Tears of the Moon - Di Morrissey [49]
Olivia laughed. ‘I think you had a fair share of the whisky as well. So, now we are pearlers. Hard to believe it’s real, don’t you think?’
Conrad gave her an effusive hug. ‘It’s real, by jove. At last I’m beginning to feel good about this country.’
On arrival in Broome, Olivia and Conrad rented a bungalow in Walcott Street from the Bateman family, who ran a general agency business and usually rented the house to French pearl buyers who came to town for three months of every year. Tyndall rented a smaller cottage close by the seafront on Hamersley Street, owned by a Chinese merchant.
He wasted no time in making the rounds of the hotels, back street drinking dens and boarding houses used by the polyglot collection of men from Asia and the Pacific who worked the pearling fleets. Because the season was almost over, some crews had already been laid off so he had no trouble finding several hands with good credentials. Before signing up the men, Ahmed was able to check the credentials of all of them with their fellow countrymen working on the fleet.
Broome was an extraordinary place and Olivia was enchanted by its boisterous, bustling atmosphere and air of derring–do. Even conservative Conrad admitted that it had a certain colonial charm and projected a sense of excitement.
It was home port for several hundred pearling luggers collecting mother–of–pearl shell used mainly for the buttons in clothing manufacture all over the world. Any pearls found represented a bonus—a little for the crew, a lot for the pearling master. In season and during the lay up months, the town was alive with stories, more often rumours, of pearls found, prices fetched, deals done. Shrewd dealers in pearls came from Paris, London, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai to buy Broome pearls for the world’s greatest jewellery houses. While the handling and marketing of shell was a very open business with few secrets, everything about pearls seemed to be surrounded with secrecy and intrigue. Stolen pearls, or snides, were filched by divers and crews and sold to known snide buyers or anyone prepared to resell them at a profit.
The ramshackle town was built overwhelmingly of corrugated iron, and paint was not considered important. The bareness was broken by efforts at gardening in some of the better homes, but by and large the town stood exposed and unadorned, baked by the sun or lashed by monsoonal storms, depending on the season. The commercial area was dominated by Chinese merchants who also acted as financial agents and money–lenders. The residential areas were divided into white and Asian quarters. While the power and authority rested in the minority European community, Broome was wildly individual, a white man’s culture veneered over a mix of Asian sub–cultures.
The most notable building was Cable House, an elegant iron and wooden structure with a splendid billiards room. This grandeur befitted the marvel of contemporary technology housed within—the telegraph cable connecting this remote outpost of the British Empire to London.
Within days of their arrival Conrad had called on the Resident Magistrate C. R. Hooten who, swiftly ascertaining that he was a gentleman with a wife of good background, made a note to add the Hennessys to his invitation list. Social stratas existed within the white community and new arrivals were carefully vetted.
‘I’m sure my wife will have your good lady over to meet the other wives as soon as possible. There are few ladies of standing in the community, though there are more than enough of questionable lineage.’ The broad wink he then gave shocked Conrad, who was a trifle unsure of just what the RM was alluding to, though he had heard about the proliferation of brothels from Tyndall.
Briefly Conrad told him of their sad life since arriving in the state.
‘Rotten luck, a bad business all round,’ commented the RM. ‘By the way I’d suggest to your good wife that she not mention her, er, contact with the Aborigines. We don’t mix with them, of course. Mind you, some are good workers, but only if they