Show Me the Sky - Nicholas Hogg [45]
A time of change is about our islands, a future uncertain. The greatest fear I have is that the Rev. Thomas will step into the shoes of Rev. Stevens, and cast his substantial shadow across my sunlit home.
3 March 1835
At last! After five months of nothing but an oceanic horizon, we have sighted land! And this time, as confirmed by Capt. Drinkwater, it is not a continent of storm clouds.
The silhouette of Mount Dromedary was a stately welcome to the east coast of New Holland, and only the loss of our dear friends the Stevens could tinge what was a most cheering sight.
7 March 1835
Rockier, craggier, and higher than any mountain on my kingdom of islands, this land, in which I am told could fit a hundred Fijis, surely rivals the most spectacular works of His creation.
Rev. Jefferson gave a lecture on the history of this vast continent, from the landing of Cook and the Endeavour, to the oddities of wildlife that roam the interior – including giant mouse-like creatures that bounce upright on their hind legs – and the miserable state of the indigenes ‘who thus far have remained indifferent to civilisation and the care of our Lord, preferring to wallow in a miserable and heathen savagedom’. At this point the rev. addressed me directly, stressing that if I should learn anything on this short stay, it be that ‘those who refuse a hand up will remain sitting down’.
As I complete this entry, a call has sung out that the Port Jackson lighthouse has been sighted. Tomorrow I set foot on terra firma.
8 March 1835
How wonderful it is to walk upon ground that does not creek, groan and roll! While the Caroline is docked and the capt. oversees her servicing, myself, the reverends and their wives will be accommodated by the most welcoming Mr and Mrs Holloway – Mr Holloway being the chief superintendent of the Port Jackson Mission. Their wide smiles and delicious spread – Rev. Thomas almost devoured an entire plum pudding – was a warming sight indeed after the grim stares of the townsfolk, many with jaws agape at a man with my skin colour dressed as well as a dapper lord.
Though we travelled through the heart of the town I did not have chance to see an aboriginal among the settlers. But tomorrow, after a reception and service from the Port Jackson Wesleyans, our party will commence a short tour of this far reach of the British Empire.
9 March 1835
Refreshed after a long sleep on a bed free of motion, I began the day with vivacity and an inquisitive mind as to the marriage of England and this distant isle, looking forward to questioning an aborigine on how, and if, the white man had improved his lot.
After a morning service in the Macquarie Street Chapel, attended by several scores of worshippers, we set about the town at a leisurely pace – now free to walk farther than a ship’s length before turning about!
A penal colony this settlement may be, populated with the most wretched felons plucked from the darkest alleys of England, it is a fair attempt they have made on this infant town, with many shops and houses replications of those found in their homeland.
While we walked from street to street, often pausing to hear the merits of a building and its construction orated by Mr Holloway, my gaze wandered in search of an aborigine.
But on this first day I saw none, just the same beggarly elements – including the soldiers and gaolers – that inhabit the drinking dens of London. Though Mr Holloway was quick to remark that this is a colony where the condemned man can earn the key to his lock.
When I asked Rev. Jefferson if Fiji were to become another English prison he assured me that King George had different plans, chuckling, ‘What punishment a bounty of fruit and fish with a sweetening breeze?’ He also added, with a little more sobriety, that he had heard rumours from Govt that the carriage of convicts was about to cease, as many of the Port Jackson population had now ascended their nefarious histories and assumed positions of considerable importance, with voice enough to deem it a cruel and inhumane treatment and demand its cessation.