembroke, a tiny lakeside village, surrounded by mountains, where Kate and I had spent many glorious summers early in our marriage. His death certificate confirmed that indeed his father had been a doctor in Holland. What would also prove to be an important investigative clue was that that his wife, Antje, had the maiden name of Roos, and that her mother’s maiden name Rogge. She had arrived in New Zealand in 1871 and had died in 1920. A 1906 entry in the Register of New Citizens gave her birthplace as Hoorn, North Holland. At that stage I did not appreciate just how valuable spousal details can be as you try to ferret out family linkages. I would later find out, but any further ferreting in the early part of the year 2000 was interrupted by a delivery from the mailman.

I tore open the large white envelope decorated with big red and blue Dutch stamps. It was the book photocopy promised by Mr Gubbels. The bold black letters on the first page proclaimed “EENE LANGDURIGE ZEEREIS van bijna TWEE JAREN en ELFJARIG VERBLIJF in AUSTRALIE. It took me ten minutes of scrambling through my Dutch dictionary to figure out that this title probably meant “A Long Sea Voyage of almost Two Years and a Stay of Eleven Years in Australia.” At this speed it was going to take a long time to translate all fifty-five pages. And the accuracy of every sentence would be in doubt, even if I was lucky enough to find all the words in my dictionary. There were so many questions that this little book could answer. What kind of man was my great grandfather, Johannes? Did he have high principles, a love of adventure, a sense of humor? Where exactly did he sail? I knew that the Dutch were a proud sailing nation. The word yacht (jacht) is itself from Holland. I had just returned from Goa, an old Portuguese colony on the west coast of India. In the 19th century it had been an important stopover for ships that were sailing the Indian Ocean and needed fresh water. As I walked along the sun-baked beach at Fort Aguada I wondered if he too had been there, and seen the little white church of St Lawrence, patron saint of sailors, perched high on the hill above the port. xii

I was also most interested to learn about his time in Australia. In the mid 19th century this vast country was sparsely populated. Many of the earliest Europeans were English and Irish convicts. In Robert Hughes “The Fatal Shore” I had read blood-curdling tales of murderous bushrangers and desperados, escaped convicts and vengeful aborigines terrorizing miners, farmers and explorers. It was primitive environment, hostile and lawless. How did a young rural Dutchman survive it? In earlier years, before I knew of Johannes’ book, I had toyed with the idea of writing a make-believe account of his life. Perhaps, as a boy, he had heard stories from a Dutch sailor nicknamed Freezland (presumably after his homeland), who had sailed with Captain James Cook on the “Resolution” in the 1870s (a tiny rocky island in the South Atlantic is named after him). Spurred on by images of icebergs, wild sea squalls, tropical Pacific Islands and Australian aborigines he may have signed up as a merchant sailor on a ship bound for the South Seas. In these daydreams I never saw Johannes as a navy man nor as a paying passenger in refined clothes. He was always a cocky young common seaman. In my fiction I would have him save shipmates from certain drowning, track and kill whales for their blubber oil, and battle bloodthirsty Maori cannibals. He would rise through the ranks from cabin boy to captain. His name would be revered by sailors in all the fo’c’sles of Pacific sailing ships. I was reading the “Flashman” series, written by George MacDonald Fraser, at that time. In those books the overly conceited 19th century soldier hero shows up in all the great battles, performs phenomenal acts of bravery and is rewarded with medals and gold. Johannes seemed easily to slip into a Flashman guise. The book now required that these daydreams had to be tested against reality. To find a professional interpreter I went straight to the internet. I worked out a deal with Mariska Hammerstein in Amsterdam, and mailed her off a copy of the book. During the previous twelve months the internet had allowed me to leap backwards in time and to unearth more information on the Dutch Vlietstras than I could have believed existed. It was the Karen Brim’s homepage that first caught my attention. She had grown up in Michigan with the maiden name of Vlietstra and her project was to flush out as many as she could and post their family stories. In one report the name Vlietstra had been adopted, around 1811, when the new conqueror, Napoleon, required that all Dutch persons adopt a European style surname. He needed to know who had taxes to pay and who to call to military service. The old patronymic style of naming people, in which one’s last name is taken from xiii

one’s father’s first name, made for bureaucratic headaches. Thus the name Vlietstra was adopted by a few families who lived on the Vliet canal which runs out of the eastern side of Leeuwarden. It simply means “living by the Vliet”. Genealogy sites are scattered throughout the worldwide web. Thousands of sites offer information, sometimes isolated tidbits, other times powerful national search-engines. “Cindy’s list” (www.cindyslist.com) is a great starting point for novices. It contains links to hundreds of useful on-line resources worldwide. For me the Netherlands State Archive search engine Genlias, at www.archief.nl/rad, was key to tracking back generations to the start of the 1800s. This remarkable project aims to list all birth, death and marriage data for the Netherlands from 1811 to 1930. It was already well developed when I first accessed it in 1999. Armed with the information that I had gathered from New Zealand I was quickly able to identify Johannes’s parents and siblings on the Genlias site, including where they lived. I was also able to zero in on Antje’s family, including her mother’s lineage through the name of Rogge. The two family trails crossed on the island of Terschelling, where Antje’s family had always lived and where Dr Johannes Rudolphi Vlietstra (who I will refer to as Rudolphi) brought his family in the practice of medicine. I pored over maps of Terschelling and identified the little village of Hoorn where Antje was born. The Dutch traditions used in choosing names in the nineteenth century are very helpful in family tree research. The eldest son was usually given the father’s first name. Other children were named after close relatives, and received their father’s first name as a middle, or patronymic, name. When a child died, their name would be given again to the next born of the same sex. It is also helpful to the researcher that mobility was limited in those days. Families were large and tended to stay in the same village for generations. Today’s far-flung families, switching between big cities with each new marriage, many emigrating, others adopting, will make ancestors harder but even more to thrilling to trace in the future. Surfing Yahoo led me to the homepage of Kees Stada with the title “Look if your family comes from Terschelling”. He e-mailed me with the details of contracts Rudolphi had made with the island government in 1832 and 1836. This and later communications provided me with new information on moving expenses, family members birth dates and burial locations. As with all research these answers provoked more questions. “It is most likely that your great great grandfather (Rudolphi) was not very lucky in medical practice. He worked in small places and only for xiv

short intervals.” So read part of the e-mail I received from Professor M J van Lieburg, medical historian at the University of Rotterdam, and author of many articles on 19th century Dutch medical practice. In a few hours, from the State Archives in Friesland, he had uncovered extensive details on Rudolphi’s graduation and practice. He also referred me to his biography of Doctor Jelle Banga (1786-1877), a prominent Frisian physician of that time, which included stories about how medicine was practiced there in the early 19th century. Even more revealing was the detective work of Hein Walsweer, a free-lance genealogist in Friesland, recommended to me when I e-mailed for information to the City Archive Office in Leeuwarden. He scoured church records, estate documents, house purchase contracts, voter registrations and tax records. He generated details on ancestors from back as far as the 15th century, spicing cold facts with juicy details of their army, clergy and business life. He also unearthed the education fund, or leen, described by my grandmother, Nanzie. This wealth of new information also opened up new trails for further checking. . My background in New Zealand and the United States had not prepared me for the sheer volume of civic and church historical data that is available in Europe. At least in Western Europe the year 1800 seems like yesterday. All manner of information can be brought to light. It is as though all the pieces of an immense jigsaw puzzle still exist but they have been scatterc around the living room. Some are simply lying on the carpet and can be found quickly while others have fallen behind cushions and furniture and can be found only after a diligent search. Johannes’s personal account promised the chance of my seeing him as a living, breathing human being. A major limitation for most family historians is a lack of truly personal details, the human flesh on the bones of fact. Unless creative techniques are used, the mere recitation of names and date and places can spell boredom. It was fortunate for me that my great grandfather was sensitive to the creative opportunities provided by his travel experiences. I prepared myself for these revelations by piecing together Johannes family background and his upbringing in the Netherlands. I hoped that as the pieces came together, like a jigsaw puzzle, a clearer picture would emerge.

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PROLOGUE

Today the city of Leeuwarden is a bustling provincial capital of 85,000 people, serving the northern Dutch province of Friesland. Its character is stongly linked to its agricultural roots just as it was when Johannes’s father, Johannes Rudolphi, was born there in 1809.1 For centuries it has been a somewhat isolated, slow-paced agricultural center, supported by rich neighboring farmlands and surrounded by a man-made canal system. The province of Friesland was a separate state until 1581 when the Frisians kicked out their Spanish oppressors and joined six other states as the Republic of the United Provinces. Frisians cherish a strong spirit of independence and have a reputation for being hardworking, stoic and staunchly Calvanist. At the time of Rudolphi’s birth, however, the town was in a state of upheaval following Napoleon’s conquest of the United Provinces and his restructuring of the Dutch bureaucracy and military. A great part of Napoleon’s genius lay in his self-serving reorganization of conquered territories, and through his provincial marshals he was dragging Leeuwarden and the rest of the Netherlands into his grand vision for a European kingdom. This vision required draining as much money and young men as possible out of the Netherlands to use in growing the Great Army of the French Empire.2 It was a risky time for a boy to be born. Rudolphi was the first and only son in a family that had already been blest by five daughters.3 Sadly three of these girls had already died in infancy.4 As was tradition for Dutch Reformed Church families, he was christened when just a few weeks old, under the watchful eyes of his two sisters, Aurelia, soon to turn nine, and Trijntie, who was seven.5 The Rudolphi part of his name came from his mother’s side of the family. It was a tradition in many well-to-do families to preserve a mother’s family name as a child’s middle name, especially if her family was powerful or generous. In this case there was also the special need to honor Johannes’ granduncle, Johannes Rudolphi, a retired lieutenant in the Friesland army who had passed away in 1795, leaving a rich inheritance of 4,000 guilders 1

To distinguish him from other Johannes Vlietstras I will refer to Johannes Rudolphi Vlietstra as Rudolphi. Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of Nations, 1987, Vintage Books, New York, p.132-133. Johannes Rudolphi Vlietstra, born February 19th, 1809, christened March 15th, 1809. All dates and places of birth, christening, marriage and death listed in this prologue were provided by Hein Walsweer, genealogist, from review of Leeuwarden (Gemeentearchief) and Friesland (Ryksargyf) records. He also accessed church, estate and tax records that are archived at both these places. 4 Elske Johannes, born June 3rd, 1803, died March 18th, 1806. Aukje Johannes born December 30th, 1804, died March 21st, 1807. Another Elske Johannes born November 14th, 1806, died November 6th, 1807. 5 Aurelia Johannes, born March 16th, 1800. Trijntie Johannes, born November 16th, 1801. 2 3

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(more than a half million US dollars today) to Rudolphi’s mother, Lamke Faber.6 Lamke was probably the one who insisted on the children being raised in the Dutch Reformed church tradition, the predominant religion in the Netherlands in those days.7 She had lived her early childhood in southeast Friesland, in Gorredijk and Oosterwolde, where her father was superintendent of the local grain mill, and a staunch churchman. He died when she was only six or seven years old, leading her mother to move with Lamke and her brother to Leeuwarden.8 There Lamke would later meet and marry Johannes Jurjens Vlietstra, the wedding being held in 1799 in the grand Westerkerk church, which was, even then, a venerable monument of Dutch 16th century history.9 Rudolphi’s father Johannes Jurjens, on the other hand, appears to have been raised as a Mennonite.10 Typical of Mennonite tradition, he was christened at the age of eighteen. This religious sect was introduced into the Netherlands in the 16th century, and Friesland became its stronghold. Its members followed an austere discipline that did not allow them to wear colorful clothing and prohibited them from fighting in wars. To the disadvantage of any history-loving descendants Mennonites rely mostly on oral history and downplay written documentation. Johannes Jurjens grew up in a small house, number 63, in an alley off the north side of the “Vliet”, a canal on the east side of the town, and by 1799 was already using the surname Vlietstra.11 For tax and conscription purposes, Napoleon later decreed, in 1811, that all Dutchmen would have surnames. A few other families living on the Vliet canal then also adopted the name Vlietstra. Johannes Jurjen’s origins were humble, and as it seems that both his parents died when he was still a boy, he was lucky to enter an apprenticeship in cabinetmaking. Napoleon’s forces were soon ousted from the Netherlands, and the emperor finally overthrown in 1815. The young Rudolphi’s life fell into a comfortable routine. The four-storied family home at number 91 Niuewestad had been built way back in 1583 and lay in the center of 6 Estate records in the Gemeentearchief in Leeuwarden (CC12 p180) list five heirs to share 21,050 guilders derived from his house near the Duco Martenapijp in Leeuwarden, a garden at Camstraburen, 8,000 guilders invested in government loans, 6,000 guilders invested privately and four annuities from the city of Sneek. 7 Lamke Faber, born Gorredijk 1772, died Leeuwarden February 6th, 1834. 8 The name Faber is a Latin form for Smid (Dutch) or Smith (English). Lamke’s grandfather, Lammert Pelgrims, was a blacksmith and started using this surname in the early 1700s. 9 The Westerkerk, located on Bagijnestraat in central Leeuwarden just a block from the Nieuwestad, dates from 1629. It is now a theater and playhouse. 10 Johannes Jurgens Vlietstra, born Leeuwarden September 23rd, 1773, christened there September 7th, 1791, died Leeuwarden October 5th, 1847. 11 The Vliet canal is now covered in that part of town. The road is called the Vliet and it continues across the Ooster stadgracht (canal) via the Vlietsterbrug (the Vliet bridge).

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Leeuwarden’s finest district, on the main canal and close to the main city markets.12 Purchased in 1805 with Lamke’s inheritance, it was well supplied with food and furniture made possible by his father’s cabinet-maker profession. This kind of house was designed to allow tailors, shoemakers, furniture makers and the like to work at home, using the front first level of the house as workshop, showroom and store.13 Some warmth would permeate through from the kitchen fire, as would the aroma of food cooking in large iron pots. Beef, cod and pickled herring were staple foods, but red cabbage, onions, asparagus, beans, peas and carrots would be mixed with bread into soup, and on special days there might be mutton, rabbit, venison or fowl. Salads were popular, and, of course, so was cheese. The Dutch did like to eat and were commonly caricatured as “guzzlers and sozzlers”.14 Perhaps in the evenings, after dinner and sitting in front of the kitchen fire, Rudolphi would hear stories about his ancestors and what things were like in their day. He would have learned that in the 16th century the Dutch grew tired of being dominated by Spain and Catholicism. The last straw was the imposition of a 10% sales tax (the Tenth Penny Tax) the proceeds of which were to go to Spain.15 In 1566 mobs rampaged through the countryside destroying churches and smashing religious images, but it took until 1579 for the seven northern provinces to unite (in the Union of Utrecht) and displace the Spaniards.16 The most defiant of the Dutch Protestants were the followers of a Frisian former priest named Menno Simons (1496 – 1561).17 At a time when men heretics were being beheaded and women heretics buried alive the dogged resistance of Menno and his Mennonites inspired all Dutchmen. His philosophy was one of pacifist refusal to bow to Catholic orders, to lead a sober disciplined life-style and to forego public worship. Many historians think he was the greatest figure of the Dutch Reformation. The 1600s were the Golden Ages of the Republic and Dutch ships traded all around the world for gold, spices, silk and wood. Their richest base was in Batavia (now Jakarta) in what is today Indonesia, but they also sailed to new colonies in the West Indies, South America and Africa. This was the era of great civic building projects and the time when Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Vermeer and others painted enduring images of distinguished 12 The title deed of 1805 shows that the house was purchased from the heirs of Hermannus Tielenburg for 3,515 guilders and 75 cents, payment to be made in three installments. The house is featured in a recent booklet (Voornam wonen in Leeuwarden. 1997. 72 pages) which portrays several of Leeuwarden’s historic houses and buildings. 13 Rien Poortvliet, Daily Life in Holland in the Year 1566, Abrams, New York, 1991, p.86-99. 14 Simon Schama, The Embarrassment of Riches, Vintage Books, New York, 1987, p.151-152. 15 Johnathan Israel, The Dutch Republic. Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477 – 1806, 1995, p.166-169. 16 Formally recognized by Spain only in 1648 when they signed the Treaty of Munster. Idem, p.596-597. 17 Idem, p.91-93.

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gentlemen with white silk ruffled collars and tall black hats and bonneted house maids eavesdropping on the stairs. Unfortunately much of this wealth eroded in the 17th Century in wars against England and France and Dutch power fell into decline. The American, John Adams, likened its predicament to that of a frog caught between the legs of two fighting bulls, and therefore an easy target for France to conquer in 1895.18 By the time Rudolphi had become a teenager, in the early 1820s, the Netherlands had regained a measure of peaceful prosperity. His day to day life would have been focussed on learning his lessons, helping out in the house and playing with friends alongside the wide canal just outside his front door. He would have skated on the canal in winter and maybe boated on it in summer. The city markets for meat, fish, fruit and vegetables were within yards of his front door and must have been fun places to hang out on market days.19 He and his friends would have also spent time around the precariously leaning Oldehove, the Westerkerk and Grote Kerk churches, all within ten minutes walk.20 For the most part the Dutch character was free of serious vices, with the exception of their love of feasting. They had feasts to celebrate births, baptism, birthdays, saints days, beginning school, beginning an apprenticeship, betrothal, wedding, setting up house, homecoming from journeys, church restorations, recovery from sickness, funerals, even the setting of the family gravestone.21 When he was fourteen Rudolphi must therefore have enjoyed the festivities of his sister Trijntie’s wedding.22 He might even have been allowed to taste a hippocras, a traditional wedding drink made of diluted Rhine wine, spiced with cloves and ginger.23 Soon after, however, his life was to take on a new and important direction. What made him decide to become a doctor is uncertain. None of his ancestors were in medicine, although about that time his sister Aurelia was courting her future husband who was a druggist. He might have been inspired by the human tragedy caused by a serious cholera epidemic that struck Friesland and other northern provinces in 1826.24 Outbreaks of infectious disease regularly swept through the Netherlands and other Eu18 Simon Schama, Patriots and Liberators. Revolution in the Netherlands 1780 – 1813, Vintage Books, New York, 1992, p.2. 19 The old weigh-house (the Waag) and many neighbouring buidings still remain today. 20 The Oldehove was built in 1529-1533 but never finished due to subsidence. It was partially restored between 1908 and 1911 (Hendrik Stoorvogel, Friesland, Uitgeverij Bekking, Amersfort, 1997, p.38). 21 Schama, 1987, ibid, p.185. 22 Trijntie married Carl Ludwig Propping, merchant, on October 30th, 1823 in Leeuwarden. She died just five years later. Rudolphi’s oldest sister, Aurelia, was married later to Juda Baruch de Beer, a Jewish druggist and the oldest son of rabbi (Baruch de Beer 1756-1810), on July 21st, 1830. 23 Schama, 1987, ibid, p.186. 24 M.J.van Lieburg, Jelle Banga (1786 – 1877), Erasmus Publishing, Rotterdam, 1991, p.47-51.

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ropean countries, killing thousands in their path. Typhoid, paratyphoid, malaria, dysentery and tuberculosis were so commonplace as to be considered routine hazards. Unfortunately there was little in the way of useful treatment. Simple syrups made from lemons and sugar, and exotic imported spices were tried, but not surprisingly achieved little. It is more likely that a young doctor who was renting part of the Vlietstra house influenced Rudolphi.25 Dr Nicolaas Ijpeij was just 29 years old and could well have made a big impression on the 15 year old boy. He would have been able to tell him about the life of a medical student and the excitement of learning clinical skills. He could also have told him about the Athenaeum in Franeker, the old university town just 15 miles to the west. There were many ways to study medicine in the Netherlands in the mid-1820s. One option was to attend one of the four great traditional universities (Groningen, Amsterdam, Utrecht, or Leiden). The closest was in neighboring Groningen. However a university medical education was expensive and focused more on academia than clinical practice. A second option was to have Rudolphi take private lessons. This was quite common at that time, long before modern medical teaching methods were established. A third option was to attend one of the new non-university medical colleges (“athenaea”) that had been established with the founding of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and there was one nearby in Franeker.26 It had been founded in 1816 and prepared a small number of students for rural surgery and obstetrics.27 This was the option that he took. According to the Album Studiosorum (the official list of students) of the Franeker Academy Rudolphi entered the school in 1826 and he subsequently passed his medical examinations in Leeuwarden on November 30 th , 1830. 28 This qualified him as a country-surgeon (plattelandsheelmeester), ready to practice medicine, surgery and obstetrics in the rural areas where the doctor shortage was greatest. He was also excused from military service. His first job, a temporary one, took him to the small southwest Friesland town of Warns but until he was married his preparation for a rewarding life was not complete. It is uncertain just how he met Grietje (Margaret in English) Sinos Attama, the minister’s daughter, in Warns in the district of Hemelumer Oldeferd. As she was scarcely seventeen on her wedding day, it could have been an arranged marriage.29 The eligible young doctor might also have met her at church and sought an introduction. Grietje had been born, second in a family of five, in the southwest coastal region of Friesland, in a village called Idsegahuizen. Her father, Sino Johan Attama, was then the xxi

minister there, that being his first parish. It seems that her childhood was spent in the southern reaches of the Province, in Idsegahuizen and in Scherpenzeel, two villages only twenty-five miles apart.30 Her mother, Femmigje, died when Grietje was thirteen and still living in Scherpenzeel.31 Later that same year, 1927, Sino Johan accepted the position as the minister in Warns. Attama’s connection with this part of Friesland was strong. He had grown up in nearby Bolsward, finishing school in 1791. He then went on to study theology, as had his grandfather and great grandfather before him. During all those years of study he was supported by an endowed family foundation, or “leen”, called the St. Geertruidsleen. Family foundations are a well-established part of Frisian history. Approximately thirty still exist today, of which at least fourteen were already in existence before the Reformation (mid-1500s).32 Their original purpose was to help shorten the time that the founder and his relatives spent in purgatory by encouraging other family members to become priests. The continued service and prayers of a priest could shorten the purgatorytime of deceased relatives. There was a strong belief that the deceased were still part of the family and were regularly mentioned as such in wills and other documents. They were considered co-owners of the family farm or noble house. Inheriting the family farm often carried with it the stipulation that the deceased ancestors had to be remembered in prayers. By setting up a “leen” a rich person was trying to lock in a mechanism for prayer in perpetuity. A priest named Heer (title of a priest in Friesland before the Reformation) Goffa founded the St. Geertruidsleen in the tiny village of Abbega, southwest Friesland in 1508.33 He stated in his will that the leen was to be 25

Listed as a resident in the house at 91 Nieuwestad in the 1824 Lieeuwarden census. Franeker had an historic University as well, founded in 1585 and for a time the second biggest university in the Netherlands (after Leiden) but Emporer Napolean had it closed on October 22nd, 1811. Amongst its pupils was the 17th century French philosopher Rene Descartes (“Cogito ergo sum”, I think therefore I am) and Peter Stuyvesant, the founder of New York. 27 The medical faculty of Franeker failed to establish a hospital unit for clinical teaching, and finally had to close its doors in 1843 because of a lack of government funds (Van Lieburg M. J., Clio Medica 88:125-138,1987). There is now a psychiatric hospital, a Gasthuis, at that location – it is over a century old and uses some of the same Athaneum buildings. 28 At the Provinciale Commissee voor Geneeskundig Onderzoek en Toevoorsigt (personal communication, Dr M. J. van Lieburg). 29 Arranged marriages were not uncommon in the Netherland’s at that time. Shama, 1987, ibid, p.444. 30 Scherpenzeel was the birthplace of Peter Stuyvesant (1592-1672) Director-General of New Holland (later renamed New York) from 1647-1664. 31 Femmigje Ruurds Bruininga, alias Femkje, born March 28th, 1781, came from a family that also included ministers and town officials. 32 For a listing of current famileeleens see the Friesland 2000 Almanak, p.201-206. 33 Saint Gertrude of Nivelles lived in the 7th century. She is the patron saint of travellers and gardeners. Invoked as a patroness of those who had recently died, who were supposed to take a three day journey to the next world; they spent the first night under the care of St Gertrude and the second under the Archangel St Michael. In paintings she is usually shown with mice at her feet, the mice representing souls in Purgatory. 26

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funded through money generated from farmland that he bequeathed.34 His relatives would administer the leen and be its primary beneficiaries. With the imposition of Calvinism in Friesland by William I, of Orange, no expression of the Catholic religion was permitted, and the foundation fell quiet for some years, but in 1584 it was reorganized to support Dutch Reformed Church theologic studies.35 Grietje and her father were direct descendants of Sibold, a brother (or possibly a brother-in-law) of Heer Goffa, and were thus members of the foundation. As such, Grietje’s sons would be potential beneficiaries if they wished to study theology.36 Rudolphi and Grietje were married in Hemelumer Olderferd, on April 21st, 1831.37 A marriage was a big event not only for the happy couple but also for the whole family. There would have been feasting and dancing perhaps to the music of a button accordian. As was traditional, and to be sure that no one objected to the marriage, banns were announced in both Leeuwarden and Warns three weeks before the planned wedding day. Divorce was not allowed in the Dutch Reformed church, although widows and widowers could remarry. The next year, 1832, Rudolphi and Grietje had their first child, a girl, and she was christened Fennigje Lamke Rudolphi Vlietstra.38 The young doctor Rudolphi now needed to find a permanent job. He had a wife to support and soon they would probably have more children. His training was for rural practice, so it was highly appropriate that he applied for the post of surgeon and obstetrician for East Terschelling (Oosterschelling). Later that year, at a meeting of the Terschilling Town Council (Raadsvergadering) he was offered the job and an annual income of two hundred and fifty guilders, as well as one hundred and fifty guilders in moving expenses.39 The Council also allowed him and his family the use of the midwifery in the village of Midsland as temporary housing. Rudolphi accepted. It is likely that Rudolphi had previously visited Terschelling as it was just a short ferry ride from Harlingen on the mainland. It is even possible at low tide to walk there over the mudflats.40 Terschelling is the second largest of the Wadden (literally “mudflat”) islands, an archipelago lying off the northern coast of the Netherlands, and abutting the North Sea. They 34

H.Bolt, Geschiedenis van het Sint-Geertruidsleen te Abbega (1508-1933), Sneek, 1933, p.6-7. Idem, p.16-18. In 1869, the rules of the leen were changed to permit non-theological university studies also. Idem, p.55-64. 37 Presumably they were married in the church in Warns. It still stands today. 38 Born August 30th, 1832. She was named after both her grandmothers. 39 From minutes of Raadsvergadering meetings archived in the Behoudenhuis, West Terschelling. 40 Today this is a popular tourist activity, and is called “wadlopen” (literally “walking across the shallows”). Guides lead groups of up to a hundred wadlopers across mudflats at ebb-tide every day in the summer. A fee of US$15 covers a return trip on the ferry. 35 36

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are indeed flat, almost featureless and subject to the harshness of cold stormy weather most of the year. In the 1830s the eastern part of Terschelling had a population of about one thousand people, living in one hundred and twenty houses. A further thirteen hundred lived on the western part of the island, mostly in the town of West Terschelling, famous for its 16th century Brandaris lighthouse, named after St. Brendan, patron saint of sailors and explorers, and the island’s main port.41 Three Frisian dialects were spoken, each corresponding to the part of the island one lived on; Westers, Meslanzers and Aesters. Farming and fishing were the basis of a frugal economy on the island, and many young Terschellingers tried their luck as sailors in the Dutch merchant fleet. The island’s most famous son is Willem Barentsz (1550 – 1597), sailor and cartographer, after whom the northern arctic Barents Sea is named.42 Their second child, born October 11th, 1833, was a boy. He had dark brown hair and was christened Johannes Petrus Rudolphi Vlietstra.43 As the first born son he inherited his father’s first name, and the Petrus came from Grietje’s grandfather. They would keep the name of Grietje’s father, Sino Johan, for another son. Hopefully Rudolphi’s mother, Lamke, was able to make the visit from Leeuwarden to see her new grandson, but she may not have because she died just four months after he was born. Babies and small children often figure in Dutch paintings, with every nuance of childish impishness and innocence portrayed. Children filled a central role in the family and were the focus of intense parental worldly and religious instruction. It was not all schooling though, as the Dutch were also innovators in children’s games. Johannes probably blew soap bubbles, rolled a hoop, dressed up like a soldier and played ball games with his little friends. He might even have had a puppy, as it was a popular idea to show children how obedience could be rewarded using a dog as the model. 44 For a time the family’s life on Terschelling appeared to thrive. Rudolphi’s contract to provide medical services was renewed by the island government in 1835. There must have been many challenges in providing medical services on a sparsely populated island remote from larger medical centers and, in those days, a rural doctor had to handle every kind of problem, including extracting teeth. Even today on Terschelling it is 41

The current stone Brandaris lighthouse was built in 1835, soon after Rudolphi and his family arrived on the island. It was here that the Russian submarine, Kursk, sank in September 2000. Barentsz was born in Formerum, between Midsland and Hoorn (A.J.Zwal, Terschellinger Historie, gemeente Museum, Terschelling, 2000, p.110). 43 No confirmed photographs of Johannes Petrus Rudolphi exist, but all his direct descendants had dark brown hair. 44 Schama, 1987, ibid, p.547. 42

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difficult to deal with urgent illnesses, such as heart attacks.45 There must have been sadness in 1836 when Grietje’s sister Geertruida died while visiting or staying with the Vlietstras. While little Johannes must have been happy that same year to gain a baby brother, Eilardus Rudolphi, this child died when just three years old. The next son born, in 1840, was, in the old custom, given that same name. The family grew to include another boy, Sino Johan Rudolphi, and two more girls, Jeltje and Trijntje. Much of Johannes’ love of life must have been nurtured during those early years. The love and respect for his mother that he expresses in later years had its foundation in Terschelling.46 He would later proudly describe himself as a Terschellinger, and return there to see his mother and meet his future wife.47 There were many outdoor opportunities for a young boy on the island. The northern shore is made up of rolling sand dunes stretching for fifteen kilometers and it was popular, at low tide, to ride in a horsedrawn cart across the sand. The coast is wild and open and home to many sea birds, attracted there, as are thousands of seals, by the plentiful fish.48 In Johannes’s day there would have been many big black horses, Friesian cows, sheep, goats, pigs and wild rabbits, just as there are today.49 With his father being the local doctor it is likely that Johannes grew to know many of the neighborhood families and their farming and fishing lifestyles, and joined them on working sail boats in the waters around Terschelling. A turning point came in 1839 when the family moved from Terschelling back to mainland Friesland, to Stavoren, not far from Grietje’s father’s home in Warns.50 Rudolphi had been studying for his Master’s diploma in obstetrics. He passed the exam on November 26th of that year. Presumably the educational opportunities were also better there for Johannes, who was now school age. It is understandable that Rudolphi would want to improve his obstetric skills. Infant mortality in the Netherlands, as in all of Europe, was high, with stillbirth (dead before labor or died during delivery) rates as high as twenty percent.51 Most deliveries were at home, attended by a midwife (vroedvrouw) and were truly “natural” with no pain relief other than a 45 A new Leeuwarden helicopter medical transport service is helping (personal communication, Dr Michel Blank, Leeuwarden). 46 See Preface to Translation. 47 See Chapter V of Translation. 48 The mud flats, tidal marshes, beaches, dunes, woods, fresh and salt water make Terschelling the most diverse landscape in the Netherlands. Many birds migrate via the island and there are rich varieties of butterflies. Over 125 bird species breed on the island, including common eiders, spoonbills, short-eared owls and red-backed shrikes. 49 Today the countryside is rich in cranberry bushes, but these were not introduced until the 1860s. 50 Terschelling was technically part of North Holland until the 2nd World War when the occupying Germans reassigned it to Friesland. 51 Schama, 1987, ibid, p.531.

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tankard of beer. If the baby didn’t survive the bereaved parents could only console themselves with the Calvinist notion that their little ones were better off in paradise than in the mortal world of tears. Johannes also practiced for a time in Rottevalle, just west of Leeuwarden, but by the mid-1840s the family moved back to Terschelling. It is not clear why they returned to the island, but it must have been about this time that Rudolphi developed symptoms of the chronic illness which was to take his life five years later. No information is available to determine the nature of this illness. A strong possibility is tuberculosis, which was endemic in Europe at that time.52 One seventh of all deaths were due to it leading Bunyan earlier to term it the “Captain of the Men of Death”.53 The social stigma attached to tuberculosis may be the reason for Johannes later not identifying the nature of his father’s illness. The belief, inspired in 1826 by Hermann Brehmer, that fresh air was beneficial might explain the move back to the more rural setting of East Terschelling. As he entered teenage years Johannes must have had added responsibilities in the family because he was the oldest son, and his father was ill. He may well have been planning to apply to become a beneficiary of the St Geertruidsleen, to which he was entitled by being a direct descendant of Sibold, but the evidence of his later adventures would suggest that he was more inclined to travel. Johannes was only fifteen when his father died on January 6th 1849 (at age 39). For the next two years he stayed on at home but he then set off on a series of adventures that would take him around the world, and eventually see him settle in New Zealand. It is the first years of that adventure that make up the book that fell so fortuitously into my lap.

52 As an illustrative comparison the great Polish composer, Frederic Chopin, was born just 11 months after Rudolphi on 22nd February 1810. He suffered ten years of progressive incapacitation due to tuberculosis and died, also at age 39 years, 9 months after Rudolphi on 17th October, 1849. 53 W.Osler, The Principles and Practice of Medicine, Appleton’s, New York, 1892, p.155.

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A LONG SEA VOYAGE Of almost

TWO YEARS And

A SOJOURN OF ELEVEN YEARS

IN AUSTRALIA By

J. VLIETSTRA

For my Mother’s profit

Published by J.F.V. Behrns, Harlingen54 1868

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PREFACE Reading the account of a long sea voyage made me decide to publish something similar.58 This decision was strengthened all the more by my familiarity with the lifestyles and customs of the people in Australia, where I lived for eleven years. Since I took notes of everything I saw and heard from the day of arrival, I think I am in a good position to give a detailed account. Given that people know little about that part of the world, and since only the coastal areas are described in even the most detailed geographical reference works, I believe that my publication will be quite illuminating. Many a reader will probably search his map of Australia in vain looking for some of the remote places mentioned in this little book. Whatever shortcomings my description may have, it has the value that it is not a second-hand account of events; everything has been observed and experienced first-hand. This would have been a sufficient introduction, but for the remark underneath the title that the book’s profits are intended for my mother. I should therefore explain myself. I am the oldest son of J.R.VLIETSTRA, physician, surgeon and obstetrician in Oost-Terschelling (East Terschelling), who died in 1849 after a long illness. My mother is a daughter of J.S. Attema, who during the last years of his life was the reverend in Warns, Friesland.59 Like many others I respect her highly for her pure religious standards. With his death she was left to care for five children, compounding the already needy circumstances caused by my father’s long illness. Since I am the oldest son, I consider it my duty to contribute somehow to my beloved mother’s income, or at least, to try to relieve her from the burden of taking care of me. Because the main source of income in Terschelling is either sailing the seas or cultivating the land, I chose the former and departed 58 Very possibly this book was “Two Years Before the Mast” by Richard H. Dana, Jr. First published in 1840 it quickly became the most popular maritime account of its time and one of very few written by an ordinary seaman. In her Introduction to the 1946 World Publishing Company reprint May Lamberton Becker notes that “England gave a copy to every sailor in the Royal Navy”. Therefore it is likely that copies would be available on an English ship in 1865. 59 Attema and Attama spellings were apparently used interchangeably in the 19th century.

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ship. On my arrival there I was fairly soon hired as a cabin boy on a ship sailing for Naples and Palermo in the Mediterranean Sea. 60 Having finished this first sea voyage successfully, I decided, after having spent the winter at my mother’s, to return to Amsterdam with the same objective. But this second time I was less fortunate, because trade was largely at a standstill at the time. I had no other choice than to return to Terschelling. Concerned about being a burden to my mother made me decide a couple of weeks later to return once more to Amsterdam for another attempt. Failing to get employment on a ship, I went into service for an innkeeper. Thus, despite my small earnings, I relieved my mother of a big burden. Since I was treated very well there, I stayed for two years. I would have stayed longer, but the low wages forced me look for work at sea once again. This time the trade was more lively and I was successful. I set off on my big sea voyage to Australia in the spring of 1853, after bidding farewell to my mother, brother and sisters, not suspecting I would not again set foot on native soil until 1865. I conclude with the wish that this little book may be well received, and compensate my mother in some degree for the loss of extra income her eldest son might have provided over a period of 15 years. J. VLIETSTRA

60

Naples is in southern Italy and Palermo is in Sicily.

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1.

My sea voyage and first adventures in Australia.

2.

My further adventures in Australia.

3.

A farm of my own.

4.

Leaving for the gold fields, my stay there and my journey home.

5.

Return journey to my native country and the happy reunion.

Appendix, consisting of three true stories.

The original Dutch text starts on page

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CHAPTER 1. My sea voyage and first adventures in Australia after deserting the ship. In the spring of 1853 I embarked on the ship “The Malvine”, bound for Australia under Captain de Jong, as ship’s steward. 61 At first we had a very successful journey with excellent weather, and were making fast progress, until we reached the equator. From that moment on we suffered through three weeks of complete calm.62 After floating around for that entire period, so much wind got up that the ship could hardly stand it. However it was a favorable wind, and we sailed before it, reaching Hobson’s Bay, or Williamstown, in 102 days.63 Our destination was Melbourne, but in those days no vessel with a displacement of more than 150 tons could sail up the river because of its shallowness, so we had to stay put in the bay, about an hour’s distance from the city.64 When we had been lying there a couple of days, four members of the crew, three sailors and the cook, seized control of the boat and fled, and we never heard anything about them again. The captain, being afraid that others might follow their example told us, in an effort to scare us, that they were on the Hulk65 . The Hulk is an old discarded ship, serving as a prison for runaway crew and other people who have received a light sentence for some crime or other. A week later another 61 The “Malvine” or “Malvina”, mis-spelled “Mulvine” in the original Dutch text, was a schoonerbrig of 147 tons, owned by Robert Twiss and Sons of Rotterdam. She had strong prow, no hull or bow decoration, and a raised after-deck. She was scrapped in China in 1866 (Maritiem Museum, Rotterdam). Captain B.C. de Jong had just completed his training at the famous Dutch maritime college Kweekschool voor de Zeevaart in Amsterdam (S.7143. Scheepvartmuseum, Amsterdam). A steward is the captain’s servant and is in charge of the pantry. Usually he is not considered part of the regular crew, but reports directly to the captain, not to the first mate. 62 This area slightly north of the equator, between the two belts of trade winds, is called the doldrums. It is noted for calms, periods when winds disappear, trapping sailing vessels for days and weeks. 63 The standard shipping route to Australia from England was down the Atlantic, around the southern tip of Africa and eastwards across the Indian Ocean, assisted by the strong westerly tradewinds almost constantly present in the southern latitudes. The Malvine, under Capt “E de Jouge/De Tonge” left Rotterdam on 10 June, 1853 and arrived in Melbourne on 20 September, 1853, with a cargo of coal, oats and general merchandise; no passengers. Her loaded displacement was 250 tons (Marten A. Syme, Shipping Arrivals and Departures. Victorian Ports, Vol 2, 1846-1855, Roebuck Society Publication, No 39, p.194). 64 On 2 October, 1853 there were more than 300 ships anchored in Hobson’s Bay and in the Yarra River (Syme, ibid, p196). 65 The practice of using old ships, or hulks, as prisons was common in London, on the River Thames. On 2 October, 1853 there were 3 prison hulks in Hobson’s Bay; the Doborah, the President and the Success (Syme, ibid, p197). Also see Robert Hughes, The Fatal Shore, Alfred A Knopf, New York, 1987, for more description of the so-called Hulks.

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crewmember ran off. The ship’s carpenter told us that we were close to some gold fields.66 Thinking he could earn more by looking for gold, he also worked out a plan to leave us. The captain, forewarned, summoned the water-police and they took him, handcuffed, into custody on the Hulk. After the cook had run off, the captain put me in charge of his job, so I became cook as well as ship’s steward. We also had five fewer men, and despite this substantial reduction of our crew, we still had to sail from Melbourne to Batavia.67 As an enticement the captain promised us a considerable amount of money if we did our best to return to Holland safely, adding that he would give it to us personally if the ship-owners refused to pay up. As confirmation he drafted a contract, which we all signed. Finally four more men from that region, called Manileños, came aboard, but they did not really save us much work, because, in the first place, we could not understand them and, in the second place, they were totally useless in bad weather 68 . They belonged to the Tartar race and were yellowish-brown in color.69 After a month we reached the Dutch East Indies and from there, after unloading old and loading new cargo, we sailed for China.70 Our “yellow-boys” stayed with us, but on arrival we lost one through death.71 As the Chinese objected to him being buried on land, we had endless trouble finding a place to bury him. In the end we decided to try it at night, and we succeeded. The captain hired two Scots and an American there.72 The Scots were nice people, but the American was a nasty character. A day before he boarded our ship he had killed three Chinese in a quarrel. Once we were at sea he made trouble 66 Gold was discovered about 60 miles from Melbourne in 1851, sparking a gold rush centered on the town of Ballarat. It was in full swing by 1853 when Ballarat’s population had swelled to over 20,000. Various other goldrushes throughout all of Australia propelled migration through all of the latter part of the 19 th century. 67 Now called Jakarta, it is the capital of Indonesia. The Malvine set sail for Batavia on January 18, 1854 (Syme, ibid, p.194). 68 The term ‘Manila men’ was widely used for Chinese and others of Far Eastern origin working outside of China. 69 The Tartars were itinerant tribes who roamed Central Asia including the present day Siberia and Mongolia. 70 The Dutch East Indies was one of the overseas territories of the Netherlands until 1949. During World War II they were occupied by the Japanese and the Dutch were never able to regain control during 1945-1949. They now forms the greater part of modern Indonesia (Encyclopedia Britannica). 71 I have left unchanged comments that today would sound racist, but presumably truly reflect acceptable views of the time. 72 The 1842 Treaty of Nanjing had turned China into a major trader of tea, silk and porcelain. Ships of many nations were plying Canton, Shanghai and 3 other “open” ports.

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every day. I kept quiet and thus managed to get on reasonably well with him; he often even helped me sharpen the knives. In the meantime another potential disaster was coming my way. At first the helmsman was very kind to me, but this soon wore off.73 The reason was that he had become an alcoholic. The captain often asked me what was happening to the gin, to which I replied that he surely could guess. 74 He then ordered me to give the helmsman only four drinks when he was on duty and to keep the keys to the pantry with me. I did as I was told, but the fellow kept bothering me. Sometimes I gave in to his craving, but if I refused he found all sorts of excuses to get it somehow. When the weather was good I would go to bed at night, knowing I had a lot of work to do the next day. When I was asleep he would come and tell me that something had fallen in the cabin or the galley. I would go investigate and fasten whatever was loose but when I returned to the deck, he would demand a drink. If I had the opportunity I would give him one, but in the end it started to frustrate me. I thought, “If I give him a drink each time, things will keep on falling and getting loose”. When I stopped responding, he tried four more times, then gave up. But he did get more and more embittered with me, even to the extent that it became dangerous. Once while I was up at the helm, the helmsman sent me aloft to fasten something. I replied that even though that wasn’t my job I would follow his orders. I went up as fast as I could, and, as I was busy doing the job, he set the sails in such a way that the whole lot tumbled all over me. Since there was a strong wind blowing, had I not managed to steady myself I would have been knocked down onto the deck, or into the sea, by the impact. I was furious and accused him of trying to drown me. The captain, awakened by the racket, came up, and learning that it concerned me, he said to the helmsman, “Are you attempting to help Vlietstra pass into eternity in this manner? I would rather lose four rogues like you than one Vlietstra”, and he kicked him into the hold, calling after him, “You would be better off sailing as a cabin boy than as a helmsman.” After that time there was no love 73 The helmsman, or steersman, had the responsibility of steering the vessel, navigating changing conditions and directing the crew. He was often the most experienced sailor aboard. 74 The Dutch were the original developers of gin, made by distilling berry juice. Dutch gin is sweeter than its English counterpart which was introduced into England in the early 17 th Century.

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lost between the two of them. The captain often told him, “When we arrive in Australia again, run away and I will not try to find you.” At last we came to Tasmania, an island belonging to Australia, and entered the town of Launceston.75 We had been there for three weeks when I got into trouble with the helmsman once more. I thought, “This can’t continue. The helmsman has no intention of running away, so I will put an end to it by running away myself.” Hastily I put my clothes into two sacks, that being easier than having to drag along a chest. The captain happened to have gone ashore that day and was not due to return until the following day. I also learnt that one of the ordinary seamen had made up his mind to run away as well. I told him my plan and we agreed to try our luck that evening. He would go first and wait for me at a certain house. Towards nightfall the man who was standing guard that night came aboard. This made it very difficult for me to execute my plan. With the helmsman I would have known how to go about it. As long as I put his drink in front of him I would be allowed to leave or get anything I asked for. He even said to me, “If you want to run away, you should try it tonight”, to which I added, “And you would laugh up your sleeve, surely, if you could get the key to the pantry.” But the matter rested there since he had no inkling of my plan. So the important thing was to mislead the guard. As it was my habit to put his food and drink near the roof of the cabin, I now put it in a different place, so he had to search around for a while to find it. I used that time to throw my sacks of clothes on board an awaiting boat, where two men, sent by my sailor friend, were ready to catch them and to take me aboard. I met my sailor companion in the pre-arranged house, in which a woman and her four children lived. She was extremely kind. We decided to leave our clothes with her until our return, as payment for the meal we had eaten. We did not dare to stay longer, fearing that the captain would order the police to search for us. We took to the road without knowing where we were going. We walked for quite a while, and since it was mountainous, this meant climbing over many hills. Finally, 75 Launceston, on the Tamar River, was then, and remains, the largest town on the north coast of Tasmania. It was the third British settlement in Australia, after Sydney and Hobart.

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after traversing a large forest, we reached a more developed road. Now exhausted, we decided to have a rest at the first opportunity. We had heard the day before we set out, that there were a lot of people in this area who had been convicts.76 Therefore we were somewhat apprehensive as we walked and we decided, once we found a place to rest, to take turns standing guard. After we had lain there for about an hour, we heard something coming towards us from the nearby forest. Not knowing that it was one of the wild animals called kangaroos, which are commonplace there, we immediately thought of the convicts and said to each other, “If it is one of them, there are surely more to follow.” As it came closer, we could hear the dry branches snap. We braced ourselves. The kangaroo came so close that I looked right up at it. The animal saw me, and being very shy, it took flight, hitting the ground fiercely with its tail. It is a large animal with a long tail. Standing upright it has the height of a grown man, but it is not a predator. Still thinking of the convicts we said to each other, “If they too are so easily scared, then we’ll surely make it.” At dawn we went on our way again and were very pleased, after an hour’s hike, to come to some houses and a village.

76 Hughes, 1987, ibid, states that in 1857 half the adults on Tasmania were either convicts or Emancipists (convicts who had completed their sentence), hence the epithet “land of white slavery”.

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CHAPTER 2 My further adventures in Australia We quickened our pace in the pleasant anticipation of meeting people. It was the village of Longford.77 The first person we encountered was the town’s blacksmith, and we summed up enough courage to address him. We bade him good day, as we were unable to say anything more in English. He said to us, “I believe you’ve abandoned ship?” We admitted it, and he continued by saying, “That doesn’t matter, come on in. I will help the two of you.” Immediately, fresh bread and a leg of mutton were put out on the table for us. We thoroughly enjoyed all this food, and, what’s more, we were treated to tea with sugar. We were quite surprised to receive such an extravagant reception, not realizing that the local people don’t eat rye bread as we were accustomed to, nor did they drink their coffee or tea without sugar. The blacksmith promised to find us employment with his relatives. We were extremely pleased and sorry that we were unable to speak more with the good man. In the evening, being afraid of a police search, he showed us a shed in which to spend the night. He sent his relatives a message and they turned up the next day, agreeing to give us a job. As I was the older of the two, I stayed in the village, where there was more danger of being found. My mate, from Rotterdam, called Willem, was sent further inland. I lived next door to a place where prisoners were being held, called a treading-mill. In this treading-mill mostly minor criminals had to tread a big grinding mill in a flour factory.78 It seemed to me that they were being punished rather severely for relatively petty crimes, while most of the people living freely there were Englishmen, who had themselves been transported to Tasmania for manslaughter or major theft.

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Longford is in North Tasmania, about 10 miles southwest of Launceston. Prisoners were made to generate power by walking on a belt or wheel connected to the threshing machine. This concept is used today in exercise treadmills, and also gives rise to the expression “being on a treadmill” referring to any continuous, burdensome activity. 78

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Since the captain had promised the police a substantial reward to find us, I saw policemen snooping around daily. However they assumed that the runaways, having escaped from a ship recently arrived from China, must be Chinese, and they left me alone. In the first week that I spent there I thought there were no better people on earth. At one point I found seven English pounds, which was the equivalent of eighty-four guilders.79 When I asked whether anyone had lost this, they said they hadn’t, and, unless someone claimed it, I should keep it. They were very fond of me and didn’t even want me to do a spot of work. I was treated as one of the family. I thought, “Giving me money, not allowing me to work, promising everything to keep me with them. There is something wrong here.” When I asked them whether my ship had departed, they pretended it was still anchored in the harbor. That made me feel uneasy, but knowing that the names of ships are written the same in every language, I checked the newspapers every day to see if it had left. But still I remained in the dark. I wrote my friend, Willem, about my suspicions regarding my hosts, and he, being worried about me, turned up three days later. He said that he had been pretty fortunate too, but, unlike me, had to work like a donkey. I told him about my experience with the money that I found and that they had promised me a foal, geese and a lovely dog, if only I stayed with them, and that all these promises made me feel uneasy. We decided to collect our clothes and leave. Upon notifying them, I realized that I had no reason for having been worried at all. They gave us money and ordered a coach to take us back to Launceston. As we departed with tears in our eyes, they told us that, should we ever fall ill or encounter any other misfortune, we would always be welcome with them. Soon we reached Launceston, but although we did find the house where we had previously stayed, we didn’t find the same inhabitants. A little woman, all dressed in white and with a smiling face, opened the door, and on our question as to what had happened to the other people she replied that the woman 79

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At that time Australia used English currency.

had run away with another man, abandoning her husband and four children. The man she ran off with had a small boat, which he operated, on the river, fetching firewood for settlers. She could also tell us that clothes belonging to two sailors, which were in her safekeeping, along with silk and other Chinese goods, which I had purchased with a view of selling them at a profit later in another place, had been taken along as well. We told her that we were those sailors. She said she had guessed as much. We suspected that she had some sort of relationship with this other woman and inquired around from other people, but it turned out she had been telling us the truth. This was a big loss for us. We decided to stay together and spent three days looking for employment on a ship. It wasn’t to be however. There were jobs available, but not for the two of us on the same ship. We therefore hired ourselves out on separate coasters. We took leave of each other and never met again. For two years I sailed the waters from Launceston to Melbourne, and along the North West Coast of Van Diemen’s Land, including up the Mersey, Forth and Leven Rivers. 80 The owners of the ship lived on the Forth River.81 Once on a visit there, when there was no cargo in the offing, it was decided that the ship would stay put for four months. The owners also had a farm and they offered me a position as a laborer with them. Their household consisted of nine people: the mistress of the house, who was a widow and of noble birth, five sons, two daughters and a servant girl. My wages as a laborer would be similar to what I was earning on the ship, so I accepted graciously. I was well treated and since I did good work, they promised me as much land as I wanted, should I want to start farming for myself. In the meantime something unusual happened. One morning I was sent out with a wagon drawn by eighteen oxen 80 Van Diemen’s Land, named by Tasman after the Governor of the Dutch East Indies, was first settled by the English in 1803. From 1822-1853 it was primarily a prison colony, receiving 73,5000 convicts (Hughes, 1988. ibid). Residents were caustically called Van Demonians. It achieved independent status as a Province in 1856 when it was renamed Tasmania. The Mersey, Forth and Leven Rivers lie to the west of the Tamar along Tasmania’s north coast (see map). 81 Writing in 1987, the Tasmanian sailing historian Garry Kerr states that research is lacking on the dozens of small traders that were built on the banks of North Coast rivers. They were of varied sizes and types. Some were deep drafted cutters, suited for crossing to the mainland, while others were shallow draft center-board barges that could pass up the coastal rivers. The river trade that Johannes worked suggests that his boat was one of the latter. (Garry Kerr, The Tasmanian Trading Ketch. An Illustrated Oral History, Mains’l Books, Victoria, Australia, 1987, p.15-16.)

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to load it full of stones to make an oven. When the ox-driver and I had almost finished loading the wagon, I wanted to add just one more stone. It was almost too heavy to lift, and suddenly I felt a sting, causing me to drop the stone, thinking it was the bite from one of the large ants found there. Some people’s hands swell up, and sometimes the hand becomes red and painful. I jerked back my hand and found a snake dangling from my finger. The ox-driver and I got very frightened. The man-in-charge, one of the widow’s sons, was busy in the vicinity searching for bark and branches on a field sown in with grain. The ox-driver went to call him, while in the meantime the snake dropped from my finger and I trampled it to death. The man-in-charge got to me quickly. He tied up my arm with my scarf and belt, which served as carrying-strap, and asked whether I had a knife on me, but patience failing him, he took a penknife from his pocket and cut off the tip of my finger. Having asked me whether my mouth was clean, he ordered me to suck the poison and blood from the wound and spit it out immediately. Having done so, he then sent me home. After he had retrieved his own horse he followed me home. When I arrived home I told my housemates about the accident. They were all startled. It was noon and though food was being served, nobody had any appetite. Shortly after, the man-in-charge arrived home. He placed a piece of paper on my finger, sprinkled gunpowder on it and set it alight, to burn out the wound. Although it was painful, it wasn’t as bad as one might have thought. My finger was totally blackened now. Then they gave me some drops of medicine and sent me into the garden, with a guard accompanying me, because I had to keep moving. I wasn’t feeling well, and I was dizzy, so I stood still, then walked on again and then fell. Having fallen, I wanted to remain lying down, but was ordered to get up immediately and walk. I tried to get away from the guard, but he understood and didn’t let me out of his sight for more than two minutes. He knew that someone who has been bitten by a snake wants to rest, but this can prove fatal and so he goaded me on to keep moving. I got angry with him but he said, “Vlietstra, don’t get mad at me, I am doing this for your own good”. He didn’t breathe a word about the danger I was in. 10

Walking around like that I passed a shed where the widow’s daughter and the servant girl were doing their chores. I overheard them saying that my face had turned completely blue and I would be dead before sunset. When I explained that I had understood what they were saying, they said they had been talking about something else. I wanted to look in the mirror, but was kept from doing so. I had noticed my arm and hand being blue, but put that down to the bandage, and my dizziness and sleepiness to the medicine. After sunset the man-in-charge came to me and told me the worst danger was over. We went home, which pleased me, since I wanted to go to sleep. However I still was forced to keep moving all through the night. The guard stayed by my side. The next morning the man-in-charge told me that, should I have lain down to sleep or had I got over-excited I most certainly would have died. I thanked him for his help and good care. He later told me just how dangerous that snakebite had been. I had been bitten by a whip snake, which, although small, is one of the most poisonous varieties.82 Since then, every year around the same time, in April, I feel a slight discomfort in that hand. This would have ended this chapter, but for my feeling obliged to explain about the search for bark and branches on a field sewn with grain. In Tasmania a forest is one of the most fertile pieces of land. To cultivate such a forest for agricultural purposes, all trees measuring less than four feet in diameter are cut down, and the bigger ones are left. These larger trees are then starved, by chopping a ring around their trunk.83 The chopped-down smaller trees are burned after six weeks or so, and what is still left is put on heaps to be burnt again later. The really big trees, which were left standing, drop their bark and branches during the next three years, due to being ringed-barked. These are carefully collected. In the first year the forest is lightly hoed with a weeder, then sown in afterwards. Despite this small amount of preparation, 82 Tasmania has three indigenous snake species. The Whip snake (in Dutch “zweepslang”), also called the White-lipped snake (Drysdalia coronoides), is now known to be the least dangerous. According to the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service no human deaths have been recorded from a White-lipped snakebite. 83 In Australia this is often called “ring-barking”.

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the soil produces a better yield than land that is prepared more extensively in the Netherlands.84

84 The painter John Glover (1767-1849) saw this Northern Tasmania countryside as a pastoral paradise, where “it is possible to drive a carriage as easily as in a Gentleman’s Park in England.” His painting show eucalyptus trees sprawled across open hills and plains, with sparse foliage (James Gleeson, Australian Painters, Lansdowne Press, Sydney, 1976, p.106-108.

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CHAPTER 3 A farm of my own The Lady kept her promise and gave me some land to start my own farm. I employed laborers to prepare the new soil, because the farm manager and his family wanted me to continue supervising a large quantity of potatoes, which fetched high prices at the time.85 I lived in a former inn at the mouth of the river.86 The river was rich in fish and I killed time by making a trellis partition, fitted with a door that closed at high tide. I placed this at the mouth of the river, thereby sealing it off, and caught some big fish. Since this pleased the Lady very much, she knitted a fishing net for me. Although it often meant sacrificing my night’s rest, since I fished in a boat and had to make use of the tides, I often had the pleasure of surprising her with an appetizing catch of fish. Once, returning home at night, with a large catch, I saw a tall white figure between the trees. Although I don’t believe in ghosts, I admit I was a little scared. As I came closer, I saw a pair of fiery glittering eyes. I wondered what kind of monster this could be. I stepped back a little, and was summoning up the courage to throw a stone at it, when it suddenly jumped at me. I got a big fright, but soon calmed down when I saw that it was just one of the Lady’s sons. He had set out to scare me by sitting down amongst the trees, with his nightgown drawn up over his head. In the moonlight, he really looked frightening, especially as he was extremely tall. The episode earned him the nickname “the tall ghost”. The next day he invited me to smoke a pipe with him. He told the family about his prank and said I had behaved bravely. But let me return to my story of cultivating the land.

85 Some of these laborers were probably ex-convicts. By the mid-1850s an earlier practice of assigning convict servants to landowners had been abolished. To make up for this loss of labor some landowners brought out farm workers from England. These “indentured servants” agreed to work on their estates until they had repaid their fares. In addition many men who had not succeeded on the goldfields were looking for work (J.R.Skemp, Tasmania Yesterday and Today, Macmillan and Co., Melbourne, 1959, p.129). 86 In the 1957 book “With the Pioneers”, Charles Ramsey describes a hotel called “The Sailor’s Return” located on the western side of the river mouth. Its license was revoked in 1860 after business moved to the eastern side of the river. The building still exists as a private home, called “The Gables”.

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The price of potatoes kept going up. They were soon selling at forty pounds a ton, which is almost 960 guilders a load.87 I liked that a lot so I bought two and a half tons of potatoes, for 1200 guilders, and some other seeds as well. Everything grew perfectly, but when harvesting time arrived the prices had dropped so much that the best I could do, to get them out of the soil without cost, was to chase the pigs in. One year everything is very expensive, and cheap the next. Prices fluctuate with the activity in the gold fields. When a lot of gold is being found, everyone rushes to join in, and everything would become terribly expensive. When only a little is found, people return to their land and take up farming again and thus everything becomes cheaper.88 The following year I was luckier. I had found another place and lived in a house situated in the middle of a piece of cultivated land surrounded by a garden full of different kinds of fruit trees. 89 The house was made of bark and stood on poles. The walls were made of clay and cow dung, interwoven with long grass.90 On the outside it was nicely decorated with shrubs, which in summer bore flowers that looked very much like fuchsias.91 It was an extraordinary large plot of low-lying land. In that region low-lying land is better than the higher land.92 I did very well, getting as much as thirty-six pence for each cabbage.93 87

That is, eighty English pounds for a two ton load. 88 This was the life-style of the Australian “selectors”, hard-working men who could not afford to buy a cleared farm, but were willing to hack out a small farm of their own, on a “selected” few acres of Crown land. They lived very simply in a bark or manfern hut, or even camped in a hollow tree. They battled the forest with an axe and scythe and cleared enough to keep a couple of cows and raise a small crop ( J R Skemp, 1959, ibid, p.157). 89 Presumably apples and pears would have been the most abundant. Today, because apples are a major export, Tasmania is sometimes called the “Apple Isle”. 90 The simplest hut was made from turf thatched with grass or straw. These were always a fire risk. A better, but more expensive, option was a log hut, covered with shingles. Another style was where mud (terre pissee, or rammed earth) was used for the walls, so avoiding the fire risk (vide infra, Curr, 1824, p105). 91 Correa backhousiana, sometimes called native fuschia in Tasmania, still exists close to Forth. It has yellow flowers and blooms in the summer (Personal communication, Dr Robert Mesibov, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Penguin, Tasmania). 92 More than 30 years earlier Edward Curr drew attention to this in his remarkably detailed little book, “An Account of the Colony of Van Dieman’s Land Pricipally Designed for the Use of Emigrants”. Originally published in 1824, it was reproduced in 1967 by Playpus Publications of Hobart. Curr states (p3) “Van Dieman’s Land is not what an Englishman would consider a fine country; at least the good qualities it possesses are more in the climate than in the soil. It is, generally speaking, very hilly, and the tracts of good land are usually distant from each other and of small extent, consisting for the most part of a line of alluvial soil upon the banks of a stream, and that, too frequently, under the dominion of floods in the heavy rains”. 93 Thirty-six pence was equal to three shillings, and there were twenty shillings in a pound.

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All this time I hadn’t written to my mother and, being curious to know how she and my brother and sisters were doing, I wrote to her. I told her about my experiences and, as it was the 30th of August, I congratulated my oldest sister on her birthday.94 I asked her to reply and promised to return home within eighteen months. Learning shortly afterwards that letters to England had to be sent post-paid, I wrote her another one.95 When I didn’t get a reply I thought that, if she were still alive, my mother possibly could not afford the postage. I wrote a third letter and enclosed two hundred and four guilders to cover the cost of her replying. When I eventually returned to my native country, I learnt that my mother had received only the first two letters, and had written to me repeatedly. The following year I did good business again, but it become time to return home, as I had promised in my letter. Since I had not received any news, however, I thought I could not return home empty-handed. As I was in a position to earn more I decided to stay put. I prepared more land for cultivation and had sixteen men in my employ, costing me thirty-six guilders and board per person per week. That came straight out of my pocket, but the farm was getting bigger. I had a cow, horses and thirty pigs. Looking over it all, I thought, “How important I am getting.” But soon I was reminded of the truth of an old saying; worldly possessions come and go like ebb and flow.96 At the end of November, when the crops were magnificent, the potatoes in full bloom and everything was looking very promising, my wealth suddenly flew out the window when the whole lot was drowned in a big flood. There I was! The week before I had been admiring my wealth, and now I was chastising myself for not having returned to my native country. But I found the courage to go on, because it was mid-summer, the opposite of what it is here in Europe: summer over there, winter here; daytime over there, night-time here. I moved higher up into the mountains, 94

Fennigje was born on 30th August 1832, the year before Johannes. Until the mid-1860s the cost of postage was often paid by the recipient (Len Jury, stamp dealer, Auckland, New Zealand, personal communication, 2001). 96 This philosophy is central in Dutch Calvinism e.g. “There was a danger that Abram might become too well pleased with his own good fortune. Therefore God seasons the sweetness of wealth with vinegar…” John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis 13:V, VII. In the Netherlands God’s retribution is often manifested as a flood; a dyke fails and the riches are washed away. 95

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bought a piece of partly cultivated land for a small price, prepared it further and sowed seeds, hoping to make good business again. Since the soil was less suitable for potatoes I planted no more than I needed for my personal use. I was amazed not to see any rain at all for nine months. However after fifteen months it really rained, in a sweeping gale, which the locals call a thunderstorm. It started at night, when I was sleeping. I was suddenly woken by a terrific blast. I got up and went outside to see what was happening. It was weather that I had never experienced before in my life. For almost an hour the lightning nearly blinded me. It was so close that I remained deaf from the thunder for almost eighteen months. I nearly fainted, and clung to the trunk of a tree. When I recovered a little I went home. The next morning all the big trees had been knocked down. I thought that my neighbors might have been hit by the lightning so I went over to see them. But they lived at such a distance from me that they had hardly heard anything. A large part of the crops shriveled up through the continuous drought. I was also unlucky to have my house burnt down through bush fires deliberately started by other people.97 Since I was out working on my land at the time, I could not save anything. I lost my English documents, which were worth three hundred guilders, as well as my first diary.98 I was extremely unhappy. What should I do? After a short deliberation I decided to leave Van Diemen’s Land and to go to Melbourne, to try my luck on the gold fields there. I looked at the newspapers and saw bad news about the goldfields, but read that in Queensland one was well rewarded for one’s labor. There were risks however. On the one hand it was dangerous because of the savages, and on the other hand it was stifling hot. I decided to go there, in the hope of finding new land to cultivate. I prepared myself for the journey and traveled, first by rail, then by boat, finally arriving on horseback.99 It was 97 This nefarious practice is well outlined in Anthony Trollope’s 1874 story “Harry Heathcote of Gangoil”. Hostile neighbors would set fires to quickly spread through the dry bush, detroying livestock, crops and property, so driving settlers off their land. 98 Three hundred guilders were then equal to about twenty five English pounds. The English papers were likely documents related to his property holding. 99 It was not until 1903 that the railway line up from Brisbane reached Rockhampton (Australian Encyclopedia,Vol 8, 6 th Edition, 1996).

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very hot and I decided to ask the first farmer I met for a job. I had been wandering around for two days without meeting anybody and on the third day I arrived at a farm owned by a sheep-farmer. He was sitting on his porch, called a veranda, as I arrived. I said, “Good day to you, sir!” “Good day”, he said, “Do you come from afar?” “From Holland”, I replied. “From Holland”, he said, “then you are a Dutchman (for that is what they call Hollanders there). “Ah, ha! Come inside then and take some food and drink, and then you must tell me about Holland and about farming there.” I told him as well as I could, and added that I had a farm in Tasmania and what I had grown there. When I finished, he added, “Nothing grows up here. I am a farmer without a grain of seed in the soil. My farming consists of breeding sheep.” I asked for work. “Sure”, he said, “I have plenty of work. What can you do?” “ I’m a jack-of-all-trades”, I said. “That’s fine”, he said, “I need a shepherd.” “ Shepherd”, I said. “Herdsman? No sir, I won’t do that.” Then he mentioned he also needed a cook.100 That suited me better and, in answer to his question what my price was, I said, “Nothing for the first week, then I’ll tell you the week after.” The week after I asked him how he liked my work. “Oh”, he said, “Very much.” So I stipulated good wages and got them. He was well satisfied with me and mentioned he had never had a cheaper servant. He really was a fine man to get along with. I heard this and that about the savages all the time.101 At first I was frightened of them and worried a lot about them. At night I saw their fires on the mountains. Our house consisted of thick bark, with shooting holes in the walls to 100 His reluctance to be a herdsman was probably related to the low opinion of herdsmen in the Netherland and its colonies. Herdsmen were often described as being illiterate or ignorant; in Africa this work was usually assigned to the “natives”. 101 In 1860s Central Queensland there was a state of warfare between white settlers and the native aborigines. The settlers freely, and often violently, displaced aborigines from their territory, yet considered any retaliation as unprovoked and outrageous. According to one journalist “the appearance of a naked savage within range of a shepherd’s gun is almost universally held in squatting circles as sufficient provocation to fire.” (Lorna McDonald. Rockhampton. A History of City and District, University of Queensland Press. St. Lucia, Queensland, 1981, p.183-184).

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shoot at the savages, should they attempt to attack us during the night. I had been there for quite some time before I could sleep properly during the night. I would have given twelve guilders willingly, many a time, to get a night’s undisturbed sleep. 102 In the heat one doesn’t need much sleep. It often was so hot that men as well as animals lost all appetite. When I had been there for about six months we received a message that the savages had killed our neighbors. On closer inquiry it turned out that nineteen people had been killed and two had escaped.103 One of them, a shepherd, had hidden himself amongst his sheep and the other had been beaten up so badly by the savages, that they assumed that he was dead. 104 These neighbors had moved in only a short while before. They hadn’t even built a house yet, but were making do with tents. They had come from a region where they were used to allowing the savages to come close to work for them. They believed it would be the same here, and so, by offering them sugar, which they liked tremendously, and other trinkets, they had attracted the savages; but, as the reader knows by now, it cost them dearly. When the savages had acquainted themselves with their habits, a large number of them came up, a little before dawn, when one sleeps more deeply, since it is somewhat cooler then, to carry out their gruesome deed.105 They didn’t do this as much for money as for the sugar and colorful items that they like. I would have ended this chapter here, but I will better serve my readers if I tell them something about the habits and customs of the savages. They do not live in houses, but live in the open woods and on the mountains, and they sleep in the tall wild grass. Their food consists of raw roots, game and wild honey. The men catch the game and harvest the wild honey from the trees, and the women do the fishing and search for roots. They search no more than they need to appease their hunger. Once they have eaten their fill, they go to sleep. They do not hoard up 102

One English pound. 103 This was the notorious 17th October 1861massacre at Cullin-la-ringo, near Springsure, 200 miles west of Rockhampton. Nineteen of the twenty-two people, including women and children, at the Wills family tent camp were hacked to death. It was the bloodiest episode of Australia’s race war with the aborigines (Lorna McDonald, 1981, ibid, p.189-191). 104 A second shepherd also survived. Idem, p.190.

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anything. If they cannot find enough they steal it from the whites, and on meeting resistance, they will beat their opponents. If the worst comes to the worst they will eat their own children, but they have a dislike for the flesh of white people. They live together without having any notion of marriage. But sometimes a man wants to have a particular woman for himself. When the others notice this, the lovers are beaten up, and go on the run for a few months. On their return all is well again. They beautify their children in a very cruel fashion. At birth the nose and lips are pierced and their bodies scratched with a small stone axe. The scratches are healed with leaves and they form deep ridges in the skin. Those with the most and the deepest ridges are the most beautiful among them in their view.106

105 This differs from the account given in “The Life of a Pioneer” which puts the time of the attack as after lunch. Idem, p.189. 106 The aborigines in this area were of the Darambal tribe. Cannibalism, especially of children, is well described in early Australian literature. However Darambal marriage customs may have been more elaborate than Johannes indicates. Idem, p.5.

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CHAPTER 4 Leaving for the goldfields, my stay there and my journey home. After the killings I no longer felt comfortably there, and despite the fact that I was well treated, my plan to try my luck on the goldfields ripened more each day. Taking leave of my boss, I left for the goldfields, which were a hundred miles inland from Rockhampton.107 Having traveled for a while, I went to a farmer to buy provisions. Most of the farmers there have stores to supply travelers with provisions, since they have to store quite a lot for private use, and because the farms are far and few between. Although I could get what I needed for my journey, the farmer wanted to keep me there, so I stayed on with him for a while. The savages were causing problems there too. The farmer had given them permission to enter his grounds from time to time, thinking that they could do more good than harm. A while after I came to stay we lost two shepherds, who, it later turned out, had been murdered by the savages. They had driven the 500 sheep in their care into the mountains. We chased away some of the savages, shot some, and recovered most of the sheep.108 Eventually I decided to continue my journey, since I was spending more money on the upkeep of my horses than I earned on the farm. Because there was very little grass and I had to buy feed for them, I sold all my horses except two. One I had to ride on and the other served as a carrier horse for my provisions and my clothes. I had been riding through the woods for a couple of hours, when I arrived at an open piece of land. This pleased me so 107 The goldrush to Peak Downs, now called Clermont, was in 1863. There was “gold in plenty, but of provisions absolutely none”, and scores of men became ill from insufficient food and attacks of fever. “Pallid, emaciated and penniless”diggers humped their swags to Rockhampton. Idem, p.260. 108 The violence of those times is reflected in an 1862 letter from P F MacDonald, of Springsure, to the father of a young Englishman starting work on his farm. “You need not be the least alarmed about the Blacks, people living here seldom think about them, for with proper care there is no more danger of being killed by a Blackfellow than being eaten by an Alligator or tumbling into a fire and getting burned to death or dying in a hundred other ways.” But then he added, “If your son comes to Rockhanpton let him bring a good revolver and learn to use it. I will venture to say that if he is here for seven years he will not wear it out shooting Blacks, nor will he after being here for seven months care anymore for the Blacks than he will for hobgoblins.” Idem, p.195.

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much that I started singing, believing I had found potable water for my horses. My joy was short-lived, however, because the horses soon became so agitated that I had trouble controlling them. I had just succeeded in doing so when I saw that roughly a thousand armed savages had formed in a half circle and were waiting for me behind a hill. I drew my pistols, but was I so scared that I couldn’t see whether I was aiming too high or too low to hit them. And what could I do singlehanded against such a large number? I turned back into the woods, spurring the horses into a full gallop to help me escape. They didn’t follow, and I got away. The fright of it all gave me palpitations of the heart for some months. I have to thank God for curing me, and next to Him, the use of Holloway’s pills. These are used very often in Australia where they are regarded as good medication for many ailments. 109 They are also available at most farmers’ stores. Having rested at a farmer’s place for a while to recover, I continued my journey along another route, and arrived in a town 110 . There I bought more horses and a wagon, which I loaded with a large supply of provisions, enough to last me for thirteen to fourteen months. After nine days of travelling I became trapped in a flood. For two days I had seen heavy rains in the distance. In these hot regions the rain often comes down in buckets, even though you yourself are still enjoying the most beautiful weather on earth. 111 I hoped to reach the mountains and, when I did, I decided to take a rest. Afraid that my horses would wander off too far searching for water, I put blinkers on them after I had unharnessed them. I had a tankard of water with me for my personal use. When night fell I spread out my blankets under the wagon and lay down. But one cannot sleep comfortably like this, and the least sound makes one jump up 109 Holloway’s Pills were a popular herbal remedy in Queensland. They fell out of use in the late 19 th century (Diane Menghetti, James Cook University, Queensland). In New Zealand large newspaper advertisements and testimonials touted their ability to cure “ague, asthma, bilious complaints, blotches on the skin, bowel complaints, colic, constipation, consumption, debility, dropsy, dysentery, erysipelas, female irregularities, fevers of all kinds, fits, gout, headache, indigestion, inflammation, jaundice, liver complaints, lumbago, piles, etc., etc.” (Laurie Gluckman, Touching on Deaths, Doppelganger, Auckland, 2000, p.51.) 110 He refers to this place as Touw. No such place (literally, phonetically or in Dutch) can be identified on current or contemporary maps. A possible phonetic equivalent is “town”. In Australian vernacular “go into town” is a commonly used expression for visiting any commercial center. 111 A tropical sun shower.

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in fright. In the middle of the night I heard a noise and got up to look after the horses, which weren’t far off, fortunately. When dawn broke I realised that I needn’t have feared for my horses to wander off too far in search of water. Within thirty steps I saw nothing but water. This delayed me for a week, which I spent largely underneath my wagon. Of course I got bored, but I had to stick with it. I consoled myself with the thought that, because of the water, the savages wouldn’t bother me. Fortunately God gave let up after seven days and I was able to continue my journey. This was by no means easy, as the soil had become so drenched by all this water it looked like a paper loft.112 I had to ride very carefully not to sink into the earth. At last I spotted something far off, and I believed I was approaching some village or town. But, going on a little further, I noticed there were tents, and people with horses and wagons and ox-carts. When I got closer to them I asked them what they were doing there. Were they were gold-diggers and had a new goldfield been found there? Or was I on the wrong way to Peak Downs. They told me they were all golddiggers; some of them having been there for four months already, others for two, and a few for only two or three weeks. They had not figured out how to cross the river just ahead. They added,“God only knows how long we’ll have to stay here. The rain is coming down in buckets today, but maybe we will be lucky tomorrow or the day after. In the meantime the water has risen so much that the river is overflowing its banks.” I asked them if they knew what people in New South Wales or Victoria do in such situations. They immediately wanted to know. I said, “They make a boat from a hollowed-out bottletree. These trees are very hard on the outside, but as soft as cabbages on the inside.” They said they had been looking for a tree like that, but without success. I told them that I wasn’t quite sure, but believed I had seen bottletrees

112 Traditionally the finest hand-made paper was made by hanging soggy sheets of well-beaten rag pulp in a loft to dry. The Dutch were masters of this craft and developed the standard pulping machine, the Hollander Beater, in the 17 th century. Johannes is using this expression to picture sloshing through a soggy mess.

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at a distance of an hour and a half ’s ride. 113 This was encouraging for them. The next day four people were sent off to investigate. They returned, and said I had seen correctly, and there were at least seven of them in a row. We were all very pleased and decided to make good use of them the next day. It was barely dawn when I was on my way with some others to make the boat. We took tools and a wagon along to bring it back with us immediately. Towards the evening we returned with the boat, which we also rigged out with oars, although we had no real need for these. We proceeded to try crossing the next morning. We assembled all the ropes and fastened them to the boat, in order to draw it back and forth. We chased the horses across the river, a few of us going with them to the other side. You don’t sit on the horses while you are doing this, but instead hang onto their tails, for otherwise you will be swept away with the strong current, or topple over horse and all. My wagon, with my provisions and clothes, was the first to be taken across, securely tied to the boat with ropes. All the people, horses, waggons and goods crossed the river safely, except for one man. He had been making comments on everything. He thought he knew best and wanted to be the last to cross. When it was finally his turn, we offered to help him, but he refused. He wanted to tie his wagon to the boat himself. We let him, and when he announced he was ready, we did our best to draw the boat to the other side. The boat had reached within eleven yards of the side, when the current caused her to dip sideways and the wagon, despite it being tied securely, slipped into the water. The man’s horses had swum across already. We offered to chase his horses back again, but he refused, saying they would be able to find more food over there, because all had been grazed down on his side already and he could still keep an eye on them. He hoped the water would fall within three or four days. Even if it didn’t, there would certainly be more golddiggers coming through, who would help him to get across one way or another. We 113 The Australian bottletree is so named for it swollen trunk and soft moist wood interior that could be squeezed as a source of water. Queensland’s native bottle tree, Brachychiton rupestris (Family Sterculiaceae) reaches 60 feet in height and its swollen trunk can be greater than 30 feet in circumference.

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could not delay any longer for his sake and went on our way, with twenty wagons, to reach our final destination. We climbed the mountains and met with a lot of rain on the way, but moving onto high, ferrous ground, it did not hinder us much and soon we reached the goldfields. Having been there for five or six days, we heard that the remaining man’s horses as well as a large part of his provisions had been washed away by the ever rising waters. Of everything he owned, he had managed to put only one single sack of flour safely up a tree, in which he himself also had had to seek shelter for an entire day. I stayed in the goldfields for six weeks only and took part in the digging for a fortnight only. The gold I had dug up was not worth mentioning, but because I dug it up myself I saved two pieces for my mother. While there I fell seriously ill, and had such a high fever that my head sometimes felt as if I was standing on it.114 Every now and again people would come to look after me, but they were more interested in my provisions than being concerned about me.115 Even though I noticed, I felt too ill to do anything about it. When I felt a little better I decided to leave, knowing that might not keep me from dying, but at the same time realizing that I should not foolishly subject myself to danger. I sold all my horses, except one; the remaining flour I sold for a dollar a pound, and my ‘negrid’ tobacco, this being the kind they smoke there, for eighteen guilders.116 117 To feel safer on my return journey I armed myself with a compass and a good travelling chart. I planned to return to 114 Fever and “ague” were very common in the northern parts of Australia. Various names were in different regions, such as Caostal, Mossman, Ross River, Sarina, Fingo, Yellow Jack, Gulf and Jungle Fevers. In medical terminology malaria, dengue, typhus, Q, intermittent, remittent and relapsing were all recognised. Leptospirosis (Weil’s disease) and plague, both carried by rats, also occurred in Queensland (Diane Menghetti, James Cook University, Queensland). 115 He was right to be wary. One observer from that time described his fellow ship passengers bound for the Rockhampton area golfields. They included “filibusters” from South America and Mexico, “blacklegs” (swindlers), cardsharps, gamblers and sly grog sellers. Almost every man aboard was armed, usually with a five-chambered revolver and a large Bowie knife in the belt. Lorna McDonald, 1981, ibid, p.32. 116 “Negrid” tobacco presumably refers to Negro head tobacco, sold loose or in sticks, and commonplace in Australia at that time. Edward Curr refers to it in his 1924 account: “The tobacco hitherto consumed in the colonies has been of the growth of the Brazils, with a small proportion of Negro head, no other qualities being in the least saleable” (ibid, p.124). Interestingly Dickens also mentions it around that time, in 1861,in Chapter 40 of “Great Expectations” when Mr Magwitch “putting his hand into the breast of the pea-coat he wore, brought out a short black pipe, and a handful of loose tobacco of the kind that is called Negro-head”. 117 Until 1910 Australian currency was the English pound, the Spanish dollar (worth approximately five shillings) and promissary notes based on those two currencies.

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the same farmer. The journey to the goldfields took four months, the return journey one and a half. Being in possession of a compass and a travelling chart I could travel along confidently, from one farm to another. When I felt feverish I stayed put on a farm. Once, on a Friday, I had to stay out in the open air and brave it out. I was so ill that I just had to stay in one place for the whole day. The next day I continued my journey and even knowing that I was moving back into lower regions, I didn’t think there would be as much water as there was. It made me wish I hadn’t left the higher regions so soon. I decided to walk along beside my horse, the soil being very soggy, in order to give the faithful animal a fairer chance. For three-quarters of the day I walked through water up to my arms. In the evening I arrived at a small river, but on trying to wade through, I started to shake from fatigue, like leaves on a tree. So again I had to spend the night outdoors in that deserted countryside. The following morning I spotted the servant of my former master on the other side of the river. When he saw me he called out that I should cross the river to be safe. He didn’t recognise me before I talked to him, so much had the disease worn me out. I told him about my unfortunate journey to the goldfields, about my loss and my illness. He helped me cross the river and accompanied me to my former master. I informed him that it was my intention to stay with them for about a fortnight. When we reached the farm, the head farmer himself came forward. I told him a little about my journey as well and asked him what I owed him if I were to stay with them for a fortnight. He said, “Paying me? Oh, no, nothing of the kind, you can stay with me, even if it is for six weeks and if you prefer to take on your old job again, your wages will commence as from now.” Having lost a lot of my resources, I decided to do the latter and thus was employed as a cook once more. But despite the difficult journey I had had, the fever left me. I did my job with pleasure again and if there was anything else to do which could earn me more money, I did it. This occurred mostly at the time of lambing and during sheepshearing, when I would sometimes earn up to seventy-two guilders a week. When I 26

was busy doing other work the farmer himself took care of preparing the meals. Pride is something they don’t know there, for this man owned two farms; he lived on the one, which had a stock of sixty thousand sheep and more than nine hundred cows, and the other one had forty thousand sheep. 118 The farm was situated so far away inland that the ox-wagons leaving with wool and returning with provisions needed nine months for the trip. There are places where they need eighteen months for a trip like that, if they suffer any misfortune. Usually they leave with ten wagons at a time, each wagon being drawn by twenty-three to twenty-four oxen. There are no women living there, because they soon die, partly from the heat, partly from fear of the savages. Males quite often die too, from the heat, and many a time the oxen drop dead in front of the wagons. The farmers, being unmarried, sometimes go into town for a bit of fun, for periods of nine to twelve months, when it’s possible. This habit must make up for a lot, otherwise I find it hard to understand why people, worth a considerable capital, stay put in these dangerous regions. I became acquainted with someone whom I was very fond of for his honest personality. I felt a strong bond between us. Whether this was because he was a doctor’s son, like me, I do not know. His name was Gliezen.119 One day he arrived all set for a journey. I asked him where the journey led. “I am going to town for five to six months”, he answered, “And have come to spend the night here.” Next morning he left on horseback, as was the custom in Queensland. After six weeks he returned. I told him my surprise about his speedy return and he told me that on his journey he had come across a quiet bar, where they cheated him out of his money and almost poisoned him. He returned here hoping for a speedy recovery. Because I was the one to be home alone most of the time I would have to take care of him. When we sat down for our evening meal, there were three of us. He did not join us for the meal and when asked why, he told us he had no appetite. 118 The English novelist Anthony Trollope visited his son, Fred, in Australia in the early 1870s. He gives a very similar description of “outback” farming life in “Harry Heathcote of Gangoil”. 119 This is probably phonetic for Gleason.

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He talked reasonably, and kept levelheaded, although there was a wild look in his eyes. We went to bed. During the night I heard him call out a couple of times and finally decided to take a look at him. I asked him why he had called. He replied that there were people trying to kill him all the time and when he called for help they would go away. I said that if it was so easy to chase them away by calling for help, he would be all right and should try to get some sleep. Having wished him goodnight I went back to bed. The next day his condition had deteriorated to such an extent that we had to watch over him. He would walk to a cupboard the one moment, then to one of the corners of the room the next and even though nobody was to be seen, he kept on calling out, “Don’t you see these bad guys, get them out, or do you want them to kill me.” In short, he carried on so badly that we had to lock him up. This was somewhat difficult since the house was made of bark. He would break loose constantly, looking for my guns and pistols, but anticipating this danger I had hidden these and his search remained in vain. Another person was going to watch over him that night. So I went to bed, but found little sleep. I heard him come close to me. I was lying on my bed or rather, my piece of bark, about three foot from the floor and felt him searching around my head, in the hope of finding the pistols, but he was mistaken. He lifted me into the air with bed and all. I said, “Is that you, Gliezen, what do you want?” “Oh, is it you, Vlietstra?” he replied, “It is nothing, I didn’t know what I was doing.” When his guard had fallen asleep towards dawn, he quietly walked away undressed. When I got up it was my first duty to look after him, but he was nowhere to be found. In the belief he might have taken his life, we looked into the waterhole and many other places, but were unable to find any trace of him anywhere. We decided to have breakfast first and then search for him on horseback. As we were still sitting at the table he walked towards us. “Gliezen”, we asked, “Where have you been?” “ Oh”, he said, “Hang, I must hang! I have appeared before the Great Council; it was over there in the woods, my verdict will be pronounced at three o’clock.”

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We begged him to have breakfast, but he could not eat. We tried to calm him, saying, “We shall see what we can do.” But he cried, “No amount of talking will help, I must hang!” I went with him into the woods, where he was going to show me the place where the Council had been sitting. When we had only just entered the woods he called out, “Here it is.” When I asked where the gentlemen had been sitting, he said, ”Don’t you see the chairs, they will return at three.” These were stumps of trees hewn down. I arranged to go back home and get help to chase the gentlemen away and so got him to come with me. When we arrived back home, I told them what had happened. “Well”, said the boss, “We must try to cure him. He has had bad drinks in that bar. I have a feeling the best thing to do is to give him a pint of bitter.” Not having this in the house, I was told to fetch it. To hurry up I went on horseback, and returned with it within four days. In the meantime Gliezen had been peacefully asleep for the third time. When he woke up I noticed he looked a lot better already. I asked him how he was. “How am I, I must hang!” he said. I tried all I could to change his mind and said, “That isn’t true, you have been intoxicated with bad drinks, take some of this, I have fetched it for you.” He took some and slowly started calming down. I made him a cup of chocolate; he liked it so much that he asked for another one, saying, “It is very good for me, it soothes me inside.” He begged me not to tell anyone about his condition, since he was ashamed of it. It was our pleasure to see him depart fully recovered.120 I had everything I could wish for, but not hearing anything from my relatives, my longing to return to my native country became irresistible and so I decided to leave Australia. But the reader will find my return journey in the next chapter.

120 His friend’s illness was almost certainly delirium tremens, induced by acute alcohol withdrawal. This frightening temporary psychosis is often associated with hallucinations and paranoid delusions. A fully -fledged case like this one carries a significant mortaliy risk. The symptoms temporarily may be relieved by further alcohol.

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CHAPTER V Return journey to my native country and the happy reunion My decision was definite. I took leave of the boss and my other friends, and went on my way to the coast to get some information about the Netherlands. After a while, on the road, I visited several seaside towns, but of what I was able to find, there was no news whatsoever about the Netherlands. So eventually I departed once more for Melbourne. Upon arrival I found that a steamship, the “Great Britain” was bound to leave the next day.121 It was impossible for me to be ready so quickly, and in the hope of a sailing ship leaving within a fortnight, I decided to stay in Melbourne for a while. I was even more inclined to do this since the “Great Britain” had about eight hundred passengers on board. In that heat it is very unhealthy to be on one ship with so many people and I wasn’t feeling very strong as it was. The fortnight turned into a month. I spent the time in walking mostly, and on one of these walks I met a young person who told me that he meant to leave for England with the first ship sailing. Happy to have found a fellow-passenger I spent most of my time with him. The day before our departure we were engaged in a lively conversation, on our way to buy something for the journey, when two elegantly dressed gentlemen joined us. They said they had heard about our leaving Melbourne for England by ship and they were pleased about it, because they were planned to do the same thing. They tried to show us their friendship in every way imaginable and offered to assist us in the purchase of requirements for the journey. When we arrived at an inn, they invited us to join them in drinking a bottle of wine for a safe passage. My fellow passenger was flattered, and about to accept the invitation, when I motioned to him that these gentlemen were not to be 121 The “Great Britain” made 32 round trips between Liverpool and Australia. She was designed by Brunel and was one of the first great passenger steamships. She carried up to 50 first class and 680 third class passengers. She is listed as arriving in Australia on 17 th December 1864 and probably would have left for England in late January 1865. Remarkably the ship has been completely restored and is now exhibited in Bristol, England.

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trusted and declined the offer. Their reaction was to become even friendlier and they patted us on the shoulder and trouserpockets in high spirits. I thought to myself that it was high time to get rid of them and said, “Gentlemen, your aim is also our aim, namely to get money, which we haven’t got”, whereupon they let us go. They were so-called pickpockets. We were glad to be rid of them, did our shopping, and went on our way happily to the ship, where we found over three hundred fellow passengers. The wind was favourable and we departed. There were heavy storms to endure on this voyage. At Cape Horn we suffered severe cold, something I wasn’t used to anymore and we were in danger of going down with all hands due to floating icebergs.122 With God’s help we got through safely, although many a ship has been wrecked there, without anything ever being mentioned about it. We had no complaints about our treatment on board ship. Being passengers we had no need to work. Furthermore if we had been injured in an accident while doing work, the shipping company would have had to pay the costs. We shared the stories of our adventures with each other and reached the big metropolis of London in eighty-four days. My fellow-passenger took his leave while I stayed on there another eight days, mainly to exchange my English money for Dutch money. For the rest of the time I intended to have a look at the Tunnel under the Thames, a giant project of twelve hundred feet in length, wrought through human ingenuity and perseverance.123 The guide who accompanied me told me that this project had cost many lives and had been completed by the same company that had started it, after a period during which the work was suspended. It is hard to imagine that thousands of ships are sailing overhead, when you are walking what looks like a street, well lit by gaslight, and looking at many stalls and trays with all kinds of rarities for sale. I also visited the antiquities, gold and diamond crowns and royal 122

Cape Horn was named after Hoorn in North Holland. Brunel’s Thames Tunnel, which connects Greenwich with Millbank and the Isle of Dogs, was completed in 1843, after 18 years of construction problems. Deaths occurred when the entire tunnel flooded (five times) and when methane caused unexpected explosions. One flood, in 1828, led to the project being abandoned for seven years. In its first 24 hours of opening, 50,000 people walked through it. In 1965, some of the tunnel was incorporated into the London Underground. 123

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arms in the Great Tower.124 The man who explained it all to me showed me various closets set in the walls, where kings and noblemen had been kept prisoner in past centuries. At last I left on the steamer “The Batavier” from London to Rotterdam and arrived there on a Sunday, thanking God in my heart for His goodness to let me see my native country once more.125 I would have preferred to spend the day there in quiet sobriety, but because of my long absence my native language had become a foreign language to me. During all the time I had spent in Australia I hadn’t heard any Dutch, even less spoken it. I hadn’t met a single Dutch person, except one man from Amsterdam on my return to Melbourne; but he had the same problem that I had, and only spoke English. I went to the Rijnspoorweg Station, booked a journey to Amsterdam, and sat down in the waiting room impatiently waiting for the doors to be opened. The minutes I spent there seemed like hours. When the doors finally opened everyone hurried to the train to get a seat in the compartments. I was glad to be seated. My impatience grew. I would have liked to push the train forward. The ticket collector came to inspect the tickets, the compartment doors were closed and the signal for departure was given. We sped onward. I looked forward to being in Amsterdam soon to get news of my mother and brother and sisters. I felt heavy-hearted thinking about this, as I was afraid that I might never see my beloved mother and brother again, because they had been so sickly when I left them, and yet my longing grew moment by moment. At every station where the train stopped I felt an unpleasant sensation. I can’t say that I got bored, because even though I had difficulty in speaking my native language, on hearing nothing else, a lot came back to me, enough to make me understand much of what was said. At last I arrived in Amsterdam and took the road to the River IJ with my luggage. For where else could I best go to get news from my nearest and dearest than in the famous inn where most people of Terschelling stayed, the 124 The Tower of London, built after the Norman conquest in the 11 th century, has been open to the public since Charles II returned from exile in 1660. The Crown jewels collection has been on display since that time. 125 This Netherlands Steam Boat Company paddle-steamer, completed in 1827, was the first in a series of passenger ships named the Batavier, honoring a famous eighteenth century Dutch Navy sailing vessel. London to Rotterdam was its major route (Maritiem Museum, Rotterdam).

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“Terschellinger Cellar”? So I went to Ramskooi Straat which is where the cellar is.126 When I knocked at the door I saw three people, two of whom looked vaguely familiar to me. My knock at the door was answered by the maid and I realised that since my leaving Amsterdam other people now owned the inn. The maid very politely asked me what I wanted. As best I could I explained to her that I wanted to stay overnight. The maid hesitated and in order to get rid of me she said that the innkeeper and his wife were not at home at that time and that they did not give lodging to strangers. I told her that I was not only a Dutchman, but also a man from Terschelling, but I did it so inadequately that she retorted immediately, “Really, I don’t believe it, that’s just sweet talk, you are an Englishman.” I tried in vain to convince her, until at last she smartly asked me what my name was. “Vlietstra”, I replied, at which she gained a little more confidence in me. She thought for a while and then said, “Vlietstra, Vlietstra, let me think, the day before yesterday a Vlietstra was here, named Eilardus. He talked about a brother of his who had been gone for thirteen years, and no-one had heard anything from him.” To which I added, “That is me, I am that brother”, which settled the matter and I was able to stay overnight. I also learnt from her that my brother was a sailor and had just left Amsterdam on a ship the previous night. Although happy that he was still alive, I was also sorry, because it meant it would be a long time before I would see him again.127 Towards evening two men I had seen in passing as I arrived at the Cellar also came in. As soon as the innkeeper and his wife, who were at home now, had introduced me to them, they addressed me, shook my hand in friendship and introduced themselves. One of them was the cattle-dealer Andries Bos, and the other the sailor Jan Koen, both from East Terschelling. I couldn’t have hit upon a better opportunity to hear the latest news about my mother and sisters. To my delight I 126 Ramskooi Street is tiny, little more than an alley, and a couple of blocks from the Damrak and the Central Station. There is a still tavern at the corner. 127 Eilardus, born April 3 rd, 1840, was then 16 years old. There is no further record of him on Genlias, and his name is not mentioned in the minutes of the St Geertruidsleen. Given his history of ill health, it is possible, though by no means certain, that he perished while at sea.

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learnt from them that my mother and my older sisters were still alive, but it saddened me to hear that my youngest sister had just recently passed away. The rest of the evening was spent in them telling me the news of Terschelling, since much had happened there since my departure. Despite the fact that other people now owned the “Terschellinger Cellar”, I felt very much at home, since they had a great deal of time for their patrons, as had the previous owners. The evening passed in no time. The following morning I went to the quay of the New Town’s Inn, to first take the steamer to Harlingen, and from there on to continue my journey to Terschelling by mailboat, since there was no bargeman assigned to regular service to Terschelling. It was a beautiful day, but the tide and the wind were unfavourable. This caused some delay in the journey and when we arrived at Harlingen the mailboat had already left. I decided to look around the harbour to see whether there was any boat leaving for Terschelling the same day. The closer to home, the stronger was my longing to be there, but to my regret all boats had already departed. I had to abandon all hope of a reunion for that day and moved into the ferry house for the night. The kind treatment there and the company of a few pilots from Vlieland softened my disappointment. The following morning my first task was to go over to the mole to spot whether the mailboat was coming into view.128 I saw a small white ship in the distance and, to my delight, I was assured that it was the mailboat. When the time for departure came I didn’t keep them waiting and was the first to put foot aboard. We left the harbor, the sails were hoisted and with a strong wind it didn’t take long before we spotted the dunes of Vlieland and, shortly after, the lighthouse of our island.129 On arriving at West Terschelling the rumour soon spread that I was aboard the mailboat, and someone went to Midsland to bring my mother the unexpected but good tidings. I immediately made

128 The breakwater moles in Harlingen have been greatly extended since then, but still allow a good view of incoming boats. 129 Vlieland is the Wadden island immmediately to the west of Terschelling. The Brandaris lighthouse on Terschelling can be seen for many miles.

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my way there, and after an hour’s walk I arrived at my family home.130 I found my mother in reasonable health, but deeply saddened by the loss of my youngest sister, which had occurred only a month before. She had lost a great deal with her, and since my other sisters were living in another place, she felt deserted. 131 Through this heavy blow she had lost all her company, but she had learnt to keep quiet before God. My return home put a stop to her silent loneliness for a while. Thus the Lord miraculously cures wounds inflicted to the heart; she had lost a daughter, but she had recovered her son, over whose absence she had shed so many a silent tear. Although I had never before cried tears of joy, I certainly could have, that first night, on the cheeks of my loving mother. At the next New Year’s Festival, on Terschelling, I remembered that a year before I had been standing on a mountain abroad, praying to God to grant me days of health, and to save my mother so I could see her again on returning to my native country. This prayer had been answered and I have to admit that the Lord has saved me from all dangers, all glory be to Him. My story would have ended here, had I not wanted to do my readers a favor by presenting three more real life stories, which I could not weave into the story of my experiences without disrupting its continuity.

130 Midsland, with a population then of about 500 people, is 3 _ miles east of the town of West Terschelling.

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APPENDIX Consisting of three true stories First story In the story dealing with my abandoning ship I have already mentioned that most people living in Tasmania are exiles. The people there, especially the farmers, know how to make use of these prisoners, sometimes for their own benefit. They apply to the government to be allowed the use of prisoners at the height of the farming season. Most times this is granted them when there are well-behaved prisoners available. They are usually hired for a year and paid very low wages. By the time the year is almost over, some cruel farmers maltreat the prison workers, trying to incite them. When they succeed in this they then charge the prisoners anew, they are punished again, and the farmer is released from paying them. But when their sentence has come to an end, the prisoners take revenge on the farmers by robbing them. They hide in the bush for five to six years while they are doing this. Having done enough robbing they often cross over to Victoria.132 Such was the intention of two of these robbers, who went to a boat owner, who was also an innkeeper. But having been informed beforehand, the boat owner had gone to his ship, with some armed men, afraid that the robbers would seize it. When the latter arrived at the inn, they demanded a drink and asked where the boat owner had gone. When his wife replied that he wasn’t at home they expressed their regret, saying they had come to summon his ship to cross over to the mainland. But when they learnt that he was on his ship they said they would go there. When the wife advised them not to go, saying he had armed men with him, they replied that they didn’t care, and told her to go with them. They told her to 131

Later her daughter Fennigje came to live with her. This was the life-style of the Australian bushrangers. The early bushrangers were generally British convicts who had either escaped or completed their sentence. By the 1850, native-born Australians joined their ranks. Once gold was discovered in Victoria they increased their activities, robbing gold shipments and stealing live-stock for later resale to the struggling miners. Some achieved a Robin Hood type folk hero status, Ned Kelly being the most famous of all (see Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang, Alfred Knopf, NY, 2000). 132

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walk in front of them and that they would immediately shoot her if she tried to resist. The ship was moored in deep water, some distance from the quayside, but they could call out to each other. The armed men on the ship could not do anything, because they might kill the woman just as easily as the men. They summoned his ship, but added that they would also be satisfied with a rowboat. But only two men, unarmed, were allowed to bring it, or else the wife or the men would pay with their lives. The boat owner consented, for fear of losing his wife, and the four men took the rowboat and crossed over to Victoria. They had a lot of gold and silver coins as well as Tasmanian paper money on them. To get rid of the latter, one of the men went to a store to buy something, asking for the money to be exchanged. The storekeeper said he could not exchange it, but another gentleman present indicated he was able to, if they would follow him to his office. He was a plain-clothes police officer, who had been looking for them. The bushranger was taken prisoner and forced to give away the hiding-place of his mate. Both were hanged for theft. On the execution day the mother of one of them arrived from England to give him his share of his father’s inheritance and make him return to England with her. Her journey was in vain, for she found her son, how peculiar, but also how sad for her, on the scaffold.133

133 This story concerns two famous Tasmanian bushrangers, James Dalton and Andrew Kelly. They had escaped from Port Arthur on 28th December 1852 by swimming; four or five others with them drowned. On a rampage of robbery, in January 1853, they killed a police constable by the name of Buckminster, before raiding the “Sailor’s Return Inn” in Forth. They tried to seize the schooner “Jane and Elizabeth” which was lying in the Forth River, but were resisted by the crew. They escaped across Bass Stait to Victoria rowed by four miners in a commandeered whaleboat. They were, however, quickly captured and returned to Launceston, where, on 26 th April 1853, they were hanged for Buckminster’s murder. Other accounts do not attest for or against the truth of Johannes’ apocryphal ending.

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Second story The saying, “there is no wheat without chaff,” also holds true in Australia as exemplified in the bad conduct of an English lawyer living in Victoria. This gentleman was fond of attending all kinds of public entertainment, but he lacked the money needed to do so. As far as court cases were concerned, however, he was the best man for the job. One day a ball was about to be held and lacking the money, he had to think of a way in which to acquire it to attend this ball. On the day that the ball was to take place he found an opportunity. He had noticed that a rather simple-looking stranger had recently come into town and he decided to use this person for his purposes. Towards evening he put on an old suit and walked the streets in search of the stranger. He discovered him in a bookstore, where the stranger was looking over a couple of things. The lawyer joined him, and started talking to him. He soon found out what he preferred to talk about and made himself seem so trustworthy that they ended up walking along together. Having arrived in a back alley the lawyer grabbed him, pressed a copper tap against his chest and forced him to surrender his gold watch and chain as well as his money.134 The stranger, believing he might lose his life through a gunshot, surrendered everything willingly. The lawyer then totally changed his demeanour, made an ugly face and withdrew, calling out to him, “ Would you recognise this man should you meet him again?” The stranger notified the police and from the description he had supplied a man showing some resemblance to the lawyer was taken into custody. The man pleaded innocent and insisted on getting the best lawyer to plead his case. Our lawyer was recommended and upon being summoned he went in to see the man in custody, who told him what had happened. The lawyer explained that this was a very important case indeed, that a heavy sentence was to be expected for public assault with violence and that he stood in danger of losing his life or remaining prisoner for the rest of it.

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He frightened him to such an extent that in the end the man offered to double his fee if he could get him off the hook. Four days later the case came to court and the lawyer stood up in court as counsel for the accused. The judge asked the theft victim whether the man taken prisoner was the same as the man who had violently robbed him on a public street, which he confirmed. Counsel asked him to take the oath and when the stranger was ready to do so he said, putting on the same demeanour as on that evening when he had withdrawn, “Mate, are you telling me that this is the man who robbed you?” The man got flustered a little and called out, “It is you yourself.” “Well, well”, said the lawyer in a severe tone, “What am I to believe now. First you accuse the man who has been taken into custody, and are prepared to take the oath on this, and now you are saying I am that man.” Then he turned his face towards the judges and said, “Your lordships, do not speak to this stranger, or he will say that you all did it.” To cut a long story short, the lawyer succeeded in getting the judges to declare the stranger partly insane, and the accused man was acquitted. The lawyer profitted well from his criminal conduct, first by robbing the stranger and then receiving a double fee for exonerating the accused.135

134 A “copper tap” refers to a small, tap-action flintlock pistol, single or double-barrelled, that could be carried in an overcoat pocket. Copper is a basic ingredient of gunmetal, and could also be coated on the gun surface to give a fancy finish. 135 This story has elements of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde”, but that book was not published until 1886.

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Third story That God often miraculously protects the shipwrecked is illustrated by my third story. A few years before I arrived a ship stranded on the coast of Australia. Half of the men aboard drowned, but the other half fortunately managed to swim ashore, at a spot where savages (recognizable from the story of my adventures) lived. They feared for their fate, but the savages took them in lovingly, looking after them and sharing their loot with them. After a stay of three years they all died except one. Because the savages had noticed that the remaining one was smarter than they were, they made him their leader on their raids. He thus had to go with them when they went raiding, but since they also feared that he would run away when he came across white people, they ordered him to stay behind a little when they came close to a farmhouse. Adopting their ways he lived with them for seventeen years. On one of these raids he noticed sheep tracks. He kept quiet, but decided to make use of the first opportunity that presented itself to find out whether he was in the vicinity of white people. A little later they went away on their own and when they had strayed off a little, he set about his investigation. Having walked for a while in the direction of the sheep tracks he had seen he noticed a shed. He walked towards it, but before he could reach it, he encountered the shepherd, the inhabitant of the shed. He tried to explain his predicament, but he had forgotten most of his native English tongue. The shepherd, who was very moved, took him to his master, who had only moved in there a short while ago. He attended to him first of all and then took him to another farm, further away from the vicinity of the savages. At last they took him into town, where he was stared at by many curious folk, and showered with benefits by interested people. The government, when they heard about him, appointed him as interpreter among the savages. He testified they were hospitable but unreliable at the same time and warned everybody not to get in touch with them and make sure they wouldn’t enter their grounds. He had done all he

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could to civilise them and to get them accustomed to a regular life. With some of the aborigines he had succeeded in his untiring efforts, and they appreciated all the good he had brought them, but with others his efforts failed and there continued to be great bitterness against the white people.136 With this my story has come to an end. Should there be anyone in the circles of my readers who, having read my adventures, harbor any intention of leaving their native country in order to settle in Australia, I hope that my simple account will serve them as a safe guide.

136 James Morrill and seven others survived the shipwreck of the barque “Peruvian” on February 26 th 1846 near Townsville (Bowen), Queensland. He alone also survived 17 years captivity by aborigines (Australian National Shipwreck Database).

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EPILOGUE

Some of Johannes’ time, after he returned home in June 1865, must have been taken up with writing his book. We are unaware of any other books that he wrote, so we can picture an inexperienced writer working away, in longhand, on an account compiled from notes that he had carried with him around the world. 137 During that time he had trekked on horseback, galloped for his life and sailed long ocean voyages. He had bedded down under tents, tried his hand at gold prospecting, and cooked on outback farms. It is a wonder that any notes survived. In spite of those difficulties, his book was published by Behrns in Harlingen, in 1868.138 Travelling and writing often go hand in hand. The English travel-writer V S Pritchett saw the two as being inextricably linked. In “A Cab at the Door” he says, “I became a foreigner. For myself that is what a writer is – a man living on the other side of a frontier.” Johannes had been on the other side too. Still just thirtytwo years old, he did not linger long in Terschelling. Later records show that, soon after, he was back out in the South Pacific, this time in New Zealand.139 Gold had been discovered in a number of areas in Central Otago, and presumably he wanted a piece of the action. Arriving in New Zealand, he headed to the gold fields’ district of the upper Clutha River, near where it gushes out of Lake Wanaka.140 He eventually settled at Sandy Point on the Clutha River near Luggate.141 The tiny settlement, near the rugged, snow-capped Southern Alps, was in the throes of gold fever. Thousands of English, Scottish, Irish and Chinese immigrants pushed and shoved their way to the Upper Clutha from other gold-fields and from their homelands hoping to make a killing from the precious metal. Some did, but most didn’t. 137 It would be another 10 years before the first successful commercial typewriter, the Remington, was produced. 138 It is not known how many copies of Johannes’ book were published or sold. The only copy that I can now find is in the Behoudenhuis in Terschelling. There is no copy in the National Library of the Netherlands, the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, nor is it mentioned in Brinkman’s National Bibliography (Paul van Capelleveen, Dept of Special Collections, Koninklije Bibliotheek, personal communication, 2000). 139 When he became a New Zealand citizen on 21st February 1905 Johannes reported he had lived in the country for 40 years (New Zealand National Archives, Wellington). 140 Wanaka is a corruption of the Maori word Oanaka, “The Place of Anaka”, a prominent chief in the region (Errol Brathwate, Beautiful New Zealand, Bateman, 1985, p.192)

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There was no shortage of colorful personalities and storytellers amongst the miners around Luggate, with people like Thomas Baird who was a book of knowledge on India, Egypt and the Orient, and Orr and Mackay, medical doctors who had turned into goldminers. Then there were characters like Captain Pearce, retired from the British army, and James Alexander Gordon-Cumming McIntosh Urquhart, knicknamed “The Marquis” for short, who both claimed a wide knowledge of the world. 142 Johannes would have had plenty of interested ears to share his stories with. In approximately 1871, when the prospects of more gold were dwindling in Central Otago, he returned to Terschelling. It is possible that a family legend is true, that he had courted Antje Klaas Roos in the mid-1860s, and returned to Terschelling to sweep her off to his new home. One can imagine the stories he told her about sailing in the South Pacific, the rogues that he met, the beauty of the countryside and his hopes of becoming self-sufficient in New Zealand. He must have been proud to show her the book that he had written. The spell he wove must have been a convincing one because in 1871 or 1872 they married and left for the South Island of New Zealand.143 Antje, or Annie as she was often called in New Zealand, was the oldest of at least seven children. She was born in Hoorn, a village on Terschelling, on October 8th, 1841. Her father, Klaas Alberts Roos, was a farmer there and died when Antje was 16 years old, leaving her mother, Marie Ariens Rogge (nicknamed Maamke) with quite a challenge.144 The Roos and Rogge families had lived in the same little village of Hoorn, in the central part of Terschelling, for generations, so it is likely that other family members would have helped out. 145 This stability of residence has made tracking back 141 The stream that joins the Clutha River here was named Luggate Creek by the early Otago Surveyor J.T.Thompson. He named it after Luggate Water, a small stream in Berwickshire, Scotland. (Stanley Kane, Luggate. A Story of a District and its People, Wanaka, 1991, p.6 ) 142 Irvine Roxburgh, Wanaka Story, Capper Press, Christchurch, 1977, p.43-54. 143 The marriage does not seem to have been registered in Friesland or New Zealand. It is possible that they married on board ship. 144 Johannes was a similar age, 15, when his father died. 145 Antje’s great grandfather, Gerrit Roggen (or Rogge) was on the committee that administered a Terschelling sailors’ life insurance program (De Buul. 400 Jaar Zeeverzekering op Terschelling. 15871987). The headstone of her maternal grandparents’ (Arien G Roggen and Trintje C Kooiman) grave stands today in Hoorn’s St John’s Church graveyard.

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families that much easier. Today’s fluid habits of migration may really challenge future family historians. Antje must have seen many contrasts with her flat home island of Terschelling. Wanaka is one of the most strikingly beautiful regions of New Zealand. Tall jagged mountains surround bushy river valleys and deep clear lakes. Winter snow and hoar frosts contrast with summer dry hot dust. Perhaps the comfort of modern travel obscures the bitterness of conditions for those early settlers, because early explorers and surveyors left a legacy of their feelings in the names they gave local mountains – Mount Awful, Mount Dreadful, Mount Awkward, Mount Defiant, Sombre Peak and Mount Dispute.146 It is doubtful that the Vlietstras met up with any of their countrymen. There were very few Dutch migrants in New Zealand at that time. In the first census that was taken, in 1874, there were only 127 Dutch-born in the country’s 300,000 inhabitants.147 Just 15 of these were women. In Otago, where Johannes and Antje lived, only two Dutch-born women were counted. The rough nature of frontier life attracted adventurers and gold prospectors but not women. The newly-weds settled on the bank of the river, at Sandy Point, where they built a cottage. This became home for them and eventually their six children, Johannes, Klaas, Frans (Francis, my grandfather), Fennigje, Louisa, and Petrus (Peter). In the early days the children must have been educated at home because it was not until 1884 that Luggate had its first school teacher and in 1885 a little two-room wooden schoolhouse (13 pupils registered in its first year).148 It was a three mile walk each way for the Vlietstra children along the Wanaka to Cromwell dirt road with the added hazard of fording Sheepskin and Dead Horse Creeks in flood.149 Johannes became involved in constructing water races to the mines. In the 1870s a new method was used for gold extraction. This involved sluicing the hillsides to wash down 146

Errol Brathwaite, ibid, p.195. Until 1950 there were never more than 150 Dutch-born people identified in any national census, and never more than 25 women (Hank Schouten, Tasman’s Legacy. The New Zealand – Dutch Connection, New Zealand-Netherlands Foundation, Wellington, 1992, p.255.). 148 This building was burnt down in 1924 when Education board painters set it on fire when burning off old paint. Stanley Kane, ibid, p.18-19. 149 Stanley Kane, ibid, p.55. 147

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dirt that could be sifted for nuggets.150 It was backbreaking work in primitive conditions. In winter it could be bitterly cold and wet, and in summer dry and hot. It was also a day’s horseback or buggy ride to the nearest town, Cromwell, if they wanted to buy supplies. Amelia Townshend, a granddaughter recalls the story that Johannes used to row people across the Clutha River, no small feat as it is icy-cold, deep and fast-flowing at that point. Antje regularly catered for the sheepdog trials at Sandy Point, and was known for flavoring her popular dish, cabbage, with bacon. It is rumored that she never learned to speak English. Whether or not this is true, such a family rumor suggests that she was not a gregarious person, but more a quiet, stoic, family-focussed wife typical of Friesland. There is also the evidence from her 1906 citizenship application that she couldn’t write; her signature was a witnessed “X”. As in both the Netherlands and Australia, treacherous floods could strike at any time and wash away houses, bridges, and roads. The mighty flood of 1878 must have caused widespread damage for the Vlietstras at Sandy Point. 151 The lake at Wanaka rose some fourteen feet and the river’s raging torrent submerged not only houses and stores, but also flooded the mines and washed away the water-races and mine shafts that kept them in operation. In those early New Zealand years Johannes continued to correspond with his mother in Terschelling. As time passed it became increasingly clear that they would make this young land their home. However they still nurtured the idea that their children or descendants might be beneficiaries of the St Geertruidsleen. The foundation records show Johannes and his children still being represented by his mother Grietje at official meetings of the leen until 1888, but contact was lost after Grietje died in 1891.152 Other than the “leen” there was not much to attract them back to their homeland. They must surely have felt the truth of J Hector St. John de Crevecoeur’s depiction of the American immigrant, of a century before: “What attachment can a poor European emigrant have for a country where he had nothing? 150 151 152

J. S. and R.W. Murray, Costly Gold, Reed, Wellington, 1978, p.9-13. Irvine Roxburgh, ibid, p.125-127. Bolt, 1933, ibid, p.80-87.

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The knowledge of the language, the love of a few kindred as poor as himself, were the only cords that tied him; his country is now that which gives him his land, bread, protection and consequence; Ubi panis ibi patria is the motto of all emigrants”.153 Johannes’ second oldest son Klaas (Claude), who helped operate one of the dredges that worked the Clutha river for gold, died of kidney failure in 1906 and within months his wife also passed away, a victim of pulmonary tuberculosis. Johannes and Antje kindly took in their three children, aged 4 to 7 years, and raised them as their own. In 1914 Johannes moved closer to Luggate, to a flat (alcove) area of 16 acres. He planted ten acres of orchard and used send his apples to Reilly’s fruit market in Dunedin. By then he was more than eighty years old, but still working hard. It is no surprise that one of Wanaka’s most prominent citizens, Robert McDougall, described him as “an industrious, sober and well conducted resident” when he gave a character reference for him.154 It amuses, but also encourages me, to see how often the Vlietstra name was misspelled back then, on official certificates and in electoral rolls and directories. Johannes must have winced at the Flietstra, Kietstra and Valistro versions I’ve seen but he didn’t change to a more simple spelling. He resisted the temptation and so will I. In his later years he became quite deaf, perhaps partly as a result of the acoustic trauma he suffered during that wild storm in Tasmania. There were no treatments for deafness in those days, but he probably counted his blessings for not having other disabilities. He lived until 1921 and is buried, along with Antje, who died a year before him, in the old cemetery in Wanaka.155 In the end it was heart disease that took them; four years of “heart disease” for Johannes and 10 years of “valvular disease” for Antje.156 A number of factors conspired to keep Johannes’ account secret from his New Zealand descendants for the next 79 years. His book was written in a language foreign to them 153 In “Letters from an American Farmer”, quoted by Jonathan Raban in “Hunting Mister Heartbreak, Edward Burlingame Books, 1991, p2. 154 See 2, Citizenship application. 155 Wanaka cemetery records, Dunedin Public Library. 156 Taken from their death certificates.

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(Dutch), and was later preserved on a small island (Terschelling) on the other side of the world. His own contact with the Netherlands was limited by distance and the sluggishness of the mail system; after his death, family contact with the Netherlands was non-existent.157 Three of his son’s died at a young age, and any remaining family records in New Zealand were destroyed in the remaining son Peter’s Luggate house fire in 1928. It remained for the internet and e-mail to come along, and an alert archivist, Douwe Gubbels, to provide the tools to dig up the past. Learning about the life of Johannes and his father Rudolphi has been a most rewarding experience. My childhood fantasies of having mysterious and exciting ancestors have been replaced with real images of truly enterprising lifetime adventurers. What better family story could a boy growing up in the 1950s wish for? The English travel writer, Jonathan Raban, reminds us that the media of that time pitched an ideal of masculinity “somewhere between Buck Rogers, Harry Morgan and Huckleberry Finn. Real life, according to these books and movies, always happened out of doors. It was essentially solitary. It was dangerous. It called for self-reliance above all other human qualities. Woodcraft and seamanship would stand you in far better stead than, say, the capacity to express affection.”158 But even more personally rewarding is the way that Johannes’ stories show how vigorously these ancestors adapted themselves to the challenges of their day, creating a history of achievement for their descendants to emulate. I am proud to take the time to spell out every letter of my surname. Johannes’ book also reaffirms the value of personal narratives in documenting family history. This long dead ancestor almost comes alive as I read about near murder on a sailing ship, fortune hunting for gold and being chased by bloodthirsty natives. I also enjoy seeing those times through the eyes of a daring but otherwise ordinary young man. 157 In 1862 a monthly mail service was established to Europe via Australia and Suez. Another route, also monthly, via San Francisco and rail to New York, was set up in 1872 (History of New Zealand and its Inhabitants. Dom Felice Vaggioli. 1896. Translated by John Crockett. 2000. University of Otago Press, p.263). 158 Raban, ibid, 1991, p.345.

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Stevens and Burg wrote “Reading the words of men and women who do not know how their own particular lives will play out helps avoid the sense of inevitability found in many history books. First-person historical accounts are equally powerful when ordinary men and women tell their own stories – versions that do not usually make it into the history books.” 159 Johannes was in his twenties and thirties when taking the notes for his account. He must himself have wondered how the rest of his life would play out. When he set up the St Geertruidsleen, nearly 500 years ago, Heer Goffa believed that he would have a continued existence after death, and that, through the “leen”, he could continue to influence his descendants. In a different way Johannes achieved something similar. His spirit lives on, not only through the genes he passed on to his children, but through his book. He may not have found much gold in his mining days but the nugget of history he bequeathed with his stories is an even more valuable treasure, an enduring source of inspiration for today’s adventurers.

159 Michael E. Stevens and Steven B. Burg, Editing Historical Documents, Altimira Press, California, 1997, p.17.

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APPENDIX

EENE LANGDURIGE ZEEREIS

VAN BIGNA

TWEE

JAREN EN

ELFJARIG

VERBLIJF

IN AUSTRALIE, DOOR

J. VLIETSTRA

Ten voordeele mijner Moeder

GEDRUKT BIJ J. F. V. BEHRNS TE HARLINGEN 1868.

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VOORBERIGT EN INLEIDING.

Het lezen eener langdurige zeereis deed mij besluiten, om iets dergelijks in het licht te doen verschijnen. Te meer besloot ik daartoe, daar ik gedurende mijn elfjarig verblijf in Australie, met de aldaar heerschende zeden en gebruiken des volks bekend werd. Daar ik van mijne aankomst aldaar, alles wat ik hoorde en zag aanteekende, reken ik mij in staat zulks naauwkeurig te kunnen doen. Wetende, dat er van dit werelddeel nog weinig bekend is, wat het binnenland betreft, daar door de uitgebreidste aardrijkskundige werken alleen de kusten maar beschreven worden, vermeen ik, dat mijne uitgave eenig licht over dat duistere kan verspreiden. Vandaar is het dan ook, dat menigeen, die het werkje te lezen krijgt, vruchteloos zijne kaart van Australie zal doorzoeken, om eenige der plaatsen, er in voorkomende, op te zoeken. Hoe gebrekkig mijne beschrijving ook moge wezen, bezit zij toch die waarde, dat zij niets bij overlevering bevat, maar dat alles door mij persoonlijk aanschouwd en ondervonden is. Hiermede zoude mijn voorberigt voldoende zijn, indien er onder aan den titel niet vermeld stond, dat de uitgave van dit werkje ten voordeele mijner Moeder bestemd is. Er blijft mij dus nog over, mijn persoon bekend te maken. Hiertoe diene het volgende: Ik ben de oudste zoon van J. R. VLIETSTRA, in leven genees-, heel- en verloskundige te Oostterschelling, die na eene langdurige ongesteldheid in het jaar 1849 overleed. Mijne Moeder , eene dochter van J. S. ATTEMA, in leven het laatst predikant te Warns in Friesland, die ik , en velen met mij, om hare zuivere godsdienstige begrippen hoog acht, bleef toen met vift kinderen over, en zooals men ligt begrijpen kan, door de langdurige ziekte van mijnen Vader, in eenen eenigszins kommervollen toestand. Daar ik de oudste zoon ben, begreep ik, dat het vooral mijn pligt was, iets tot het inkomen van mijne dierbar Moeder bij te dragen, of ten minste te zien, haar van den last om mij te verzogen, te ontslaan. Daar hoofdzakelijk de middelen van bestaan te Terschelling zijn, de zee te bevaren, of het land te bebouwen, koos ik het eerste, en vertrok met dit doel naar Amsterdam, om vaart te zoeken. Bij mijne aankomst aldaar werd ik spoedig op een schip, naar Napels en Palermo, in de Middellandsche Zee gelegen, bestemd, als scheepsjongen geplaatst. Na deze eerste zeereis voorspoedig volbragt te hebben, besloot ik, nadat ik den winter bij mijne Moeder doorgebragt had, weder met het zelfde doel naar Amsterdam te gaan. Was ik den eersten keer gelukkig geslaagd, de tweede maal ging dat zoo voorspoedig niet, om reden de handel toen voor een groot gedeelte stilstond. Er bleef mij toen niets over, dan om naar Terschelling terug te keeren. Het denkbeeld, van mijn Moeder tot last te zijn, deed mij weder een veertien dagen

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later besluiten, andermaal naar Amsterdam te gaan, om het nog eens te beproeven. Geen vaart kunnende krijgen, verhuurde ik mij als bediende bij een logementhouder. Hierdoor onthief ik, ofschoon mijne verdiensten klein waren, mijne Moeder van eenen grooten last. Daar ik aldaar zeer goed behandeld werd, bleef ik er twee jaren, en zou er gaarne langer gebleven zijn, doch de geringe verdiensten noodzaakten mij, weder vaart te zoeken, dat mij, daar de handel toen levendiger geworden was, gelukte. Ik ondernam mijne groote zeereis naar Australie, en ging, na eerst van mijne Moeder, Broeder en Zusters afscheid genomen te hebben, in het voorjaar van 1853 in zee, niet denkende, dat ik mijn vaderland eerst in 1865 weder zoude betreden. Lezers! hier is mijne voorberigt en inleiding ten einde, en besluit ik met den wensch, dat het werkje een gunstig onthaal moge vinden; zoodat het strekken moge, om mijne dierbare Moeder het gemis van vermeerdering harer inkomsten van haren oudsten zoon, gedurende een tijdstip van 15 jaren, eenigszius te vergoeden. J. VLIETSTRA

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HOOFDSTUK 1. Mijne zeereis, en mijne eerste lotgevallen in Australie na het verlaten van het schip. In het voorjaar van 1853 ging ik dan met het schip de Mulvine, kapitein de Jong, naar Australie bestemd, als hofmeester in zee. Wij hadden in den beginne eene voorspoedige reis en zeer schoon weder, zoodat wij tamelijk vorderingen maakten, tot dat wij onder de Linie kwamen. Daar gekomen, hadden wij drie weken met volslagen windstilte te kampen. Na aldaar dien tijd omgedreven te hebben, kwam er zoo veel wind, dat het schip het bijna niet verdragen kon, doch daar hij ons gunstig was, want wij zeilden voor den wind, bereikten wij in 102 dagen Hop Senbaai of Willemston. Onze bestemining was naar Melbourne, maar daar er in dien tijd door ondiepte, geen schepen van 150 last diepgang de rivier op konden komen, moesten wij in de baai, omtrent een uur afstand van de stad, blijven liggen. Toen wij daar een paar dagen gelegen hadden, maakten vier manschappen, drie matrozen en de kok zich meester van de boot, en namen de vlugt, zonder dat wij daarna ooit weder iets van hen te weten kwamen. De kapitein toen bevreesd zijnde, dat anderen dit voorbeeld zouden volgen, zeide, om ons beangst te maken, dat zij op de hulk zaten. De hulk is een oud afgedankt schip, dat als gevangenis dient voor weggeloopen, scheepsvolk, en andere menschen, die om de eene of andere misdaad, eene ligte straf ondergaan. Een week later liep er van de bemanning weder een weg, en de scheeps-timmerman zeide, dat wij hier in eene streek waren, waar zich goudmijnen bevonden. Hij vormde, daar hij dacht door goud te zoeken, meer te kunnen verdienen, ook het plan, om ons te verlaten. De kapitein, daarop bedacht, ontbood de water-politie, en deze bragten hem toen, geboeid, op de hulk in verzekerde bewaring. Nadat de kok weggeloopen was, droeg de kapitein mij zijn post op, zoodat ik toen als hofmeester en kok fungeerde. Wij hadden toen vijf man minder, en niettegenstaande deze belangrijke vermindering van manschappen, moesten wij van daar naar Batavia. Tot onze bemoediging, beloofde de kapitein ons eene groote som gelds, als wij ons best deden, en gelukkig in Holland binnen kwamen, er tevens bijvoegende, dat hij het ons zelf zoude geven, wanneer de scheepseigenaars het somwijlen mogten weigeren, en tot bevestiging maakte hij er een stuk van op, dat wij allen teekenden. Eindelijk kregen wij nog vier man uit die landstreek aan boord, door ons Manillemen genoemd; doch wij hadden niet veel tot verligting van het werk aan hen, want in de eerste plaats konden wij hen niet verstaan, en in de tweede plaats waren zij bij slecht weder in het geheel niets waard. Zij behoorden tot het Tartaarche ras, en waren dus geelbruin van kleur. Wij kwamen na eene maand in Indie, en na aldaar gelost en geladen te hebben, vertrokken wij naar China. Onze geeltjes bleven bij ons, maar met het binnenkomen moesten wij er een door den dood verliezen. Daar de Chinezen er op tegen hadden, om hem aan land to begraven, hadden wij veel moeite, om hem een graf te bezorgen, zoodat wij eindelijk besloten, om het bij nacht to beproeven, hetwelk ons gelukte. Aldaar huurde de kapitein toen twee Schotlanders en een Amerikaan. De Schotten waren aardige menschen, maar de Amerikaan was iemand van een boosaardig karakter.

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Een dag voor hij bij ons aan boord kwam, had hij drie Chinezen in een twist van het leven beroofd. Ook maakte hij, zoodra wij in zee waren, het zoo erg, dat er iederen dag ongenoegen plaats greep. Ik hield mij stil, en vandaar, dat ik het nog al met hem vinden kon; ja zelfs was hij mij menigmaal behulpzaam in het slijpen der messen. Intusschen kwam er voor mij een ander onheil opdagen. In het eerst was de stuurman mij zeer genegen, maar dit begon nu te verminderen. De reden waren, dat hij aan den drank verslaafd was. De kapitein had mij al dikwijls gevraagd waar de jenever bleef, waarop ik hem ten antwoord gaf, dat hij zulks wel koude begrijpen. Hierop beval hij mij, den stuurman, waneer hij de wacht had, maar vier borrels te geven, en vortaan de sleutels van de provisiekast bij mij te houden. Ik volbragt zijn bevel, doch de stuurman viel mij telkens lastig, een enkelen keer voldeed ik aan zijn verlangen, maar als ik het hem weigerde, zocht hij allerlei uitvlugten, om het te krijgen. Met goed weder kon ik des nachts te kooi (bed) gaan, omdat ik des daags zeer veel werk had. Als ik dan in slaap was, kwam hij bij mij, en zeide, dat er wat in de kajuit of in de kombuis gevallen was. In het eerst ging ik er dan naar zien en maakte vast wat los stond, en als ik dan weder op het dek kwam, was het: geef mij nu een borrel! Had ik daar gelegenheid toe, dan deed ik het, maar op het laatst begon het mij te vervelen, en dacht ik, als ik hem drank geef, kan er altoos wel wat los raken of vallen, en toen ik zulks naliet, beproefde hij het nog viermaal, maar gaf toen de hoop op. Evenwel geraakte hij hoe langer hoe meer op mij verbitterd, zelfs zoo, dat het gevaarlijk voor mij begon te worden. Het gebeurde eens dat ik aan het roer stond, dat de stuurman mij het want in stuurde, om iets vast te maken. Ik gaf hem ten antwoord, dat het juist mijn werk wel niet was, maar dat ik toch niet onwillig was, om zijn bevel op te volgen. Ik ging vlug naar boven, en toen ik bezig was om het werk te verrigten, zette hij de zeilen zoo, dat alles tegen mij aanviel, en daar het eene stevige koelte was, zoude ik, indien het mij niet gelukt was, mij staande te houden, door den schok naar beneden of in zee gevallen zijn. Ik werd driftig en verweet hem, dat het zijn toeleg was, om mij to laten verdrinken. De kapitein door dit geraas uit den slaap geraakt, kwam naar boven, en vernemende, dat het mij betrof, zeide hij tot hem, zoudt gij zoo Vlietstra naar de eeuwigheid helpen? Ik verloor liever vier zulke kerels, zoo als gij er een zijt dan een Vlietstra, en schopte hem in het ruim, hem toeroepende, gij zijt beter in staat voor jongen te varen, dan voor stuurman te fungeren. Sedert dien tijd harmonieerden de kapitein en stuurman in het geheel niet meer. De kapitein zeide hem dikwijls, als wij weer in Australie komen, moet gij ook maar wegloopen, dan zal ik geen pogingen aanwenden , om je te laten zoeken. Eindelijk liepen wij te Tasmania, een eiland tot Australie behoorende, en wel in de stad Lansiston , binnen. Wij hadden er drie weken gelegen, toen ik weder ongenoegen met den stuurman kreeg. Ik dacht zoo kan het niet langer blijven, de stuurman geeft er den brui van om weg te loopen, ik zal er maar een eind aan maken, door zelven op den loop te gaan. Ik pakte spoedig mijne kleederen in twee zakken, om dat zulks gemakkelijker was, den eene kist mede te slepen. De kapitein was juist dien dag aan den wal gegaan , en zou eerst den volgenden dag terug komen. Ook was ik te weten gekomen, dat een der ligtmatrozen mede het voornemen had opgevat, om weg te loopen.. Ik maakte hem mijn voornemen bekend, en wij spraken af, om het’s avonds te wagen, hij zou

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vooruitgaan, en mij op eene plaats opwachten. Tegen den avond kwam de man aan boord, die dien nacht de wacht zoude houden. Dit maakte mij het volvoeren van mijn plan zeer moeijelijk. Met den stuurman wist ik wel, hoe ik het aan moest leggen; als ik den drank maar voor hem op tafel zette, kon ik uitgaan of alles verkrijgen, wat ik hem vroeg. Hij zeide nog tegen mij , als gij weg wilt loopen, dan is het van avond te beproeven, waarop ik liet volgen , dan zoudet gij zeker in uw vuistje lagchen , als gij dan den sleutel van de proviciekast maar had. Hierbij bleef het, want hij had van mijn plan geen vermoeden. Het kwam er dus maar op aan om den waker te misleiden. Daar ik de gewoonte had, om het eten en drinken van dezen bij de kajuitskap te zetten, zette ik het dien avond op eene andere plaats, zoodat hij eenigen tijd om moest woelen, om het te vinden. Van dien tijd maakte ik gebruik, wierp spoedig niijne zakken met kleederen op een ander schip over, alwaar twee mannen stonden, door den ligtmatroos afgezonden, om ze to ontvangen, en naar de afgesproken plaats te brengen, waarna ik mij ook derwaarts begaf. Ik vond den matroos in het afgesproken huis, dat door eene vrouw met vier kinderen bewoond werd. Zij was buitengewoon vriendelijk. Wij besloten om har onze kleederen te laten, tot wij terug kwamen, om haar de vertering die wij gemaakt hadden, te betalen. Wij durfden daar niet langer blijven, uit vrees dat de kapitein de politie last konde geven, om ons te zoeken; wij gingen dus op weg, zonder te weten waar heen. Wij hadden eenen geruimen tijd geloopen en daar het er bergachtig is, was het er opklimmen en afdalen. Eindelijk kwamen wij, na nog een groot bosch door geloopen te hebben, op een meer beganen weg. Na nog wat geloopen te hebben, besloten wij, de eerste gelegenheid de beste, wat uit te rusten. Door dien wij den dag voor onze afreis vernomen hadden, dat zich in deze streek veel menschen ophielden, die daar om de eene of andere misdaad verbannen waren, liepen wij met een beklemd hart, en daarom besloten wij, toen wij eene geschikte plaats gevonden hadden, om uit te rusten, om bij beurte de wacht te houden. Toen wij daar omtrent een uur gelegen hadden , hoorden wij in een nabij gelegen bosch iets op ons afkomen. Niet wetende, dat het een der wilde dieren was, kangaroes genaamd, welke zich daar ophouden, dachten wij dadelijk aan die verbannelingen, en zeiden tegen elkander, als dat er een van is, dan zullen er wel meer volgen. Het kwam digter, wij hoorden de dorre takken kraken. Wij stelden ons in staat van tegenweer. De kangaroe kwam zoo kort bij ons dat ik opkeek. Het dier bemerkte mij, en daar zij zeer schuw zijn, ging het op de vlugt, geweldig met zijn staart op den grond slaande. Het is een groot dier met een langen staart; als hij opstaat, heeft hij de lengte van een volwassen mensch, maar hij behoort niet tot de verscheurende dieren. Wij dachten evenwel nog aan die verbannelingen, en zeiden tot elkander, als die ook zoo spoedig het hazepad kiezen, dan zullen wij er ons wel doorredden. Met het aanbreken van den dag vervolgden wij onzen weg, en waren zeer verheugd, toen wij, na nog een uur gewandeld te hebben, de huizen van een dorpje in het oog kregen; en hiermede eindig ik mijn eerste hoofdstuk.

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HOOFDSTUK II Mijne verdere lotgevallen in Australie Wij verdubbelden onze schreden, in het blijde vooruitzigt menschen te ontmoeten. Het was het dorpje Langfore. De eerste, dien wij zagen, was een smid, en wij waagden het hem toe te spreken. Wij wenschten hem goeden dag, meer konden wij in die taal nog moeijelijk uitbrengen. Hij zeide tot ons, ik denk dat jelui van een schip weggeloopen zijt? Wij zeiden van ja, waarop hij liet volgen, dat is niets, komt maar binnen. Ik zal je beiden wel teregt helpen. Dadelijk werd er brood en een achterbout van een schaap op tafel gezet. Zulks liet zich goed smaken, alsmede ook thee met suiker. Wij waren over dat vriendelijk onthaal zeer verbaasd, niet wetende, dat daar nimmer roggenbrood gegeten, en koffij en thee zonder suiker gedronken wordt. De smid beloofde voor ons werk bij zijne familie te zoeken. Wij waren zeer in onzen schik, en het speet ons, dat wij met dien goeden man niet veel konden spreken. Des avonds wees hij ons, omdat hij bang voor het zoeken der politie was, een hok aan tot nachtverblijf. Hij had dien zelfden dag nog eene boodschap aan zijne familie gestuurd; deze kwamen den volgenden dag, en toen werd door hen besloten, om ons werk te verschaffen. Omdat ik de oudste was, bleef ik in het dorp, omdat het daar gevaarlijker was om gevonden te worden. Mijn makker, een Rotterdammer, Willem….genaamd, werd verder landwaarts in gezonden. Ik woonde aldaar nast eene plaats voor gevangenen, een tulmill (treading-mill) genaamd. In een tulmill zitten landlieden voor eenen korten tijd gevangen. Zij moeten daar in eene meelfabriek in een groot rad loopen. Zij worden daar om eene kleinigheid zwaar gestraft, omdat daar meest Engelschen wonen, die om doodslag of zwaren diefstal verbannen zijn. Daar de kapitein eene goede som aan de politie uitgeloofd had, om ons te zoeken, zag ik hen daar dagelijks; maar daar zij in het denkbeeld verkeerden, dat de weggeloopenen, doordien wij van China kwamen, Chinezen moesten zijn, lieten zij mij met rust. De eerste week dat ik daar was, dacht ik, beter menschen zijn er in de geheele wereld niet. Ik had ondertusschen eene geldswaarde van zeven Engelsche ponden, dus vier en tachtig gulden gevonden, en toen ik hun vroeg, of zij het ook verloren hadden, zeiden zij vin neen, en dat ik het maar moest houden, als er geen verhaal op kwam. Zij hielden veel van mij; van werken wilden zij niets hooren, en ik werd geheel als familielid behandeld. Ik dacht, mij geld geven, en niet laten werken, en alles beloven om mij bij hen te houden, als er maar niet wat achter schuilt. Wanneer ik hun vroeg, of het schip al vertrokken was, dan maakten zij mij wijs, dat het nog in de haven lag. Dat maakte mij ongerust, en wetende, dat scheepsnamen in iedere taal op dezelfde wijze geschreven worden, zag ik iederen dag de courant na, maar ik bleef in het onzekere. Ik maakte door eenen brief, mijne denkwijze over die menschen aan mijnen vriend bekend. Daardoor ongerust over mij geworden, kwam hij drie dagen later, naar mij toe. Hij zeide, dat hij het ook goed getroffen had, maar dat hij moest werken als een ezel. Ik verhaalde hem mijn wedervaren met het gevonden geld, en dat zij mij een veulen, ganzen en een mooijen houd beloofd hadden, als ik bij hen bleef, en dat ik door al dat beloven steeds ongeruster werd. Wij besloten onze kleederen te gaan halen, en hen te verlaten.

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Toen wij hun dat bekend maakten, begreep ik, dat ik mij niet had behooven te verontrusten. Zij gaven ons geld, en lieten ons per rijtuig naar Lansiston terug brengen. Met tranen van dankbaarheid namen wij afscheid van hen , en zij zeiden nog, dat wij bij ziekte of eenig ander ongoval, bij hen een te huiskomen konden vinden. Wij kwamen spoedig te Lansiston, maar wij konden wel hetzelfde huis vinden, maar dezelfde menschen niet. Er deed ons, een in het wit gekleed vrouwtje met een lagchend gelaat, open. Op de vraag waar die andere menschen waren, zeide zij, die vrouw is met een ander op den loop gegaan, en heeft haar man en de vier kinderen in den steek gelaten. Doordien die man met een boot op de rivier voer, om brandhout voor de menschen te halen, had zij daartoe gelegenheid gevonden. Zij wist ons ook te vertellen, dat zij kleederen van twee zeelieden, die zij in bewaring had, benevens zijden stoffen en andere Chinesche goederen, die ik daar gekocht had, om ze later op eene andere plaats met winst te verkoopen, medegenomen had. Wij zeiden haar, dat wij die zeelieden waren. Zij zeide ons, dat zij dat wel dacht. Wij dachten, dat zij somwijlen met die andere vrouw in betrekking stond, en onderzochten het bij andere menschen, maar het bleek, dat zij ons de waarheid gezegd had. Dat was voor ons een groot verlies. Wij besloten bij elkander te blijven, en vertoefden er drie dagen om eene huur te zoekon. Doch dit mogt zoo niet zijn. Wij konden wel een huur krijgen, maar niet op hetzelfde schip. Wij verhuurden ons ieder bij een kustvaarder. Wij scheiden van elkander, en kregen elkander nooit weder te zien. Ik voer toen op de kust van Lansiston naar Melbourne, en naar de Noordwestkust van van Diemensland, de Mersey rivier, de rivier Forth of de rivier Lieven op. Aan de rivier Forth woonden de eigenaars van het schip. Toen wij een paar jaar later aan de rivier Forth kwamen, was er geen vracht te krijgen, en er werd besloten om vier maanden op te leggen. De eigenaars hadden ook een boerderij, en nu boden zij mij aan om bij hen als arbeider in dienst te blijven. Hunne huishouding bestond uit negen personen de jufvrouw, eene weduwe en adelijke dame, vijf zonen, twee dochters en eene meid. Daar ik met arbeiden hetzelfde loon als op het schip kon verdienen, liet ik mij dat welgevallen. Ik had het bij hen zeer goed, en daar ik mij best deed, beloofden zij mij, als ik in het vervolg zelf wilde gaan boeren zoo veel land te geven, als ik maar hebben wilde. Intusschen viel er met mij iets bijzonders voor. Ik zou op zekeren morgen met den ossendrijver, een met achttien ossen bespannen wagen met steenen, tot het maken van eenen oven, halen. Toen wij den wagen zoo goed als geladen hadden, wilde ik er nog een zwaren steen, welken ik naauwelijks tillen kon, bij doen, en met een voelde ik een steek, zoodat ik den steen liet vallen, denkende dat het een beet van eene der groote mieren was, die daar gevonden worden worden. Enkele menschen krijgen daar eene zwelling in de hand door, en bij anderen wordt zij rood en pijnlijk. Ik trok de hand terug en ziet eene slang hing aan mijn vinger. De ossendrijver en ik waren hevig verschrikt. De bass, een van de zoons, was in onze nabijheid bezig, met het zoeken van boombast en takken op een met koren bezaaid veld. De ossendrijver ging hem roepen; in dien tusschentijd viel de slang van mijn vinger en ik trapte hem dood. De baas was spoedig bit mij. Hij verbond mijn arm met mijn halsdoek en mijne riemen, die daar de plaats van draagbanden bekleeden, en vroeg toen of ik een mes bij mij had, maar geen geduld hebbende, haalde hij zijn pennemes uit den zak, en sneed een puntje van mijn vinger af. Na gevraagd

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te hebben of mijn mond zuiver was, waarop ik ja antwoordde, gelastte hij mij het venijn en bloed uit de wond te zuigen, en dadelijk uit te spuwen. Zulks gedaan hebbende, stuurde hij mij naar huis. Na zijn paard gehaald te hebben, reed hij mij achterna. Te huis gekomen, vertelde ik de huisgenooten het ongeval. Zij ontstelden allen. Het was juist middag en ofschoon het eten opgebragt werd, gevoelde niemand eetlust. De baas kwam kort na mij to huis, en toen stak hij een stukje papier op mijn vinger, bestrooide het met buskruid, stak het in den brand, om zoo de wond uit te branden. Het was wel pijnlijk, maar toch zoo veel niet, als men wel denken zou. Mijn vinger zag nu geheel en al zwart. Zij gaven mij vervolgens eenige medicijn-droppels, en stuurden mij den tuin in, mij een oppasser mede gevende, want ik moest in beweging blijven. Ik gevoelde mij niet wel, en ik was duizelig; dan stond ik eens stil, dan liep ik weder, en dan viel ik. Als ik viel, dan wilde ik blijven liggen, maar dan werd ik dadelijk geboden om op te staan en te loopen. Ik poogde hem te ontsnappen, maar hij begreep dat, en bleef geen twee minuten van mij af. Hij wist, dat iemand, die door eene slang gebeten was, rust zoekt, maar dat die hem nadeelig is, en daarom spoorde hij mij gedurig aan om in beweging te blijven. Ik werd boos op hem, maar hij zeide: Vlietstra je moet niet kwaad op mij worden, ik doe het tot je best; hij verzweeg echter het gevaar, waarin ik verkeerde. Toen ik zoo rond liep, kwam ik voorbij een hok, waar de dochter en de meid hun werk verrigteden. Ik hoorde hen zeggen, dat mijn aangezigt geheel blaauw was, en dat ik voor zonsondergang wel sterven zou. Toen ik te kennen gaf, dat ik hen verstond, zeiden zij mij, dat zij over wat anders spraken. Ik wilde in den spiegel zien, maar zulks werd mij belet. Dat mijn arm en hand blaauw waren, zag ik wel, maar ik schreef dat aan het verband toe, en mijn duizeligheid en slaperigheid aan de medicijnen. Na zonsondergang kwam de baas bij mij, en zeide, het grootste gevaar is geweken. Wij gingen naar huis, waar ik blijde om was, daar ik dacht te slapen, evenwel moest ik den ganschen nacht in beweging blijven. De oppasser bleef bij mij. Den volgenden morgen zeide de baas, dat ik, wanneer ik geslapen of mij kwaad gemaakt had, zeker gestorven ware. Ik zou er telken jare, op denzelfden tijd, het was in April, wel iets van gevoelen, doch dit kan ik niet zeggen. Ik bedankte hem voor zijne hulp en zorgvuldige oppassing. Hij vertelde mij naderhand het gevaar van zulk een slangenbeet. Het was een zweepslang, die wel klein van soort, maar eene der vergiftigste is. Hiermede zoude dit hoofdstuk geeindigd zijn, maar ik acht mij verpligt, eerst nog eene verklaring te geven, van dat zoeken van boombast en takken, op een met koren bezaaid veld. Een bosch is daar een der vruchtbaarste stukken lands. Om zulk een bosch tot bouwland geschikt te maken, worden de boomen, die vier voet dik zijn afgehouwen; die dikker zijn blijven staan. Dezen wordt dan door het inhakken met een bijl, en door er een ring om te leggen, het leven ontnomen, waartoe niet langer dan eene week noodig is. Het afgehouwen hout, wordt na een zes weken gelegen te hebben in brand gestoken, en wat er nog leggen blijft, wordt op hoopen gelegd, om later ook verbrand te worden. De zware boomen, die staan blijven, laten door het inhakken, in de eerste drie jaren hunnen bast en hunne takken vallen, die dan zorgvuldig opgezocht worden. In het eerste jaar wordt het bosch met een wieder ligt omgehakt, en daarna bezaaid. Niettegenstaande die geringe bewerking, levert de grond dan meer op, dan een stuk land, dat in Nederland goed bewerkt is.

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HOOFDSTUK III. Mijn boerenbedrijf voor eigene rekening. De belofte door de dame, om mij eenig land te geven, om voor eigene rekening eene boerderij te beginnen, werd nu vervuld. Ik stelde arbeiders aan het werk, om nieuwen grond te bereiden, want de baas en de familie zagen gaarne dat ik voor hen het opzigt hield over eene groote kwantiteit aardappelen, daar deze toen aldaar hoog in prijs waren. Ik bewoonde een huis, dat een herberg geweest was, aan de monding der rivier. Daar de rivier zeer vischrijk was, maakte ik tot tijdverdrijf, voor de monding een beschot van traliewerk, voorzien van een deur, die met den vloed open en digt ging, om de groote visch af te sluiten. Daar dit de lady (adelijke dame) bijzonder aanstond, breidde zij zelve eene fuik voor mij. Ofschoon ik er dikwijls mijn nachtrust voor opofferde, daar ik met eene boot vischte, en dus het getij te baat moest nemen, had ik het genoegen, haar dikwijls met smakelijken visch te verrassen. Eens, dat ik weder des nachts met eene goede hoeveelheid huiswaarts keerde, zag ik tusschen de boomen eene lange witte gedaante. Hoewel ik aan geen spoken geloofde, was ik toch een weinig bevreesd. Toen ik wat nader kwam, zag ik een paar vurige oogen glinsteren. Ik dacht wat monster kan dat zijn. Na wat terug gedeinsd te hebben, verstoutte ik mij, om er een steen heen te smijten. Nu sprong het naar mij toe. Ik schrikte hevig; evenwel bedaarde ik spoedig, toen ik zag dat het een der zoons van de lady was. Hij was, om mij bang te maken, in zijn nachthemd, met de handen boven het hoofd, tusschen de boomen gaan zitten. Zulks maakte, door het maanlicht begunstigd, een leelijk aanzien, vooral daar hij bijzonder lang was, waarom hij den bijnaam van den langen geest droeg. Den volgenden dag verzocht hij mij een pijp te komen rooken. Hij vertelde de grap aan de familie en zeide, dat ik mij dapper gedragen had. Doch laat ik tot mijn verhaal van de bouwerij terug keeren. De aardappelen bleven duur en zouden nog in prijs klimmen. Zij werden voor veertig pond de ton verkocht, nagenoeg negen honderd en zestig gulden het last. Dit stond mij goed aan. Ik kocht twee en een halve ton aardappelen voor twaalfhonderd gulden, en nog ander zaad bovendien. Alles groeide voordeelig op, maar toen de oogst daar was, waren zij zoodanig in prijs gedaald, dat ik niet beter kon doen, dan er varkens in te jagen, om ze zonder kosten uit den grond te krijgen. Het eene jaar is daar alles zeer duur, en het andere goedkoop. Dat gaat met de goudmijnen op en neer. Als er veel goud gevonden wordt, gaat bijna ieder er heen; dan wordt alles verschrikkelijk duur. Wordt er weinig gevonden, dan keeren zij weder terug, en vatten hun boerenwerk weder bij de hand, en daardoor is dan alles goedkooper. Het volgende jaar trof ik het veel beter. Ik had eene andere plaats gezocht, en bewoonde een huisje dat midden in een geklaard stuk land stond, en door een tuin met allerlei soort van vruchtboomen omringd was. Het huisje was van boombast gemaakt en rustte op palen. Het was digt gemaakt met klei en koeijemest, met lang gras doorvlochten. Van buiten was het heel lief met boompjes versierd, die des zomers bloempjes droegen, die veel op fochsia’s geleken. Het was een buitengewoon groot stuk, best laag bouwland. Lage grond is daar beter als hoog gelegene. Ik maakte goede zaken; om iets te noemen, ik verkocht koolen voor zes en dertig stuivers het stuk.

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Ik had in al dien tijd aan mijne moeder niet geschreven, en nieuwsgierig zijnde, hoe of het haar en mijn broeder en zusters ging, schreef ik haar. Ik schreef mijn wedervaren en feliciteerde mijne oudste zuster met haren geboortedag; het was den 30 Augustus. Ik verzocht om eenig antwoord, en verzekerde haar binnen achttien maanden te huis te komen. Daar ik kort daarna vernam dat men de brieven tot Engeland portvrij moest zenden, schreef ik er nog een. Daar ik geen antwoord terug kreeg, dacht ik: mijne moeder heeft het, als ze nog leeft, zeker niet ruim genoeg om de brieven te frankeeren. Ik schreef een derde en sloot er twee honderd en vier gulden in, om de kosten van ontvangst en afzending, zonder haar nadeel te bestrijden. Toen ik later in het vaderland kwam, vernam ik, dat mijne moeder alleen de eerste twee brieven ontvangen, en dat zij mij herhaalde malen geschreven had. In het volgende jaar maakte ik weder goede zaken, maar toen was de tijd daar, dien ik geschreven had, om te huis te komen. Daar ik geene tijding gekregen had, dacht ik, met een halven appel naar huis gaan, kan niet. Ik ben in de gelegenheid meer te verdienen en besloot te blijven. Ik maakte nog meer land tot verbouwen gereed, had zestien man in het werk, die mij iedere week op zes en dertig gulden en den kost de persoon te staan kwamen. Dit kwam wel op mijn beurs aan, maar mijne boerderij werd grooter. lk had eene koe, paarden en dertig varkens. Als ik alles bezag, dacht ik, wat word ik een groot man; maar weldra werd het spreekwoord bewaarheid: ’s werelds goed is eb en vloed. Mijn gewas stond uitmuntend, de bloesemknoppen waren aan de aardappelen, alles beloofde veel; maar in het laatst van November vervloog mijn welvaart, want alles verdronk door eene groote overstrooming. Daar stond ik! In de vorige week bewonderde ik mijn rijkdom, en nu verweet ik mij, was ik maar naar mijn vaderland gegaan. Ik vatte weder moed, want het was midden in den zomer, het omgekeerde van hier; daar zomer, hier winter, daar dag, hier nacht. Ik trok wat hooger naar het gebergte, kocht voor eenen kleinen prijs van een ander persoon een stuk land, dat half tot bouwen gereed gemaakt was, maakte het verder klaar en bezaaide het, in de hoop van weder goede zaken te maken. Daar de grond voor aardappelen minder geschikt was, pootte ik er niet meer, dan ik voor eigen gebruik noodig had. Ik was verwonderd in geen negen maanden regen te zien. Eerst toen ik er vijftien maanden was, regende het er, bij het woeden van een zware donderbui, donderstorm aldaar genoemd. Het was in den nacht toen dat plaats had, en ik lag te slapen. Op eens werd ik door een geweldigen schok gewekt. Ik stond op en ging naar buiten om te zien, wat het was. Het was een weder, zoo als ik vroeger nooit bijgewoond had. Ik was bijna een uur blind van het bliksemvuur. Het was mij zoo nabij, dat ik bijna achttien maanden doof bleef, van de hevige donderslagen. Ik werd bedwelmd en hield mij aan eenen stomp van eenen boom vast. Toen ik wat bijkwam, ging ik naar huis. Den volgenden morgen lagen alle zware boomen geveld. Ik dacht, mijne buren kunnen wel door het weder getroffen zijn, en besloot hen te gaan bezoeken. Zij woonden evenwel zoo ver van mij af, dat zij er weinig van vernomen hadden. Door de aanhoudende droogte verdorde voor een groot gedeelte mijn gewas. Daarbij had ik het ongeluk, dat mijn huis, door het boschbranden van andere menschen, doordien het aangewind was, geheel afbrandde. Daar ik op het land aan het werk was, kon ik niets redden, mijn Engelsch papier, eene waarde van

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drie honderd gulden, en mijn eerste dagboek verloor ik mede. Ik was toen diep ongelukkig. Wat zou ik aanvangen! Na kort beraad, besloot ik van Diemensland te verlaten, en naar Melbourne te gaan, ten einde aldaar in de nabij gelegene goudmijnen mijn geluk te beproeven. Ik zag de couranten in en vernam slechte berigten van de goudmijnen, maar las, dat men in Queensland goed voor zijn werk beloond werd, eensdeels, omdat het er door de wilden gevaarlijk, en anderdeels, omdat het er zoo drukkend heet was. Ik besloot er heen te gaan, dacht er weder bouwland te vinden, maakte mij reisvaardig, en vertrok eerst per spoor, daarna per boot, en eindelijk kwam ik er te paard aan. Het was er zeer warm, en ik nam mij voor den eersten boer den besten om werk te vragen. Ik had er al twee dagen omgezworven, zonder menschen te ontmoeten; den derden dag kwam ik op eene boerenplaats aan. Er woonde een schapeboer. Hij zat onder zijn afdak (veranda genoemd) toen ik bij hem kwam. Ik zeide, goeden dag baas! Goeden dag, zeide hij, komt gij ver? Van Holland was mijn antwoord. Van Holland zeide hij, dan zijt gij een Dutchman (zoo worden daar de Hollanders genoemd.) Ha, ha! kom dan maar binnen, en neem wat te eteii en te drinken, en dan moet gij mij eens wat van Holland vertellen, en wat daar het boeren aanbetreft. Ik deed dat zoo goed ik kom, en voegde er bij, dat ik in Tasmania ook eene boerderij gehad had, en wat aldaar verbouwd wordt. Toen ik geeindigd had, liet hij er op volgen, hier groeit niets. Ik ben boen maar heb geen korrel zaad in den grond, mijn boeren bestaat in schapenteelt. Ik vroeg om werk, ja zei hij, ik heb werk genoeg. Wat kunt gij? Ik ben Jan van alles, zei ik. Dat is goed, antwoordde hij, ik moet een schapenhoeder hebben. Schapenhoeder zei ik, ik hoeder, neen man, dat doe ik niet. Toen gaf hij te kennen, dat hij ook een kok hebben moest. Dat stond mij beter aan, en op zijn vraag wat ik verdienen moest, zei ik, in de eerste week niets, en in de volgende week zal ik het je wel zeggen. In de volgende week vroeg ik hem, hoe ik beviel. 0, zeide hij, uitmuntend! Ik bedong een goed loon, en verkreeg het. Hij was goed met mij te vreden, en gaf te kennen, nooit goedkooper knecht gehad te hebben. Hij was een best mensch om mede om te gaan. Gedurig hoorde ik van de wilden dan dit en dan dat. In het eerst was ik er bang voor, en dacht veel aan hen. s’Avonds zag ik hunne vuren op het gebergte. Ons huis bestond uit zwaren boombast, met schietgaten in de wanden voorzien, om op de wilden te schieten, als zij des nachts een aanval waagden. Ik was daar al lang, eer ik ‘s nachts geregeld slapen kon. Ik heb menigmaal twaalf gulden willen geven, als ik gerust slapen kon. In de warmte kan men met minder slaap toe. Het was er dikwijls zoo warm, dat menschen en dieren allen eetlust ontging. Toen ik er zes maanden geweest was, kregen wij het berigt, dat de wilden onze buren vermoord hadden. Bij onderzoek bleek het, dat er negentien om het leven gebragt, en twee het gevaar ontkomen waren. De eene, een schapenhoeder, had zich tusschen de schapen verborgen, en de andere hadden de wilden zoo geslagen, dat zij meenden dat hij dood was. Onze buren waren daar nog kort geleden komen wonen. Zij hadden nog geen huis gebouwd, maar behielpen zich nog met eene tent. Zij waren uit eene streek gekomen, waar gewoonte bestond, om de wilden bij zich toe te laten, om eenig werk te verrigten. Zij dachten, dat dit ook hier zoo zou gaan, en vandaar hadden zij hen door het geven van suiker, waar zij bijzonder van houden, en eenige andere kleinigheden, gelokt; doch het kwam hen, zoo als mijne lezers weten, duur te staan. Toen de wilden met hun toestand goed bekend waren, kwamen zij een weinig voor het aanbreken van den dag, want dan slaapt men beter, door dien het koeler is, in grooten getale

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op hen af, om hun gruwelstuk uit te voeren. Zij doen zulks minder om geld, maar voornamelijk om suiker en gekleurde goederen, waar zij mede bijzonder van houden. Hiermede zou ik dit hoofdstuk besluiten, maar ik meen mijne lezers geen ondienst te doen, hun eerst iets van de levenswijze en gebruiken der wilden te verhalen. Zij bewonen geen huis, leven in de bosschen en op het gebergte en slapen in het lange wild gras. Hun voedsel bestaat uit raauwe wortelen, wild gedierte en wilden honig. De mannen vangen het wild, en halen den wilden honig uit de boomen; en de vrouwen visschen en zoeken de wortelen. Zij zoeken niet meer dan zij noodig hebben om den honger te stillen. Als zij verzadigd zijn, gaan ze slapen. Nooit leggen zij eenigen voorraad op. Kunnen zij niet genoeg vinden, dan rooven zij bij de blanken, en verslaan dan, als zij daarin belet worden, hunne tegenpartij. In hoogen nood eten zij hunne kinderen, maar van het vleesch der blanken, hebben zij eenen afkeer. Zij leven in gemeenschap, zoodat zij van het huwelijk geen kennis hebben. Echter gebeurt het wel eens, dat een man eene vrouw alleen wil bezitten. Als de anderen dat bemerken, krijgen zij veel slagen, en dan gaan zij voor een paar maanden op den loop. Bij hunne terugkomst is dan alles weder goed. Hunne kinderen weten zij op eene wreede wijze te versieren. Zij doorboren bij de geboorte den neus en de lippen, en kerven hun ligchaam met een steenen bijltje. Die kerven heelen zij dan met bladeren; hierdoor krijgen zij diepe rigchels in de huid. Die de meeste en diepste rigchels hebben, zijn in hunne oogen de schoonsten onder hen.

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HOOFDSTUK IV. Mijn vertrek naar de goudmijnen, mijn verblijf aldaar en mijne lotgevallen op mijne terugreis van daar.

Sedert dien gepleegden moord leefde ik daar zoo gerust niet meer, en hoewel ik daar goed behandeld werd, werd het plan om in de goudmijnen mijn geluk te beproeven, van dag tot dag rijper. Na afscheid van den baas genomen te hebben, vertrok ik naar de mijnen, die honderd mijlen landwaarts van Rockhantan gevonden worden. Ik ging na eenigen tijd gereisd te hebben, bij eenen boer proviand opdoen. De boeren hebben daar meest allen winkels, om de reizigers van proviand te voorzien, omdat zij toch veel voor hun eigen gebruik moeten inslaan, doordien de boerenplaatsen op grooten afstand van elkander gelegen zijn. Hoewel ik krijgen kon, wat ik op reis noodig had, wilde de boer mij toch liever bij zich houden, zoodat ik er eenigen tijd bleef. Aldaar had men ook van de wilden last. De boer had hun toegestaan van tijd tot tijd op zijn grond te komen, omdat zij volgens zijne meening meer goed, dan kwaad konden doen. Na eenigen tijd daar vertoefd te hebben, vermisten wij twee schapenhoeders, en later bleek het, dat zij door de wilden vermoord waren, zij hadden de vijf honderd aan hunne zorg toevertrouwde schapen naar het gebergte gedreven. Wij hebben toen de wilden gedeeltelijk verjaagd en gedeeltelijk dood geschoten, en de schapen meest allen teruggekregen. Eindelijk besloot ik, mijn reis voort te zetten, want daar ik mijne paarden bij mij had, gaf ik daar, omdat er geen gras grocit, meer uit om hen te onderhouden, dan ik bij den boer verdienen kon. Ik verkocht mijne paarden op twee na. Het eene moest ik zelf berijden, en het andere diende mij tot lastdier om mijn proviand en mijne kleederen te dragen. Ik had verscheidene uren door de bosschen afgelegd, toen ik op een open land kwam. Ik verheugde mij zoo daar over, dat ik begon te zingen, denkende drinkwater voor mijne paarden te vinden. Mijne blijdschap duurde kort, want kort daarna schrikten mijne paarden, ik had werk hen in toom te houden, en toen mij dat naauwelijks gelukte, zag ik, dat er naar gissing wel bijna duizend wilden van achter het gebergte, in eene halve maan geschaard, gewapend mij stonden op te wachten. Ik trok mijne pistolen, maar was zoo verschrikt, dat ik niet zag, of ik te hoog of te laag aanlegde, om juist te mikken. Maar wat zoude ik alleen tegen zoo velen beginnen, ik keerde naar het bosch terug, en zette mijne paarden tot eenen fellen loop aan om hen te ontkomen, en daar zij het opgaven mij na te loopen, gelukte mij dit. Door den schrik leed ik eenige maanden aan hevige hartkloppingen. Ik heb mijne genezing daarvan naast God, aan het gebruik van Holleway’s pillen te danken. Zij worden veel in Australie gebruikt, daar men ze voor vele kwalen als een goed middel beschouwt. Zij zijn ook op de meeste boerenplaatsen te bekomen. Na bij een boer tot mijn herstel wat vertoefd te hebben, zette ik mijne reis langs eenen anderen weg voort, en kwam na eenige dagen in de stad Touw. Ik kocht aldaar andere paarden en eenen wagon, dien ik met zoo veel proviand belaadde, dat ik voor dertien a veertien maanden genoeg had. Negen dagen reizens kreeg ik van eene overstrooming last. Twee dagen te voren had ik het ver voor mij uit veel zien regenen. In

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die warme streken ziet men het vaak voor zich uit met stralen regenen, ofsechoon men zelven zich nog in het schoonste weder van de wereld verlustigt. Ik hoopte op het gebergte te kunnen komen, gelukkig werd mijne hoop verwezenlijkt, en ik besloot wat uit te rusten. Daar ik bang was, dat mijne paarden te ver af zouden dwalen om te drinken, voorzag ik hen, na ze ontspannen te hebben, van schelletjes. Voor eigen gebruik had ik een vaatje water bij mij. Tegen den avond spreidde ik mijne dekens onder den wagen uit en legde mij neder. Men slaapt zoo evenwel niet gerust, het geringste geraas doet je verschrikt opspringen. Midden in den nacht hoorde ik geraas, ik stond terstond op, en zag naar mijne paarden, die gelukkig kort bij mij waren. Bij het aanbreken van den dag bemerkte ik, dat ik voor mijne paarden niet bang had behoeven te wezen, dat zij te ver af zouden dwalen, om drinken te zoeken, want op dertig treden afstands zag ik niets dan water. Dit gaf een verlet van zeven dagen, die ik meest in de eenzaamheid onder mijn wagen doorbragt. Het verveelde mij wel, maar ik moest er in berusten en troostte mij dat ik door het water geen last van de wilden had. Gelukkig gaf God na den zevenden dag uitkomst, zoodat ik het waagde mijnen togt te vervolgen. Het ging evenwel niet gemakkelijk daar de grond door dit vele water zoo week was, dat hij op eenen papieren zolder geleek. Ik moest voorzigtig rijden, om er niet door te zakken. Eindelijk kreeg ik van verre wat in het oog, ik dacht een dorp of eene stad te naderen, maar na wat verder gereden te zijn, zag ik dat het tenten, en menschen met door paarden bespannen kapwagens en ossenwagens waren. Toen ik bij hen kwam, vroeg ik hun, wat zij hier deden, of zij goudzoekers waren, en of daar eene nieuwe mijn gevonden werd, want dat ik anders op eenen verkeerden weg van Peakdowns moest wezen. Zij zeiden mij, wij zijn allen goudzoekers, en dat ik op den goeden weg was, maar dat eenigen van hen, hier al vier, anderen twee maanden en sommigen er twee a drie weken geweest waren, doordien zij eene rivier, op eenigen afstand van hen gelegen, moesten overtrekken. Zij zeiden verder, God weet, hoe lang wij hier nog moeten blijven; als wij den eenen dag denken, nu valt het water, het zal nu morgen of overmorgen wel gelukken, dan is het in dien tijd weder zoo gerezen, dat het met de wallen gelijk staat. Ik vroeg hun, gij weet zeker niet, wat ze in zulk een geval in New South Wales of Victoria doen? Dadelijk vroegen zij, wat dan? Ik zeide, dan maken zij eene boot van een bottletree (flesschenboom) dien zij daartoe uitholen. Dat zijn boomen, die van buiten zeer hard, en van binnen zoo zacht als koolstruiken zijn. Zij zeiden, dat zij al naar zulk een boom gezocht hadden, maar dat het hun niet gelukt was, er een te vinden. Ik zeide, dat ik het niet vast wist maar dat ik toch geloofde, die boomen op anderhalf uur afstands gezien te hebben. Dat gaf moed. Den volgenden dag werden er vier op weg gestuurd, om het te onderzoeken. Zij kwamen terug, en zeiden, dat ik goed gezien had, en dat er wel zeven bij elkander stonden. Wij waren allen zeer,verheugd, en wij besloten er den volgenden dag partij van te trekken. Naauwelijks was de morgen daar, of ik ging met eenigen op weg om de boot te maken, en wij namen gereedschap en een wagen mede, om haar dadelijk mede te kunnen nemen. Tegen den avond kwamen wij weder met de boot bij de overigen aan, die wij nog van riemen voorzien hadden, maar deze behoefden wij niet te gebruiken. De volgende morgen was tot den overtogt bestemd. Wij zochten al ons touwwerk bij elkander en maakten het aan de boot vast, om haar

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heen en weder te kunnen halen. Wij joegen de paarden over de rivier, om eenigen onzer aan den anderen oever te brengen. Men zit dan niet op de paarden, maar men hangt aan hunnen staart, daar men anders door den sterken stroom medegesleept, of met paard en al om ver zoude vallen. Mijn wagen met mijn proviand en kleederen, stevig met touwen vastgebonden, was de eerste die met de boot overging. Al de menschen, paarden, wagens en goederen kwamen op een man na de rivier goed over. Deze had van alles wat te zegen. Hij vermeende alles beter te weten en wilde gaarne de laatste zijn. Toen bet eindelijk zijne beurt was, wilden wij hem wel helpen, maar hij wilde dit niet, hij moest zijn wagen zelf op de boot vast maken. Wij lieten hem begaan, en toen hij zeide, dat alles gereed was, deden wij ons best om de boot naar de overzijde te halen. De boot was nog geen zeven ellen van den wal af, of zij ging door den stroom een weinig over zij en de wagen, hoe goed ook vastgemaakt gleed in de rivier. Zijne paarden waren at overgezwommen. Wij boden hem aan, zijne paarden terug te jagen, maar hij weigerde het, zeggende, dat zij daar meer voedsel konden vinden, want dat bij hem alles afgevreten was, en dat hij ze toch in het oog konde houden. Hij hoopte, dat het water over drie a vier dagen wel lager zoude zijn, en zoo niet, dat er nog wel goudzoekers aan zouden komen, en dan had hij toch hulp om op de eene of andere wijze over te komen. Wij konden ons om hem niet langer ophouden, en gingen met een twintig wagens op weg om tot het einde onzer reis te komen. Wij trokken het gebergte op, en hadden veel regen onderweg, doch daar wij ons op hoogen ijzerharden grond bevonden, hadden wij er weinig letsel van en wij bereikten spoedig de mijnen. Toen wij er vijf a zes dagen geweest waren, vernamen wij dat van dien achtergebleven man zijn paarden, alsmede het grootste gedeelte van zijn proviand, door het steeds klimmende water weggestroomd was. Hij had van alles wat hij bezat, slechts eenen zak met meel in eenen boom kunnen bergen, en in dezen had hij zelf ook nog een dag de vlugt moeten nemen. Ik ben maar zes weken in de goudmijnen geweest, en heb maar veertien dagen aan het goudgraven deelgenomen. Het door mij gegraven goud beteekent niet veel, voor de aardigheid heb ik; omdat ik het zelf gegraven had, er twee stukjes van voor mijne moeder bewaard. Ik kreeg daar eene zware ziekte, de koorts zat mij zoo in het hoofd, dat het tusschen beide was, als of ik op mijn hoofd stond. Van tijd tot tijd kwamen er wel naar mij zien, maar het was meer om mijn proviand na te zien, dan uit belangstelling in mij. Ik merkte dit wel, maar was te ziek om er mij mede te bemoeijen. Een weinig beter zijnde, besloot ik er van daan te gaan, wel wetende, dat ik den dood niet kon ontloopen, maar tevens beseffende, dat men zich ook niet roekeloos aan het gevaar bloot mag stellen. Ik verkocht mijne paarden op een na; van het mij nog overgebleven meel maakte ik een daalder voor het pond, en van mijn tabak (negrid), want die wordt daar gerookt, achttien gulden. Om zekerder van mijne afreis te zijn, voorzag ik mij van een kompas en eene goede reiskaart. Ik nam mij voor, om weder naar denzelfden boer terug te gaan. Mijn heenreis naar de mijnen legde ik in vier maanden, en mijne terugreis in anderhalve maand af. Door het bezit van kompas en reiskaart, reisde ik nu geregeld door, van de eene boerenplaats op de andere. Wanneer ik koorts gevoelde, vertoefde ik bij eenen boer; maar eens, het was op Vrijdag, moest ik haar in de opene lucht doorstaan. Ik was weder zoo ziek, dat ik dien dag daar blijven moest. Den

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volgenden dag vervolgde ik mijne reis, en wetende, dat ik mij weder naar de laag gelegene streken begaf, dacht ik niet, dat er zoo veel water zoude staan, als ik er vond, zoo dat het mij speet, zoo spoedig het hoog gelegene verlaten te hebben. Ik besloot, daar de grond zeer week was, te voet bij mijn paard te gaan, omdat het trouwe dier zich dan beter konde redden. lk ging drie vierde van den dag tot aan mijne armen door het water. Des avonds kwam ik voor een klein riviertje, maar toen ik het poogde te doorwaden, begon ik van vermoeidheid te trillen, als de bladeren van eenen boom, zoodat ik terug moest, om in dat onherbergzame oord te overnachten. Den volgenden morgen zag ik aan de overzijde den heerenknecht van mijn vorigen baas. Toen hij mij zag, riep hij mij toe, dat ik door het riviertje moest om veilig te zijn. Hij kende mij niet, voordat ik hem aansprak, zoo zeer was ik door mijne ziekte vervallen. Ik vertelde hem mijne ongelukkige reis naar de mijnen, mijn verlies en mijn zware ziekte. Hij hielp mij door het riviertje, en vergezelde mij naar mijn ouden baas. Ik deelde hem mede, dat ik het plan had, een veertien dagen bij hen te blijven. Toen wij aan de plaats aankwamen, kwam de heer of boer zelf naar voren. Ik vertelde hem ook een en ander van mijne reis, en vroeg, wat ik geven moest, om bij hem een veertien dagen te vertoeven. Wat, zeide hij, betalen, neen, neen, volstrekt niet, gij kunt bij mij blijven, al was het zes weken, en wilt gij liever uw oud baantje weder bij de hand vatten, dan gaat uw loon dadelijk in. Doordien ik veel veloren had, besloot ik het latste, en fungeerde dus weder als kok. De koorts, niettegenstaande ik zulk eene moeijelijke reis gehad had, verliet mij. Ik werkte weder met lust, en was er iets bij hem te doen, waar ik meer mede kon verdienen, dan deed ik zulks. Vooral had dit plaats, als de schapen lammeren wierpen, en in het schapenscheren, dan verdiende ik somwijlen twee en zeventig gulden in eene week. Als ik wat anders verrigtte, zorgde de boer zelf voor het gereed maken van het eten. Trotschheid kent men daar niet, want deze man had twee boerenplaatsen, een , die hij zelf bewoonde, bestond uit eene bezitting van zestigduizend schapen, en over de negenhonderd koeijen, en de andere uit veertigduizend schapen. De plaats lag zoo ver landwaarts, dat de ossenwagens, die met wol weggingen, en met proviand terug kwamen, daartoe negen maanden werk hadden. Er zijn zelfs plaatsen, dat ze door tegenspoed, daartoe achttien maanden noodig hebden. Zij gaan gewoonlijk met tien wagens op weg, en iederen wagen is dan met drie a vierentwintig ossen bespannen. Men treft er geen vrouwelijke personen aan, daar deze deels door de warmte, en deels uit vrees voor de wilden spoedig sterven. Mannelijke personen komen ook vaak door de warmte om het leven, en menigmaal vallen de ossen dood voor de wagens. Daar de boeren ongehuwd zijn, gaan zij somwijlen, naar het uitkomt, voor negen of twaalf maanden voor pleizier naar de stad. De gewoonte moet veel doen, anders kan ik mij niet begrijpen, dat menschen die een goed kapitaal bezitten, in zulke onveilige streken zich blijven ophouden. Ik leerde hier iemand kennen, wien ik om zijn opregt karakter bijzonder genegen was. Ik gevoelde mij zeer aan hem verbonden; of het kwam, dat hij even als ik, een dokters zoon was, weet ik niet. Zijn naam was Gliezen. Eens kwam hij geheel reisvaardig bij ons. Ik vroeg hem waar hij heen moest. Wel ik ga voor vijf a zes maanden naar de stad, gaf hij ten autwoord, en nu kom ik hier

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overnachten. Den volgenden morgen vertrok hij, volgens het gebruik in Queensland, te paard. Na verloop van zes weken kwam hij terug. Ik gaf hem mijne verwondering over zijne spoedige terugkomst te kennen, waarop hij vertelde, dat hij onderweg in eene stille kroeg aangeland was, waar men hem zijn geld afgezet, en hem half vergiftigd had. Nu kwam hij weder bij ons, denkende dan wel spoedig beter te worden. Ik zoude, daar ik meest alleen te huis was, mij het meeste met hem moeten bemoeijen. Toen wij het avondeten gebruikten, waren wij met ons drieen te huis. Hij at niet mede, en op de vraag, waarom of hij aan den maaltijd geen deel nam, gaf hij te kennen geen eetlust te hebben. Hij sprak met ons zeer verstandig, hield zich bestendig, hoewel hij zeer verwilderd uit de oogen zag. Wij gingen te bed. lk hoorde hem des nachts verscheidene malen roepen, en eindelijk besloot ik, eens naar hem te gaan zien. Ik vroeg waroom of hij geroepen had. Hij gaf mij ten antwoord, dat er gedurig menschen kwamen om hem te vermoorden, en als ik dan om hulp roep, gaan ze weg. Ik zeide, als hij ze met om hulp te roepen, zoo gemakkelijk wegjagen kon, dat het dan wel gaan zou, en dat hij maar wat moest gaan slapen. Na hem goeden nacht gewenscht te hebben, begaf ik mij weder te bed. Den volgende dag was hij zoo verergerd, dat wij hem bewaken moesten. Dan liep hij naar eene kast, en dan weder naar een der hoeken in de kamer, en ofschoon er niemand te zien was, riep hij gedurig, ziet gij die kwade rakkers niet, jaag ze weg, moeten ze mij vermoorden, kortom, hij ging zoo te werk, dat wij hem op moesten sluiten. Dit ging niet te best, doordien ons huis van boombast gemaakt was. Hij brak gedurig los, zocht naar mijne geweren en pistolen, maar daar ik, op het gevaar bedacht zijnde, die wapens geborgen had, bleef zijn zoeken doelloos. Dien nacht zoude een ander bij hem waken. Ik ging dus te bed, maar kon weinig slapen. Ik hoorde hem bij mij komen. Ik lag op mijn ledikant, of liever mijn stuk boombast, ongeveer drie voet van den grond, hij voelde bij mijn hoofd om, misschien denkende er pistolen te zullen vinden, doch dit was mis. Hij tilde mij met ledikant en al in de hoogte. Ik zeide: zijt gij dat Gliezen, wat moet gij? 0, zijt gij dat Vlietstra? antwoordde hij, het is niets, ik wist niet wat ik deed. Toen zijn bewaker tegen den morgen in slaap gevallen was, liep hij ongekleed stil weg. Toen ik opstond, was het mijn eerste werk naar hem te zien, maar hij was nergens te vinden. Denkende dat hij zich wel van het leven kon beroofd hebben, zagen wij in den put, en op andere plaatsen, maar nergens liet zich een spoor van hem ontdekken. Wij besloten eerst te ontbijten en hem dan te paard te te zoeken. Terwijl wij nog aan tafel zaten, kwam hij bij ons. Gliezen, vroegen wij, waar zijt gij geweest ? O! zeide hij, hangen! hangen moet ik! Ik ben voor den grooten raad geweest, daar ginder in het bosch zat de raad, om drie uur moet mijn vonnis uitgesproken worden. Wij verzochten hem te ontbijten, hij kon niet eten. Wij poogden hem gerust te stellen, zeggende, wij zullen zien, wat wij doen kunnen, maar hij riep, daar is geen praten tegen, hangen moet ik! Ik ging met hem naar het bosch, hij zoude mij brengen, waar de heeren van den raad gezeten hadden. Toen wij even in het bosch waren, riep hij, hier is het; op mijne vraag, waar hebben dan die heeren gezeten? zeide hij, ziet gij de stoelon niet, zij komen om drie uur terug, Het waren stompen van afgehakte boomen. Ik sprak met hem af om naar huis te gaan en hulp te halen, ten einde die heeren weg te jagen en zoo kreeg ik hem mede.

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Toen wij te huis kwamen, vertelde ik mijn wedervaren. Wel zei de baas, wij moeten hem zien te genezen, hij heeft in die kroeg slechten drank gedronken, naar mijn govoelen zal het best wezen, hem een flesch bitter te geven. Daar wij deze niet in huis hadden, werd ik gelast die te gaan halen. Ik ging om haast te maken te paard, en was in vier dagen er mede terug. In dien tusschentijd lag Gliezen voor de derde maal gerust te slapen. Toen hij wakker werd, zag ik, dat hij veel beter was. Ik vroeg, hoe het met hem was. Hoe het is? hangen moet ik, zeide hij. Ik deed mijn best om hem tot andere gedachten te brengen en zeide, kom dat is zoo niet, gij zijt van dien slechten drank bedwelmd, neem wat van dezen drank, dien heb ik voor u gehaald. Hij deed het en werd langzamerhand bedaarder. Ik maakte een kop waterchocolaad voor hem gereed; deze smaakte hem zoo goed, dat hij er nog een vroeg, zeggende, dat doet mij goed, het verzacht zoo van binnen. Hij verzocht mij, van zijn toestand aan niemand iets te zeggen, want hij schaamde zich er voor. Wij hadden het genot hem geheel hersteld te zien vertrekken. Ik had alles wat ik begeeren kon; maar daar ik niets meer van mijne familie hoorde, werd het verlangen naar mijn vaderland terug te keeren onweerstaanbaar, zoodat ik besloot Australie te verlaten, doch mijne terugreis, zullen mijne lezers in een volgend hoofdstuk vinden.

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HOOFDSTUK V Mijne terugreis naar het vaderland en het blijde tijdstip des wederziens.

Mijn besluit stond vast. Ik nam afscheid van den baas en mijne overige vrienden en ging op weg naar den zeekant om iets van Nederland te vernemen. Na een geruimen tijd op weg geweest te zijn bezocht ik verscheidene zeeplaatsen, maar wat ik ook vernemen konde, van Nederland niets. Ik vertrok eindelijk weder naar Melbourne en toen ik er aankwam, zou den volgenden dag eene stoomboot, het was de Great Brittain, vertrekken. Ik kon moeijelijk zoo spoedig gereed zijn en daar men mij de hoop gaf dat er met veertien dagen een zeilschip vertrekken zou, besloot ik zoolang te Melbourne te blijven, te meer daar er wel acht honderd passagiers op de boot waren, want het is in de warmte zeer ongezond met zoo veel menschen op een schip te zijn, en ik gevoelde mij daarbij niet al te sterk. De veertien dagen veranderden in eene maand. Ik bragt meestal den tijd met wandelen door, en op een dezer wandelingen trof ik een jong persoon aan, die mij vertelde het plan te hebben, met het eerst afvarende schip naar Engeland te vertrekken. Blijde een reismakker gevonden te hebben was ik meest bij hem. Zoo liepen wij weder een dag voor onze afreis druk in gesprek, met het doel om nog iets tot de afreis te koopen, toen ons twee heeren heel deftig gekleed op zijde kwamen. Zij zeiden dat zij gehoord hadden dat wij met een schip van Melbourne naar Engeland vertrekken zouden, dat hun dat verheugde, want dat zij ook dat plan gemaakt hadden. Zij zochten ons alle mogelijke vriendschap te bewijzen en boden ons aan om in het aanschaffen van het benoodigde tot de reis, behulpzaam te wezen. Bij een logement gekomen zijnde, boden zij ons aan aldaar met hen op behouden reis eene flesch wijn te gaan drinken. Mijn medgezel beviel dit zoo goed, dat hij bijna besloot van het aanbod gebruik te maken, maar ik gaf hem met een oogwenk te kennen, dat hij ze niet vertrouwen moest en wees het van de hand. Zij begonnen daarop nog vriendelijker te worden en klopten ons op den schouder en op onze broekzakken van blijdschap. Ik dacht, nu begint het tijd te worden om van jelui ontslagen te worden en zeide tot hen, heeren waar het u om to doen is, daar is het ons ook om te doen, namelijk om geld en dat is dus bij ons niet te vinden, en daarop lieten zij van ons af. Het waren van die zoogenaamde zakkenrollers. Wij waren verheugd van hen ontslagen te zijn, verrigtten onze zaken en gingen welgemoed naar het schip, waarop wij over de drie honderd passagiers aantroffen. Die wind was gunstig en wij vertrokken. Wij hadden op onze reis zware stormen te verduren. Bij Kaap Hoorn moeston wij veel koude uitstaan, iets waaraan ik niet meer gewoon was, en hadden ieder oogenblik gevaar aldaar met ons schip door de drijvende ijsbergen te vergaan. Wij kwamen er door Gods hulp behoudein door, hoewel vele schepen daar verongelukken, zonder dat er ooit iets van bekend wordt. Wij behoefden over de behandeling op het schip in geenen deele te klagen. Daar wij als passagiers aan boord waren, behoefden wij geen werk te doen, om reden dat het kantoor, waarvoor het voer, de onkosten had moeten betalen, als wij door werken eenig ongeluk

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gekregen hadden. Onder wederzijdsch vertellen onzer lotgevallen, bereikten wij in vier en tachtig dagen, de groote wereldstad Londen. Mijn medgezel nam afscheid van mij, en ik vertoefde daar acht dagen, voornamelijk om mijn Engelsch geld, in Nederlandsche munt te verwisselen. Het overige van den tijd nam ik mij voor om den Tunnel onder den Theems, dat reuzenwerk van twaalf honderd voet lengte, door menschelijk vernuft en menschelijke volharding gewrocht, in oogenschouw te nemen. De gids die mij vergezelde, verhaalde mij dat dit werk aan vele menschen het leven gekost heeft en dat het na eenigen tijd gestaakt te zijn, door dezelfde onderneming, die er mede begon, voltooid is. Men kan zich moeijelijk verbeelden, dat duizende schepen boven je hoofd zeilen, als men de helder door gas verlichte straat door gaat, en de vele kramen of disschen , met allerhande zeldzaamheden te koop, aanschouwt. Ook heb ik nog de oudheden, gouden- en diamanten kroonen en koninglijke wapens, in den grooten Tower, bezocht. De man, die mij daar alles uitlegde, wees mij verscheidene hokken in de muren aan, waarin koningen en edellieden in vroegere eeuwen gevangen zaten. Eindelijk vertrok ik met de stoomboot de Batavier van Londen naar Rotterdam en kwam daar op Zondag aan, in mijn hart God dank zeggende voor zijne gunst mij bewezen, om mijn vaderland weder te kunnen aanschouwen. Gaarne had ik daar dien dag in stillen ernst doorgebragt, maar door mijne lange afwezigheid, was de moedertaal mij vreemd geworden. In al den tijd, dien ik in Australie verkeerd heb, heb ik die taal niet gehoord, en dus nog minder gesproken, en geen Nederlander ontmoet, dan op mijne terugreis te Melbourne een Amsterdammer; maar dezen was het even als mij gegaan, zoo dat hij Engelsch sprak. Ik begaf mij naar het station van den Rijnspoorweg, nam plaats tot Amsterdam, en ging de wachtkamer binnen om daar met ongeduld te vertoeven, tot de deuren geopend werden. De minuten die ik daar zat, schenen mij uren te zijn. Eindelijk gingen zij open en met een snelle vaart begaf ieder zich naar den trein om een plaatsje in een coupe te verkrijgen. Ik was blijde, toen ik er in zat. Mijn ongeduld werd nu nog grooter. Ik had den trein wel voort willen drijven. De condukteur kwam de plaatsbriefjes nazien, de coupes werden gesloten, en het sein tot den aflogt gegeven. Met een snelle vaart gingen wij voorwaarts. Ik verheugde mij spoedig in Amsterdam te zijn, ten einde iets van mijne moeder, broeders en zusters te kunnen vernemen. Ik werd beklemd om mijn hart, als ik er aan dacht; want ik vreesde mijn geliefde moeder en mijn broeder niet meer te zullen zien, want zij waren bij mijn vertrek in een ziekelijken toestand, en toch werd mijn verlangen van oogenblik tot oogenblik grooter. Bij ieder station, waar de trein stil hield, gevoelde ik van ongeduld een onaangename gewaarwording. Dat ik mij verveelde, kan ik juist niet zeggen, want hoe wel het mij moeijelijk viel, in mijne moedertaal te spreken, mogt ik toch ondervinden, nu ik niets meer dan die taal hoorde, dat mij spoedig weder veel te binnen kwam, zoo dat ik veel van het gesprokene verstaan kon. Eindelijk kwam ik te Amsterdam en ik begaf mij met mijn bagage op weg naar den IJkant. Waar zoude ik beter naar toe kunnen gaan, om spoedig iets van degenen, die mij dierbaar zijn, te weten dan in het van ouds bekende logies der meeste Terschellingers, den Terschellinger kelder. Ik ging dus de Raamskooi in, om naar den reeds genoemden kelder te gaan. Bij het aankloppen aldaar zag ik drie personen, waarvan er twee mij

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eenigszins bekend voorkwamen. Op mijn geroep aan de deur van den kelder, kwam de dienstmaagd naar voren, en ik bemerkte, dat er sedert mijn vertrek uit Amsterdam, andere menschen woonden. Zij vroeg mij zeer beleefd, wat er van mijn dienst was. Zoo goed als ik maar eenigszins kon, gaf ik haar te kennen, dat ik er logeren wilde. De meid aarzelde; om van mij aftekomen, zeide zij, dat de baas en de vrouw op het oogenblik niet te huis waren en dat zij geen vreemdelingen logies verleenden. Ik zeide haar dat ik een Hollander en wel een Terschellinger was, maar dit deed ik zoo gebrekkig dat zij dadelijk er op liet volgen, o, man, daar geloof ik niets van, dat zijn maar praatjes, je bent een Engelschman. Ik deed mijn best om haar tot andere gedachten te brengen. Eindelijk vroeg zij zeer gevat, hoe is uw naam dan? Vlietstra, antwoordde ik. Toen begon zij toch wat meer vertrouwen in mij te stellen. Zij bezon zich wat en zeide toen: Vlietstra, Vlietstra; laat ik mij eens bezinnen, ja, eergisteren is hier nog een Vlietstra geweest, Eilardus genaamd, hij heeft hier nog gesproken, van eenen broeder van hem, die al dertien jaren weg geweest was, zonder dat zij in de laatste jaren iets van hem gehoord hadden. Nu liet ik er op volgen, dat ben ik, ik ben die broeder; daarna was alles klaar, en ik kon er dus blijven. Ik vernam verder van haar dat mijn broeder een zeeman was, en dat hij juist den vorigen avond met een schip uit Amsterdam was vertrokken. Hoewel verheugd dat hij nog in leven was, speet dit mij, daar er nu nog een geruimen tijd verloopen zou, voor dat ik hem te zien kreeg. Tegen den avond kwamen die zelfde twee mannen, die ik, toen ik bij den kelder kwam, had voorbij zien gaan, ook in den kelder. Zoodra de baas en de vrouw, die nu ook te huis waren, hen met mijn persoon bekend maakten, spraken zij mij aan, gaven mij de hand van vriendschap en maakten zich bekend. De eene was de veehandelaar Andries Bos, en de andere de zeeman Jan Koen beide Oost-Terschellingers. Betere gelegenheid kon ik niet gevonden hebben, om iets van mijne moeder en mijne zusters te vernemen. Tot mijne groote blijdschap vernam ik van hen, dat mijne dierbare moeder en mijne oudste zusters nog in leven waren, maar tevens bedroefde het mij te moeten hooren, dat mijne jongste zuster, nog maar kort geleden, overladen was. De avond werd verder doorgebragt, met mij het een en ander van Terschelling te verhalen, want aldaar was sedert mijne afwezigheid genoeg voorgevallen, en al woonden er ook andere menschen in den Terschellinger kelder, ik bevond mij er even als vroeger te huis, daar zij even als de vorigen, alles voor hunne begunstigers over hebben. De avond was om eer wij het bemerkten. Den volgenden morgen begaf ik mij, daar er goen Terschellinger beurtschipper afvoer, naar den steiger bij de Nieuwe Stadsherberg, om eerst per stoomboot naar Harlingen, en daarna, van de laatstgenoemde plaats met den Terschellinger postschipper, mijne reis te vervolgen. Het was een schoone dag, maar het getij en de wind waren niet gunstig. Dit gaf eenige vertraging in de reis, zoodat de postschipper bij de aankomst te Harlingen al vertrokken was. Ik besloot de haven langs te gaan, om te zien, of er somwijlen geen schuitje lag, dat dien dag nog naar Terschelling vertrok, want hoe digter bij het ouderlijke huis, hoe meer verlangen er naar, doch tot mijne bittere teleurstelling, waren allen mede al vertrokken. Ik moest dus dien dag de hoop des wederziens opgeven, en nam mijn intrek in het Terschellinger veerhuis. Door eene goede behandeling aldaar, en het gezelschap van een paar Vlielander loodsen, werd mijne

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teleurstelling eenigszins verzacht. Den volgenden morgen was mijn eerste werk naar het havenhoofd te gaan, om te zien, of de postschipper nog niet in de nabijheid was. In de verte zag ik eene kleine schuit aankomen, en bij het naderen verkreeg ik tot mijne onuitsprekelijke vreugde de verzekering, dat het de postschuit was. Toen het uur van vertrek uit Harlingen daar was, liet ik mij niet wachten, en was de eerste die op de schuit stapte. Wij gingen de haven uit, de zeilen werden geheschen, en daar wij eene stevige koelte hadden, kregen wij spoedig de duinen van Vlieland, en kort daarna den vuurtoren van ons eiland te zien. Naauwelijks was bij de aankomst te West-Terschelling het ruchtbaar, dat ik mij op de postschuit bevond, of er ging iemand naar Midsland, om mijne moeder die onverwachte, maar tevens heugelijke tijding te brengen. Ik begaf mij aanstonds op weg, en na eene wandeling van een uur, trad ik de ouderlijke woning binnen. Ik trof mijne moeder in eene tamelijke gezondheid aan, maar diep bedroefd over het verlies van mijne jongste zuster, dat nog maar eene maand geleden was. Zij had aan haar veel verloren, en gevoelde zich, doordien mijne andere zusters op eene andere plaats wonen, geheel alleen. Zij had dus door dien gevoeligen slag alle aanspraak verloren, maar had tevens geleerd in dezen Gode te zwijen. Door mijne te huiskomst hield die stille eenzaamheid voor eenigen tijd op. Zoo weet de Heer wonderbaar toegebragte hartwonden te heelan; had zij hare dochter verloren, zij had haren zoon, wiens gemis zij zoo dikwijls eene stille traan gewijd had, nu wedergevonden, en wie nimmer vreugdetranen heeft zien vloeijen, had ze dien eersten avond op de wangen van eene liefdevolle, moeder kunnen zien. Op het eerste nieuwjaarsfeest, dat ik weder op Terschelling mogt vieren, kwam mij te binnen, dat ik een jaar te voren in den vreemde op eenen berg stond, Gode biddende, dat Hij mij gezonde dagen schenken mogt, en mijne moeder zoude sparen, zoodat ik haar bij mijne terugkomst in het vaderland, mogt wederzien. Die bede is verhoord geworden, en ik beken dus dat de Heer mij wonderbaar in alle gevaren bewaard heeft, Hem alleen komt de eere toe. Hiermede zoude mijn verhaal ten einde zijn, maar ik vertrouw mijne lezers geen ondienst te doen, met er nog drie ware gebeurtenissen, die ik, om de orde niet te verbreken, moeijelijk in het verhaal van mijne lotgevallen konde invlechten, bij te voegen.

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HOOFDSTUK VI.

Bijvoegsal, zijnde drie ware verhalen

EERSTE VERHAAL .

In het verhaal van mijn verlaten van het schip heb ik reeds gemeld, dat er in Tasmania meest verbannen personen wonen. Deze, en vooral de booren, weten daar van gevangenen, somwijlen ten hunnen voordeele goed partij te trekken. Zij doen daartoe eene aanvraag aan het bestuur, om in de drukte van het werk, gevangenen te mogen gebruiken. Dit wordt hun nog al eens toegestaan, als er gevangenen zijn, die goed oppassen. Zij huren dan gewoonlijk die menschen voor een jaar, tegen een klein loon. Tegen dat het jaar om is, zijn er boeren die slecht genoeg zijn, om die menschen door ze te mishandelen, tegen zich op te zetten. Wanneer hun dat gelukt, klagen zij die ongelukkigen op nieuw aan, zij worden op nieuw gestraft, en de boer is zoo doende vrij om hen te betalen. Wanneer dan hun straftijd om is, wreken zij zich op die boeren, door hen te berooven, en zij houden zich dan tot dat einde vijf a zes jaren in de bosschen op. Vaak steken zij, als zij genoeg geroofd hebben naar Victoria over. Dit was ook het plan van twee zulke roovers, die tot dat einde naar eenen schipper gingen, die tevens een herbergier was. Deze daarvan ingelicht, had zich uit voorzorg met gewapende lieden naar zijn schip begeven, want zij zouden het van hem opeischen. Toen die twee in de herberg kwamen, eischten zij eenen borrel, vragende waar de schipper was. Op het antwoord der vrouw dat hij niet te huis was, gaven zij te kennen dat dit hun speet, want dat zij hem zeggen wilden, dat zij hem zijn schip wilden ontnemen, om er mede naar het vaste land over te steken. Toen hun bekend werd, dat hij op het schip was, zeiden zij, er dan heen te zullen gaan. Toen de vrouw hun dat afried, zeggende: de schipper heeft gewapende lieden bij zich, zeiden zij dat is niets, u moet mede en voor ons uitgaan, en wanneer gij u verzet, schieten wij dadelijk met onze pistolen. Het scheepje lag op stroom, een weinig van den wal af, zoodat zij elkander konden toespreken. De gewapende lieden konden niets doen, omdat zij even zoo goed de vrouw, als die mannen konden dooden. Zij vroegen hem om zijn schip, maar lieten er op volgen, dat de roeiboot hun even goed was, maar dat niet meer dan twee personen, en nog wel ongewapend, die mogten brengen, want dat het anders het leven van hen of van de vrouw zoude kosten. De schipper deed het, uit vrees anders zijne vrouw te moeten missen, en zij staken er mede naar Victoria over. Zij hadden veel goud en zilvergeld, maar ook Tasmanische banknoten bij zich. Om van de laatste af te komen, ging een van hen naar een winkel om iets te koopen, vragende of men ook die banknoten konde inwisselen. De winkelier zeide van neen, maar een heer die ook daar was, gaf te kennen, het wel te kunnen doen, als hij met hem mede naar zijn kantoor ging. Het was eene politie-beambte in burger kleeding, die naar hen zocht. Hij werd gevangen, gezet, en gedwongen de schuilplaats van zijn makker op te geven. Beiden werden om hunne gepleegde diefstallen opgehangen. Op den dar der regtspleging, kwam de

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moeder van een dezer twee uit Engeland over, om hem zijn vaderlijk erfdeel te geven, en hem te noodzaken, met haar naar Engeland terug te keeren. Hare reis was doelloos, want zij trof haren zoon, hoe zonderling; maar tevens hoe droevig voor haar, op het schavot aan. TWEEDE VERHAAL Het spreekwoord: geen koren zonder kaf, wordt in Australie ook bewaarheid in het slechte gedrag van een Engelschen advocaat in Victoria woonachtig. Deze mijnheer wilde gaarne alle openbare vermakelijkheden bijwonen, doch het ontbrak hem grootendeels aan geld daartoe. Voor regtszaken te behandelen, was er evenwel geen beter te vinden. Nu moest er eens een bal plaats hebben, en daar het hem aan geld ontbrak, moest hij een middel bedenken, om het te bekomen, ten einde het bal bij te kunnen wonen. Den dag, waarop des avonds het bal zoude plaats hebben, vond hij er gelegenheid toe. Hij merkte op, dat er in de stad kort geleden een vreemdeling, met een onnoozel voorkomen gekomen was, en hij besloot dezen voor dien tijd tot het bereiken van zijn doel dienstbaar te maken. Hij trok tegen het vallen van den avond een oud pakje aan en ging de straat op, om den vreemdeling op te zoeken. Dit gelukte hem bij eenen boekwinkel. Daar stond de vreemdeling, naar het een en ander te zien; de advocaat voegde zich bij hem, sprak hem aan, bemerkde spoedig waar hij het liefst over sprak en maakte zich zoo vertrouwend dat zij zamen voortwandelden. In eene achterafstraat gekomen, pakte de advocaat hem aan, hield hem eene koperen kraan op de borst, en dwong hem zijn gouden horlogie en ketting benevens zijn geld af te geven. De vreemdeling, denkende door een pistool zijn leven te zullen verliezen, gaf alles gewillig af. Daarop nam de advocaat eene andere houding aan, trok een leelijk gezigt en verwijderde zich, hem schielijk toeroepende, zoudt gij den man nog kennen, als gij hem weer zaagt. De vreemdeling gaf er kennis van aan de politie en naar de beschrijving, die hij van zijn aanrander gegeven had, werd een man in hechtenis genomen, die wel wat op den advocaat geleek. Deze beweerde zijn onschuld en gaf te kennen, dat hij een der beste advocaten verlangde, om hem vrij te pleiten. Onze advocaat werd hem aanbevolen en toen hij ontboden werd, begaf hij zich naar den gevangene, die hem het voorval verhaalde. Hierop gaf de advocaat hem te kennen, dat het eene zaak van groot belang was, dat er op openbare aanranding met geweld, eene zware straf stond, dat hij dus gevaar liep of zijn leven to verliezen of gedurende zijn gansch volgend leven gevangen man te blijven. Hij maakte hem zoo bang, dat hij op het laatst hem eene dubbele belooning aanbood, als hij zijne onschuld bewijzen konde. Vier dagen later diende de zaak voor het geregt, en de advocaat kwam als pleitbezorger voor den beschuldigde op. De regter vroeg den bestolene, of de man die gevangen genomen was, dezelfde was die hem op de openbare straat door geweld beloofd had, waroop hij ja antwoordde. De advocaat vorderde daarop eenen eed van hem, en toen de vreemdeling bereid was, zeide hij, na vooraf die zelfde houding aangenomen te hebben, zooals hij het dien avond bij zijne verwijdering gedaan had, vriendje wil je zeggen, dat dit de man is die u bestolen heeft. De man werd daardoor eenigszins verlegen en riep luid, gij zijt het zelf. Wel, wel, zeide de advocaat daarop en wel op een strengen toon, hoe heb ik het nu met u. Eerst

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beschuldigt gij den man, die er voor gevangen genomen is, en zoudt er eenen eed voor afleggen, en nu zegt gij weer, dat ik het ben. Daarop keerde hij plotseling zijn gelaat naar de regters toe en zeide tot dezen: Heeren regters, spreek niet tegen dezen vreemdeling, anders zegt hij nog, dat gij allen het gedaan hebt. In het kort, hij bragt het zoo ver dat de regters den vreemdeling half voor krankzinnig verklaarden, zoodat deze blijde was, om maar uit de oogen der regters te komen, toen hij vernam dat de beschuldigde vrij gesproken werd. De advocaat had dus door zijne boefachtige handelwijze, eene goede zaak gemaakt, door eerst den vreemdeling te berooven en daarna eene dubbele belooning van den beschuldigde te ontvangen, door hem vrij te pleiten.

DERDE VERHAAL. Dat schipbreukelingen meermalen op eene wonderbare wijze door God beschermd worden, blijkt uit mijn laatste verhaal. Op de kust van Australie, strandde een jaar voor mijn aankomst een schip. De eene helft der manschappen vond haar graf in de golven, maar de andere kwam gelukkig zwemmende aan wal, en wel op eene plaats, die door de wilden, die mijne lezers uit het verhaal mijner lotgevallen kennen, bewoond werden. Zij waren zeer voor hun toekomstig lot bevreesd, maar de wilden namen hen in liefde aan, zorgden voor hen en deelden hunnen geroofden buit met hen. Na drie jaren toevens stierven zij allen op een na. Daar de wilden bemerkten, dat de overgeblevene verstandiger was dan zij, maakten zij hem tot hunnen aanvoerder op hunne rooftogten. Hij moest dus mede als zij om buit uitgingen, maar daar zij tevens bevreesd waren, dat hij, wanneer hij eenig spoor van blanken bemerkte, weg zoude loopen, gelastten zij hem wat achteraan te blijven, als zij wat digt in de nabijheid van eene boerenplaats kwamen. Op deze wijze bleef hij zeventien jaren hij hen. Toen weder eens met hen op roof uit zijnde, bemerkte hij sporen van schapehoeven. Hij hield zich stil, maar besloot van de eerste gelegenheid de beste gebruik te maken, om te onderzoeken of hij in de nabijheid van blanken mogt zijn. Eenigein tijd daarna, gingen zij alleen uit, en toen zij wat afgedwaald waren, ging hij aan het onderzocken. Na wat in de rigting, waar hij die hoeven gezien had, geloopen te hebben, bemerkte hij eene hut. Hij ging er op af, maar voor hij er aankwam, ontmoette hij den schapenhoeder, den bewoner der hut. Dezen vertelde hij zoo goed hij konde, want hij was de Engelsche taal meest vergeten, zijnen toestand. De schapenhoeder met hem bewogen, bragt hem bij zijnen meester, die daar nog maar kort geleden was komen wonen. Deze verzorgde hem aanvankelijk en bragt hem naar eene andere boerenplaats, die verder uit de nabijheid der wilden lag. Eindelijk nam men hem mede naar de stad, alwaar hij door vele nieuwsgierigen bekeken, en door belangstellenden met weldaden overladen werd. Het bestuur des lands stelde hem, toen het hun ter oore gekomen was, tegen eene goede bezoldiging tot tolk bij de wilden aan. Hij getuigde van hen, dat zij gastvrij, maar tevens ook niet te vertrouwen waren, zoodat hij een ieder waarschuwde, om niet met hen in aanraking te komen, en dus te zorgen, dat ze niet op hunnen grond kwamen. Hij had zijn best gedaan om hen te beschaven, en aan een

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geregeld leven te gewennen. Bij eenigen is hij in zijne onvermoeide pogingen eenigszius geslaagd, en waarderen zij reeds het goede, dat hij hun bewezen heeft, doch bij anderen hebben zijne bemoeijingen schipbreuk geleden, en tot eene grootere verbittering tegen de blanken aanleiding gegeven. Hiermede is mijn werkje ten einde. Mogten er onder mijne lezers gevonden worden, die door het lezen mijner lotgevallen, het voornemen koesteren, hun geboorteland te verlaten, met het doel, om zich in Australie te vestigen, dan hoop ik, dat mijn eenvoudig verhaal, hun tot een veiligen gids moge verstrekken.

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