Edith Cowan University Research Online

Theses: Doctorates and Masters Theses

1-1-1996

Katharine Susannah Prichard's Coonardoo : an historical study

Marion V. Austin-Crowe Edith Cowan University

Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses

Part of the Australian Studies Commons

Recommended Citation Austin-Crowe, M. V. (1996). Katharine Susannah Prichard's Coonardoo : an historical study. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/962

This Thesis is posted at Research Online. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/962 Edith Cowan University

Copyright Warning

You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study.

The University does not authorize you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site.

You are reminded of the following:

 Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright.

 A reproduction of material that is protected by copyright may be a copyright infringement. Where the reproduction of such material is done without attribution of authorship, with false attribution of authorship or the authorship is treated in a derogatory manner, this may be a breach of the author’s moral rights contained in Part IX of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth).

 Courts have the power to impose a wide range of civil and criminal sanctions for infringement of copyright, infringement of moral rights and other offences under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Higher penalties may apply, and higher damages may be awarded, for offences and infringements involving the conversion of material into digital or electronic form. KATHARINE SUSANNAH PRICHARD'S

COONARDOO: AN msTORICAL STUDY

by

Marion Virginia W. Austin-Crowe, B.A. Hons.

A Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the

Requirements for the Award of

Master of Arts

at thr Faculty of Arts, Department of English

Edith Cowan University

December 1996. ii

ABSTRACT

The focusof this thesis is Katharine Susannah Prichard's novel, Coonardoo ( 1929), and its capacity to provide a framework forthe reconstruction of the historical situation in the North-West regionof Western Australia during the period mid-1860s to late 1920s. The thesis has a dual purpose: to contextualise the novel in terms of the historical, political, ideological, and socialsituation; and to readthe novel in ways which reveal its reconstructionof the wider historical context.

My approach is a new historicist close reading of the text. Specific events or situations are scrutinised for their power to convey insights into the extra-textual situation. For example, the textualisation of the relationship between the white hero and the

Aboriginal heroine leads to an exploration of attitudes to interracial sexual encounters in the periodof the novel and in the author's contemporary milieu.

Included in this work is an exposition of the various industries which contributed substantially to the economic development of the North-Westregion. These are treated in some depth in relationto their historical circumstances but with particular reference to textual events and situations.

An important area of discussion is the socialand economic situation which developed between the European settlers in the North-Westand the indigenous populationof the region. Particular reference is made to the displacement, subjugation and diasporaof the region's Aboriginal population. iii

The pre-contact culturaland religiouspractices of the Aborigines of the North-West region,and the extent to which thesepatterns survived into the author's contemporary period,is investigated in the thesis. An appraisal is made of the author's claim that during her visit to the North-Westin 1926, she directly observedthe Aboriginal traditional formsrepresented in Coonardoo.

Prichard's own socio-culturaland ideological position is exploredin relationto the Aboriginal dimension in the novel. Especially relevantis the author's adherenceto the theory of Social Darwinism and to the view, prevalent in her society,that the extinction of the Aborigines was imminent and inevitable.

Prichard's novel is the startingpoint of an investigation into the social, economic and politicalbackground of the North-West region during the first sixty yearsof white settlement. The task of this thesis is to 'recover' the wider historical situation by reference to documents.journals, memoirs and newspapersof the period. iv

Declaration

I certifythat this thesis doesnot incorporatewithout acknowledgement any material previouslysubmitted fora degreeor diploma in any institution of higher education; and that to the bestof my knowledge and beliefit doesnot contain any material previouslypublished or written by another person except wheredue referenceis made in the text. V

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank all those personswho have assisted in the preparationof this thesis. Theseinclude the Librarians and InformationOfficers of the following Institutions and GovernmentDepartments:

Battye Librnry Edith Cowan University Library New Idea Magazine Public Records Office Department of Aboriginal Affairs Departmentof Land Administration Health Departmentof Western Australia

Thanks arealso extended to the followingindividuals:

Mr Ric Throssell for informationand permissionto quote from letter NLA MS 1174/1/2856- 7 of the Palmer Papers

Dr Richard J Maguirefor information relating to Turee Station.

I am especiallygrateful to my Supervisor, Dr Richard Rossiter, forthe help and encouragement he has given at every stage in the production of this thesis. It is trueto say, that without Dr Rossiter's unfailing support thisthesis would never have reached completion. vi

Maps

Page

Departmentof Land Administration Map 15 adapted to locatethe boundaries of the North-WestStatistical District in 1923-4

Map of Traditional Aboriginal Societies 95 vii

CONTENTS

Page Abstract )1 Declaration iv Acknowledgements V List of Maps vi

Chapter

I. Introduction: A New Historicist Approach to Coonardoo. 1

2. Construction of 'Place': The North-West Region 8

3. Pastoral Industry 41

4. Aberiginal Society 87

5. Gold Mining and the Pearling Industry 132

6. Conclusion 172

Bibliography 177

Appendix I 189

Appendix 2 193

Appendix 3 194 CHAPTERI

INTRODUCTION

A New BistorldstApproach toCoonardoo

This work undertakesa new historicist explorationof Katharine Susannah Prichard's novel, Coonardoo( 1929). In particularit scrutinisesthe author's constructionof the novel's settingin the North-Westregion of WesternAustralia during the periodmid- 1860sto late 1920s. The task of this thesis is the identification and explication of textual events and situations which areconstituted by, and are constitutive of, the wider historical context.

At the outsetit should benoted that this thesis doesnot undertake a literarycritical appraisal of the novel but performsa descriptive and evaluative reading of the text in relation to the historical background. For example, although a psychoanalytical exploration of the hero's treatmentof the novel's heroine, Coonardoo, based on textual evidence offeredan interestingline of investigation, this exploration had to be rejected in favourof a detailed account of the historical situation in which such rejectionswere frequentlythe fate of Aboriginalconcubines.

A new historicist reading of Coonardoois not inappropriate in view of the author's claim to the authenticity of the novel's subject matter. In the 1929 'Foreword to first edition' (referredto as 'Introduction'in the bodyof this work), Prichardstated that: 'Facts, characters, incidents have beencollected, related and interwoven. That is all'. (Prichard, 1929, p. v). Prichard made much of her first-hand experienceof the environmentsand industries which wereportrayed in her fiction. In her autobiography,

Childof theHurricane (1963), she recalledthat she had visited the timberlandsof the south-west beforecommencing on WorkingBullocks ( 1926); that she hadtravelled with Wirth'scircus before commencing on Haxby'sCircus ( 1930); and that her visit to a cattle station in the North-Westin 1926 had been the startingpoint of Coonardoo.

(Prichard, 1963, p. 254).

In a letter to Henrietta Drake-Brockman,Prichard acknowledged that her fiction was intended to be both factualand informative. She wrote: 'My work has been, chiefly, I

think, knowing the Australian peopleand interpretingthem to themselves'. (Drake­

Brockman,1953, p. 214). In her essay, 'Some perceptionsand aspirations' (1968),

Prichard emphasised the realist nature of her fiction when she wrote:

The specificcontribution Australian writers can make to world literature is an Australian view of places, people,traditions and customs, manners and ideas, in all their variations.... I have tried to bedirect, graphic and clear-sighted in my telling of the way men and women live and work in the forests, back country and cities of Australia. (Prichard, 1968, p. 244).

Thus, Prichard made a specific claim to social realism in her fiction. Bue this thesis will show that this was not a straightforward task and that, particularly in relation to the

construction of Coonardoo, the author was constrained by a number of conditions

emanating from the material conditions of the time. For example, ideological beliefs coloured her portrayal of the Aborigines, and social and political factors restrained her uninhibited documentingof the working relations betweenpastoralists and Aboriginal station hands.

Prichard's own situation is discussed in relation to the production of Coonardoo.

Particularreference is made to the author's economic and socio-politicalcircumstances obtaining during the period. Prichard's affiliation with the Communist Party of

Australia and her affinity to Marxi�t dr.ctrine is only briefly discussedin the thesis as this is not such an importantissue in relationto Coonardoo which, of al} :?i:chard's novels, is consideredto bethe 'least ideologically convinced'. (Arthur,1984, p. 43).

2 As alreadystated, the subject of this thesis is the reconstructionof Prichard's Coonardoo in respectof its text, context and production;and the investigative procedureadopted is the multi-faceted approach of new historicism.

As a literary theoreticalmovement, the new historicist approach tu the interpretationof literaturehad alreadybecome a recognisedliterary practiceby the beginning ofthe 1980s. At this time it rather belatedlyreceived its name fromits founder,Stephen Greenblatt. Greenblattexplained that in 1982 he had beendesperate to discover an umbrellaterm for a collection of Renaissance essays he was editing forGenre. Finally, he had declaredthey representeda 'new historicism'. (Greenblatt, 1989, p. I).

Greenblatt claimed to be 'quite giddy with amazerr..ent'(Greenblatt, 1989, p. I) at the speedwith which the new historicist theoretical movement came into beingand with the stir it caused in the academic world. New historicism, stated H. Aram Veeser, in the Introduction �o The New Historicism ( 1989), gave 'scholars new opportunitiesto cross the boundaries separating history, anthropology, art, politics, literature and economics'. (Veeser, 1989, p. ix). New historicists moved into these disciplines freelyappropriating their methods and materials in pursuit of their own investigative projects.

But the new movement has encountered some opposition from within academia. Resistance has come from history departments, amongstothers, and perhapsnot least, from within the realm of English language and literature. J. Hillis Miller, in his Presidential Address 1986 to the M.L.A. deplored the tum towards history and away fromtheory. He stated:

As everyone knows, literary study in the past fewyears has undergone a sudden, almost universal tum away from theory in the senseof an orientation toward language as such and has made a correspondingtum toward history, culture, society, politics, institutions,class and gender conditions, the socialcontext... conditions of production, technology, distribution, and consumption of 'cultural products',among other products. (Miller, 1987, p. 283).

3 ProfessorMiller recognisedthat the turningaway from theorywas a consequence of an overwhelmingdesire to engage with realities and concernsthat areimportant for society and a reluctanceto engage in a strugglewith 'theoreticalabstractions and barbarous words aboutlanguage'. (Miller, 1987, p. 283). He sympathised with the 'motives behind this change' but not when it 'tookthe formof an exhilarating experienceof liberation fromthe obligation to read, carefully, patientlywith nothing taken for granted beforehand'. (Miller, 1987, p. 283).

New historicist, Louis Adrian Montrose, in his essay 'Professingthe Renaissance: the poeticsand politicsof culture' ( 1989), took issue with Miller's view of unrestrained new historicist practice. Montrose stated that it was an oversimplificationto oppose the linguistic against the social. That to do so was to ignore the points of contact between the two concepts. Montrose noted:

any claim for what Miller calls an 'orientation to language as such'... is itself - always already - an orientation to language that is beingproduced from a position within 'history, culture,society, politics, institutions, class and gender conditions'. (Montrose, 1989, pp. 16-17).

The emphasis on the socio-culturalcontext in new historicist interpretations of literary works, in no way obviates the need forpatient and careful reading. Indeed, this is a fundamental requirement in its investigative practice. In the preparation of this thesis my methodof proceedinghas beento undertakea close reading of the novel, Coonardoo, with a view to fragmenting the text into the componentparts which constitute its environmental, social,cultural, politicaland economic framework. For example, I extracted various referencesin the text to: marriage, domestic work, drought, uloo, station buildings, cattle, etc. and treatedthese as separate units. From this purely quantitative ana!ysis it emerged that each of theseunits could beassigned to at least one of five major themes which together formed theessential structure of the novel.

4 In this way I have divided the text into five distinct discourses,as follows: the physical geography and environmental conditionswhich constitute the North-Westland division of WesternAustralia; the ethnographic and anthropologicalrepresentation of the region's indigenous people;the pastoralisation process;gold exploration and mining; and the pearl-shellfishing industry.

Each theme is treatedin the thesis as an autonomous subject with its own distinctive featuresand situation; bothas they arerepresented in the text and as they occurredin the wider historical context. The sequencingof the themes in the thesis is based on the order in which each theme becomesa significantfeature in the text, but tracing an overall chronological progression frompioneering days to the author's contemporary 1928.

H. Aram Veeser noted that the new historicist's approach to the interpretation of texts is to 'seize upon'a particular,often minuscule, event or statement; a surprising co­ incidence; or a seemingly bizarre practice. This is then re-read using documentary evidence from the text's contemporary situationto reveal 'the behaviouralcodes, logics, and motive forcescontrolling a whole society'. (Veeser, 1989, p. xi).

This practice has been a feature of the present work in which a brief statement in the novel can becomean entrance into the wider historical context. For example, a great deal of informationabout socialconditions can beextracted fromthe textual statement that the novel's heroine is 'booked for the island'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 197) . In particular the causesand treatmentof contagious diseases in Aborigines.

1 An explanation of 'bookedfor the island' is given in Chapter 5.

s Veesernoted that a 'key assumption'of new historicist practiceis 'that no discourse, imaginative or archival, gives access to unchanging truthsnor expressesinalterable human nature'. (Veeser, 1989, p. xi). Thehistory of the receptionof Prichard's novel

very much illustrates this situation. The value accorded to Coonardooas a cultural artefact has beenconstantly modified over the, almost, 70 yearssince its first publication in 1928. Late in this year it was accorded the Australian literary establishment's approval when it was awarded equal first-place with Barnard Eldershaw's A house is built ( 1929) in the Bulletin's £500prize novel competition.

Coonardoo's reception later in the same year, when it was serialised,was so hostile that the Bulletin refusedtexts based on similar subject matter - sexualliaisons betweenwhite men and Aboriginalwomen - forseveral years thereafter. In its bookfonn, Coonardoo appearedin ! 929, but received almost no reviewnotices and little public support. Subsequently, from the late 1950s the novel becamea high schooltext in the English Departmentsof Australian secondary schools. At this stage its value is somewhat ambiguous: being simultaneously a cultural and socialartefact. As a cultural artefactit retained its capacity to excite an emotional responseparticularly in relationto the fateof its Aboriginalheroine. But in the realm of sociology,as an expression of Australia's Aboriginal heritage,it provided students with a far from flattering,or accurate, view of Aboriginality. In the 1990sthe n vel has beenre-issued in paperbackas an example of Australian women's writing.

In the present work Coonardoo becomesthe basis of an interdisciplinary project which utilises the text as an entrance into the historical context it purportsto represent, and as an expression of the social and cultural forceswhich produced the literary work.

Adopting an interdisciplinary approach means that the two subjects in interaction, in this caseliterature and history,inevitably constrain as well asenhance each other. Thus, in the present work, factual infonnation fromthe wider historical situation has beenused

6 to illuminate the text but care has been taken to secure the status of the novel as a work of imaginative literature so that any inaccuracies of dating in Coonardoo, wherethey occur, are not represented as detrimentalto its value as a work of literature. At the same time the text acts as an inhibitor on the reconstruction of the historical situation; documentary evidence has to be omitted if it has no ci' reel bearing on the text.

The value of the present work is that it illuminates a numberof areas in the text of

Coonardoo, an importantwork of Australian literature. It also demonstrates that the novel, within its limitation as a 'literary' work, is an adequate vehicle for conveying the historical situation in the North-West region during the first 60 years of European settlement. This is a part of Western Australia's pioneering past which has received limited coverage; for the most part, in the form of chronologies of specific towns, personal memoirs, or family histories. The present work attempts to portray a broad view of thr early �ttlement of the North-West region based on the novel.

7 CHAPTER 2

CONSTRUCTIONOF 'PLACE':

THE NORTH-WESTREGION

Thischapter explores the circumstances surrounding the writing of Coonardoo, and in particularKatharine Susannah Prichard's constructionof the setting in her novel. It discusses tht; author's portrayalof the natural featuresof the landscapeand the working environment of the cattle station locatedin the North-West region of Western Australia

The chapter will show that in 1928 when Prichard commenced work on the text of

Coonardoo, she had a variety of very pressing reasons forembarking on a work of fiction at that particularstage of her life and forelecting to make the North-Westthe background to her text. Significant amongst these reasons was her economic situation.

Economic necessity as a motive for producinga literary text in no way detracts from

Prichard's artistic purpose. Stephen Greenblatt in his essay, 'Towards a Poetics of

Culture' ( 1989), noted that in the production of a work of art 'society'sdominant currencies, money and prestige, are invariably invr'ved'. Greenblatt, 1989, p. 12). In this chapter it will be demonstrated that both of these factors obtained in the author's life at the time of the novel's production.

The chapter will also attempt an assessment of some of the theories which have been advanced in relation to Prichard's presentation of rural scenery and pioneering, or near pioneer :.ng communities. In particular, an exploration is made of the theory propounded by Jack Lin\'.!say that a Marxist dialectical triad obtains in Coonardoo as well as in

Prichard's other works of fiction.The chapter will also investigate the claims of other theorists that a Lawrentianinfluence is pmsent in Prichard's depictions of countryside.

Also, that Prichard adopts the romantic n,ode in order to make her landscapesboth visible and literary.

8 A furtherpoint of discussionin the presentchapter is that the settingof Coonardoo is bothlimited and repetitiousin its construction; and that Prichard returnedto her previous fictionto obtain much of the material which is included in scenicdescriptions. It will also beshown that Prichard ameliorated the environmental conditions of the North-West and that this resultedin the depiction of a localewhich is artistically satisfying but which does not capture the essentiallydaunting ambience of the region. Historical data reveal that very harshand dangerous physical conditions wereprevalent throughout the North-Westduring the 60years that arecovered in the text of the novel.

In his biography of Katharine Susannah Prichard, Wild weeds and windflowers: the life and letters of Katharine Susannah Prichard ( 1975), Ric Throssell includes a letter written by Prichard in July 1928, soon after entering Coonardoo in the Bulletin's 'Great £500Prize Novel competition'. In this letter Prichard speaksof the novel, Coonardoo, as: 'The story of the Nor' West I've beentrying not to write'. (Throssell,1975, p. 53). This was, seemingly, an anomalous statement forPrichard to have made in view of her recently published works, three of which had North-Westsettings and which together covered almost all the action of the novel. Only a few months earlier she had received the Triad's prize for her three-act play, BrumbyInnes ( 1940); the previous year had seen the publication of her two shortstories, the prize-winning, 'The cooboo' ( 1927) and 'Happiness' (1927). Aduiiionally, all three works were concernedwith Aborigines and the living and working conditions which existed on pastoral stations.

A significant differencebetween Coonardoo and the earlier works, possiblygiving substance to Prichard's statement that Coonardoo is 'the story I was tryingnot to write', is that in Coonardoo Prichard presentsthe world of the North-Westas it is experienced by an Aboriginalwoman and a white man. Theshort story, 'Happiness', although narratedby an elderly Aboriginal woman,is restrictedto an Aboriginalperception of the world of thewhite settlers. Similarly, Thecooboo' is told entirelyfrom the viewpoint

9 of a young Aboriginal woman station worker. Thethree-act play, BrumbyInnes, focuseson a specific situation, a white pastoralist's sexual exploitation of Aboriginal women. Thetheme of the play is one of the centralstructures of Coonardoo, but in the novel Prichardattempts to explorethe situation as it is experiencedby the Aboriginal woman aswell asby the white man.

Cohabitation betweenwhite men and Aboriginalwomen on pastoral stations, whilst prevalent, went unacknowledgedby politesociety. To the socialsensibilities of the day it was unthinkable that a mutual attraction could exist betweena white man and an Aboriginal woman. Fear of socialdisapproval might, partly,explain Prichard's reluctance to make useof such a situation as the basis of her novel. In the event, her diffidence was not misplaced. The Bulletin's readershipexpressed a greatdeal of disgust at the subject matter of the novel when it was serialisedin late 1928. Nettie Palmer, in a journalentry dated 24 July 1933, recalled:

there was the hullabalooraised when Katharine's Coonardoo beganto be published serially, so many letters of protestarriving that the editor was thrown into a panic. (Palmer, 1988, p. 121).

From among her acquaintances, Prichard was censured by Mary Gilmorewho wrote of

Coonardoo: 'It is not merely a journalisticdescription of station life, itis vulgar and dirty'. (Quoted in Throssell, 1975, p. 54).

The story of this particular aspect of the North-West socialsituation had beengestating in the imagination of the author since her trip to the region in 1926. Ric Throssell sta�cd that the storyhad enteredinto Prichard's mind, 'as the aboriginesbelieve the spirit of a child entershis mother'. (Throssell, 1975, p. 52). But, possibly,the situation reliedless on imagination than Throssell believed. A letter addressed to Hilda Esson, dated 1 November 1926, written by Prichard whilst she was still a guest at TureeStation, stated:

The story of the place and its people- asit is - simply writes itself. fd 10 give anything to setit down as I seeit - but the laws of hospitality ... My host - even his nameis just right forhim. And how can I get away from it? Themost likeable typeof Irishman - I like him immensely... I have a large sympathy forhim, though of coursehe has the limitations of his type. (Throssell, 1975, p. 50).

Prichard'sNorth-West visit had beenat the invitation of the wifeof the owner of Turee Station. Prichardexplained in her autobiography:

A friend whose husband owned a cattle station in the North-west told me the incident which is the coreof The Cooboo'. She invited me to visit her. Jim was eager forme to accept the invitation, so I travelled four hundred milesbeyond the end of the railway to get the correctsetting for that short-story.There I found,too, the background forCoonardoo and BrumbyInnes. (Prichard, 1963, pp. 254-255).

The owner-manager in residenceat Turee Station at the time of Prichard's visit was Joseph James Mage.irewhose wife was Doris R. Maguire. (see Appendix 1 ).

The sequence of ideas as they appearin the letter of 1 November 1926,referred to above,that thereis a story that could betold but for the laws of hospitality which is followedby a description of Prichard's Irish host, suggests a possibleconnection betweenthe story and the host. Although it should benoted that the two referencesare separated by ellipsis in Throssell's text which might imply the removal of certain material. (The original letter has not beendiscovered in either the Esson papersor Prichard's papersheld at the Australian National Library). It is interestingto speculate whether thereis a link betweenthe situation which should not bementioned - referredto in this letter - and Prichard's admission that Coonardoo contains infonnationshe had beenreluctant to divulge. It is perhapssignificant that Prichard points on bothoccasions to prohibitions attaching to stories of North-Westernprovenance.

In view of Prichard'sdisquiet with regardto her subjectmatter, it might appear surprising that she electedto write this particularstory but, in fact,a multiplicity of circumstancesmay have influencedher to do so.

11 Immediatelyprior to commencingwork on the text of Coonardoo, Prichardhad completed almost three-quartersof the manuscriptof a circusnovel. Thiswas to have beenher entryin the Bulletin's£500 novel competitionbut, just threemonths beforethe closing date forentries to the competition,in February 1928, she abandonedit in disgust. In a letter to Nettie Palmer Prichard stated:

Have turneda boredand haughty stareat my stray leaves and notes for the new book.Can't bereconciled to 'em, interestedin 'em. Damn 'em'. (Throssell, 1975, p. 52).

Prichard's dissatisfactionwith the circusnovel can beexplained on bothsocio-political and literary grounds.

As a 'foundingparty member' (Wells, 1985, p.71; Hewett, 1969-70, p, 27) of the newly formedCommunist Partyof Australia, which came into beingon 30 October 1920, Prichardcould, undoubtedly, seethat her circus novel lacked any reallypenetrating socialor politicalinsight; for all it purportedto draw a parallel betweenthe circusworld and the circus of life.This was a serious omission as political commenthad beena key element in her newly published novel, Working Bullocks, ( 1926), with its call to workers to withstand exploitation by their employers.

Working Bullocks had also established Prichard's professionalstanding in the world of Australian literatureand the circusnovel lacked something of the aesthetic quality attained by Prichard in the earlier work. Possibly, this becameapparent to the author when she returnedto her manuscript followinga brief visit to the easternstates. Prichard's dissatisfaction with her unfinished circus novel, then, could beattributed to deficiencies in bothits socio-politicaland literary qualities. But an even more compellingincentive to abandon the manuscriptresided in the factthat she could not affordto continue with a literaryproject that offeredso little chanceof winning the£500

12 pri7.ebeing offered by theBulletin.

Economicpressures were building up in Prichard'sdomestic life. By early1928, the Throssellswere in deepfinancial trouble. Ric Throssellrecords that Hugo (Jim) Throssell,Prichard's husband, had beenplaced in charge of the family'sbudget by Katharine even though she wasaware of his 'carelessextravagance: but believedit was necessaryto show she had confidencein him'. (Throssell,1975, p. 62). Hugo had speculatedpersistently and unwisely,particularly in wheat futuresand in blocksof residentialland. (Throssell,1975, p. 64). Prichard, herself,referred to the 'financial crises'of early 1928. (Throssell, 1975, p. 53). The Bulletin£500 prize would meet the family'simmediate needsand Prichard urgently needed to submit a text with some possibilityof winning.

The Throssell family debt would continue to rise until by the early thirtiesit was estimated to be'something like £4000'.(Throssell, 1975, p. 65). Ric Throssell noted that followingHugo Thr0c.sell's suicidein 1934 his debts were assessed forprobate at £9659. !5s. 1 ld. (Throssell, 1975, p. 74). (Information supplied by the Departmentof Economics, University of Western Australia and contained in a note appendedto

'Acknowledgements and Abbreviations',in G. Bolton, A finecountry to starve in ( 1972), gives an estimated value of £1 in 1931 as beingequivalent to $33.50 in mid-1994. Thus, the Throsselldebt of £9659. 15s. 11 d. would have a presentday value of approximately $323 610).

Prichard had alreadyproduced successful literary works basedon rurallife; not only those which emanated from her recentfield trip to the North-Westbut also fromher days when she wasemployed as governessby station families in the eastern states. Her earliest literary achievementhad beena seriesof articlesbased on station life in the back countryof New South Wales, some300 miles beyondBroken HilJ, which had been boughtby New Ideaand serialisedunder the title: 'A city girl in CentralAustralia: her 13 adventuresand experiencesat "Backo' Beyond"'. 1beauthor's nameis given, variously, as 'Miss K. Pritchard'and 'KathleenPrichard'. (New Idea, May-October,1906).

Coonardoo fulfilleda numberof necessaryconditions. Firstly,the subject matter addressedan urgent socialproblem, stated by Prichardin 1956 as 'to drawattention to the abuseof Aboriginalwomen by white men - a subject that demanded immediate attention'. (Irwin,1956, p. 31 ). Secondly, it had a spectacularrural landscape which gave the novel a powerfulaesthetic dimension. Finally, it was in the tradition of her alreadysuccessful works in that it was based on the North-Westand on station life.

So, some 18 months after her return from the North-Westpastoral district, and seated at the comer of the verandah of her Greenmount home on the Darling escarpment overlookingthe city of Perth, Prichard commenced work on the manuscript of Coonardoo, which was to becomejoint winner with MarjorieBarnard Eldershaw's A house is built ( 1929) in the Bulletin's £500prize novel competitionof 1928.

The boundaries of the 'North-West'referred to in Prichard's Coonardoo, areidentified in this thesis as those of the North-West Statistical District shown in the Statistical Register of WesternAustralia, 1923-24. This Statistical District covers an area of more than 300OOO sq km. Thus, in this thesis, the southernboundary of Prichard's North­ West region is just below the Tropic of Capricornstretching from Minilya to Lake Disappointmentand then northwards via the Mackay and the Paterson Ranges. The northernboundary is in the regionof PortHedland. The regionincludes Roeboume, Onslow, the Pilbara, the North-West Capeand Exmouth. These boundariesare shown on the followingmap:

14 Departmentof LandAdministrat ion Map adapted to locate the boundaries of the North-West StatisticalDistrict in 1923-4 ,� WESTERN AUSTRALIA ,mo, __ _. •00�__ 200..__.;.,.. ..___ ""°�---'ooo'"

'.

I /ND/AN OCEAN

..... =· SANDY O(S(AT

..

C,t9SON 0£$1:LIIT

.. ·-·--.·-· GREAT "'""""" 0ESEl'1

,V.IN .... ,,. /ND/AN OCEAN Au.stralian Bighr

= = SO THERN OCEAN � � I � L------�------�------.J..C.------=------="------'

15 A geographicaldescription of the Nonh-West shows a regionthat is fringed by a coastal plain varyingin breadthfrom 75 km to 150 kms. Along the margin of this plain mangroveswamps fonnan impenetrable barrier for much of the coastline. The land surfacerises inland in a seriesof level terracesfrom 40 km to 150 km wide rising from

150 m to 900 m abovesea level. The centreof the regionis traversedby ranges of hills of which the Hamersley plateau is the most significant, averagingapproximately 100 km in width and rising to morethan 1200m abovesea level in the areaof Mount Bruceand

Mount Meharry.

Many rivers have their sources in the Hamersley plateau and run to the sea, in all cases their flow is seasonal consisting for much of the year of isolated poolsbut becoming raging torrentswhen cyclones and torrentialrain strike the region. Along the banks of the rivers eucalypts mark the channel of flowand large tracts of grassy land are foundin the areas of their floodplains. (This infonnation is taken from a number of sources including maps and descriptions in WesternAustralia: an atlas of human er.deavour

/929-1979. (Jarvis, 1979, pp. 20-23) and Journals of Australian exploration, /846-

1858, (Gregory and Gregory, 1884, pp. 94-95)).

The rainfaJI of the areais very uncertaintotalling 392 mm in the year and falling over 41 days during January and February and to a lesser extent in December and March but with an annual variation of more than 40 per cent. The area is subject to lengthy periods of severe drought.

The textual Wytaliba cattle station is described as 'a million acres between the Nungarra hills on the west, To-morrow ranges on the east and tributaries of the coastal rivers north and south'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 8). The names arefictional but the landfonnsare identifiable as those which mark the boundaries of Turee Station. Of which the Angelo

River formsthe western boundary and Tunnel Creekfonns the eastern, bothare tributaries of the coastal river, the Ashburton; ranges of hills arefound to the northand southof the property. 16 Ric Throssell, Prichard's son,who, as afour-year-old, accompanied his mother to the

North-West,is astoundedthat his mother could discover beautyin the North-West

landscape. In 'Delos of a sun god'srace or Mammon's demesne: Katharine Susannah

Prichard's Australia' (1984), Throssell recallshis own experiences of the regionboth on

his childhoodvisit in 1926 and on subsequent occasions. He wrote:

Even now, returningto Coonardoo country from the safe altitude of 20 OOO feet, I lookdown upon the red soil, the low blue hills, the dry creekbeds and washaways and find awe rather than beauty in the land below me. To step out from the safe air conditioned comfortof the plane into the parching heat of the North West that strikes like a physical force is to marvel that Katharine could see beyondthe physical discomfor'..s and find beauty in the wilderness.(Throssell, 1984a, p.10 I).

In the followingdiscussion, issues concerning setting raisedin Coonardooare developedwithin the context of Prichard's experiencewith Working Bullocks - both its production and reception.

Prichard had dealt at length with the natural environment in her novel Working Bullocks,

published by Jonathon Cape late in 1926. When it appeared, the novel was acclaimed

by both friends and reviewers alike as an outstanding literaryachievement for the

author, but it was censured for its over-emphasis on landscape; Prichard had allowed

setting, the South-West timberlandsof Western Australia, to completely saturate the text.

Discussing the place of landscape in Prichard's works, her long-time friend, Vance

Palmer, stated: 'Sometimes therewas toogreat an emphasis on the natural world'. He

recalled that, after reading Working Bullocks, HenryHandel Richardson had

complained: 'I can't seethe peoplefor the trees'. (Palmer, 1959, p. 18).

Ric Throssell recalledPrichard's consciousdecision to downplay environment in her 17 later novels. He stated that after WorkingBullocks:

Katharine did not repeatthe experimentof using the natural background to a novel asthe major elementin its construction. In each of her later novels the senseof place remains,together with man and work as equal partsof the triad.(Throssell, 1984a, p. I O1 ).

Throssellreferred to statements made by Jack Lindsay in his essay, 'Thenovels of Katharine Susannah Prichard'( 1961 ), that the defining featureof Pdchard's work is a 'dialectical triad of people-work-nature'. (Lindsay, 1961, p. 373). Lindsay noted that Prichard's novels areconcerned with the Australian scene and the struggleof the common-folkto beat home in it. Lindsay stated that Prichard's foremostinterest is with working environments and with the group. 'And for her the group is always the productivegroup: men and women united concretelyin labour-process'. (Lindsay, 1961, p. 367). Lindsay noted that Prichard selected her settings from communities and industries which wereat, or near, the pioneering phase - opal mine, timber mill, cattle station - in order to demonstrate the labour-processin operation and that Prichard uses these primitive settings to show the changes occurring in the community in responseto changes in the prevailing economic system. At the concrete labour stage,men and women unite to achieve communally understood goals;essentially they are exhibiting the relationshipscontained in the philosophy of 'mateship', which Lindsay also referred to as brotherly work. Prichard then shows the community as it suffers the trauma of entering the abstract labour-process when the cash-nexus enters the scene and labour becomesa productto bebought and sold in the wage market. But, Lindsay stated, Prichard is then able to demonstrate that those fundamental qualities of comradeship which were the sourceof human well-beingin the concrete labour-processare not lost but re-emerge in alteredform to 'threaten'the world of the cash-nexus. Lindsay stated that it is Prichard's grasp of the socialessence of work which liftsher representations abovethe documentaryand creates their poeticvalue. Lindsay goes on to say that Prichard recognisedthat socialessence includes morethan 'mateship', it involves the

18 'ultimate unity of labour-processand natural process'. (Lindsay, 1961, p. 373). Working Bullocks,he noted, is paradigmatic of this dialectical triad at work in Prichard'sfiction.

In WorkingBullocks', Lindsay argued, the timberworkers are merged with the world of work and nature but, because theyare exploited by the economic system, their humanity has beensubmerged and they aremere 'working bullocks'. But they arenot so vitally submerged that they have lost the potentialityto perceivea futurein which they areno longer alienated fromtheir own essences, their fellowworkers and nature.The workers arealso in conflictwith the naturalworld, they must 'fight to hold their own in the dangerous world of natureas well as to keep alive in the crushing worldof the cash­ nexus'. (Lindsay, 1961, p. 374).

Ellen Matos in her article,'Jack Lindsay's essay on the novels of Katharine Susannah Prichard' ( 1963), responded to Lindsay and suggested, at the outset, that Lindsay's 'article is more a meditation upon themes and ideas suggested by the novels than a study of the novels themselves'. (Matos, 1963, p. 413). Matos stated that Prichard fa1is co present a unified vision of life and that Lindsay overlooksthe unresolved conflictsin her characters' personallives between their loyaltyto community and its norms and their own well-being. Sophie, Elodie and Violet must relinquish the full development of their musical ability in order to remain true to outback values, and Prichard's pairs of lovers must sacrifice their natural inclination towards a mate in order not to breachthe values of society. In particular,Matos stated, Prichard never resolved the conflict betweenher love of natureand man in harmony with nature and her view of labour-process as necessaryto socialdevelopment. Au fond, Matos believed,'Miss Prichard hated the changes which were taking place, destroying what she feltto be a harmonious relationship betweenman and nature'. (Matos, 1963, p. 416).

In fact, Lindsay'sargument for a 'dialectical' processoperating in Prichard'snovels is not easily sustained. Nowhere in Prichard's works can it bedemonstrated that the

19 components of his triad people-work-natureinteract to producechange. TheMarxist notion of a 'dialectic'holds that t1 ,e inherentcontradictions contained within a situation arethe driving forceof change; and this processis not fullyworked out in any of Prichard's works, not even in the text of Working Bullockswhich Lindsay usedas the exemplarof his theorem.

Even though Prichard, herself,desired change in the timber industry, and in Working Bullockslists the 'real' life grievances of the exploited workersin the timberindustry, she cannot show the impetusfor change emerging fromwithin the materialconditions of the workers. The driving forcecomes fromoutside the community in the personof Mark Smith, an itinerant agitator (a Zolaesque figure) whogoads the workersinto strike action. In the circumstances, the strikerseasily succumb to their oppressiveemployers accepting little more than vague promisesfor the future; thankfulto regaintheir jobs. Nothing changes and at the end of the novel, bothRed and Debaccept their 'bullock' status, content to differ in only one respect,as Red says, 'But we'll breed.'(Prichard, 1926, p. 251).

Discussion now returnsto the main subject of the thesis, the text of Coonardoo, and to a deliberationon how Lindsay perceivedhis dialectical triad, man-work-nature, operating in this pariicular novel.

When Lindsay applied his triadic configuration to Coonardoo, he dispensed with the notion of a dialectical interaction. The triadic configuration hereis described as 'a threefold focusof personal character, work, and relationto nature'.(Lindsay, 1961, p. 378). It is in this 'unifying' role that the triad is generaliy accepted. Henrietta Drake­ Brockman,for example, stated that: 'Coonardoo is the most contained of all the novels ... and what JackLindsay calls the author's "dialecticaltriad of people-work-nature" moreartistically harmonious'. (Drake-Brock-rnan,1967, p. 28).

20 Lindsay's analysis of Coonardoodemonstrates that his triadic configurationoperates negatively in the text - failed personalrelationships destroy the land. Lindsay notes a further reversaloccurs because the dehumanising economic forceswhich exploit and dehumanisethe workers, the Aborigines, also degrade and deformthe power-wielding white employers. In fact,Lindsay po�its,the Aborigines are able to preservean element of their humanity becausethey retain their tribal unity and 'harmoniousunion with nature',whilst the whites have lost 'all natural harmony'. Becausethe whites hold false notions of the necessary relationshipsbetween themselves and the Aborigines,the whites have rejectedall possibility of 'the brotherly communion of work and its unity with natural process'. (Lindsay.1961, p. 377).

Lindsay averredthat the failedrelationship between whites and Aboriginesand its consequences forthe land are expressedin the relationshipbetween Hugh and Coonardoo. Hugh's false'pride' frustrates his relationshipwith Coonardooand leads to his final brutalrejection of her. Theland failswhen Hugh drives her away. Chitali makes explicit the connection betweenCoonardoo and the land when he says that 'Coonardoo'sspirit had witheredand died when she went away from Wytaliba... And that withering and dying of Coonardoo'sspirit had caused a blight on the place.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 199).

Lindsay stated his agreementwith his view:

But the natives are right: and in Chitali's symbolism the fullmeaning of the tale unfolds itself. Coonardoohas becomethe very spirit of the Australian earth,which the whites of the cash-nexus aremurdering. (Lindsay, 1961, p. 378).

Ric Throssell recordedthat Prichard regarded Lindsay's articleas 'a wonderfully thoughtful and clear-sighted thing' but rather tooanalytical. She stated: 'I feelI'm an instinctive storywriter'. (Throssell,1975, p. 173).

21 Prichard,in fact,did not ascribea symbolicvalue to the role of Coonardooin the novel. Throssellstated in 'Katharine SusannahPrichard: a standardof value' ( 1984) that: 'She explicitly disavowed the suggestion L'1atCoonardoo was a symbolicfigure - a spiritof the land'. (Throssell, 1984b,p. I 0).

The contradiction betweenthe text and the reportedstatement by Prichard,opens up several lines of speculation. The possibilityexists that Prichard did not fullyunderstand her own text,so that it was left to later generations of readersand critics to recognize 'Coonardoo'ssymbolic significance as the land itself.(Modjeska, 1990, p. ix). A further possibility,and one that is offeredby Adrian Mitchell in his essay 'Fictions' ( 1981), is that Prichard was inadequate to the iitercll)'task she had set herself. Mitchell stated: 'Prichard is unable to defineCvUnardoo's personal relationship to [the land[ becauseshe has beenunable to creatr.· clear senseof Coonardooherself. (Mitchell, 198 I, p.119).

It is possiblethat Pr..;hard faced a socio-politicaldilemma vis-a-vis her text and her readingpublic. She may have beenreluctant to assign a symbolic value to Coonardoo either as the essence of the land, or as the exploited, ravished and dispossessed Aborig:nalnation, becauseto do so would call into question the right of the white settlersto tl:e land they occupiedand/or censure theirtreatment of Aboriginal employees. Frichard specificallydenied any such intention in her 'Introduction'to the first edition of th�� novel, when she stated that the Aborigineson isolated North-West cattle stations 'are treatedwith consideration and kindness'. (Prichard, 1929, p. v). Referringto this claim, Jack Beasley stated: 'The odd thing lies in believing... this on a detached intellectual plane, then writing such damning condemnations of the station owners in the stories'. (Beasley, 1993,p. 87).

Again, Prichard's denial of Coonardoo'sspiritual affiliationwith the land is perhaps a consequenceof the author's politicalcommitments which valorized socialrealism in writing. Even asshe constructedthe text, Prichardmay have beenaware that

22 Coonardoowas moving toostrongly towards a modernistsymbolism so that she deliberatelyportrayed the spiritual aspect ambiguously. She furtherobscured the issue by utilizing the narrativedevice of unreliablenarration: Chitali's statementlinking Coonardooand the land is transmitted throughthe consciousnessof the prevaricating Cock-eyedBob and then only in so faras he is able to interpretthe mystically minded Chitali's Aboriginaldialect. Even then Bob dismisses the notion:

'Aw, go to hell!' Bob exclaimed irritably. (Prichard, 1929, p. 200).

Prichard's choice of closed communities forher settingsis advertedto by Dorothy Hewett in 'Excess of love: the irreconcilablein Katharine Susannah Prichard' (1969- 1970). A predilection which she attributed to Prichard's training in journalism. Hewett stated that Prichard 'had always dependedheavily of the journalist'shabit of deliberately searchingout dramatic background, exotic places, exotic jobs ... opal gougers,pearlers, goldminers, timbercutters,primitive Aboriginals'(sic) and that: 'Most of the powera.nd insight had always tended to bewith the environment not the individual. The characters dissolve into the landscape'. (Hewett, 1969-1970, p. 29).

A.O. Hopein his essay, 'Thegreat Australian mirage: Katharine Susannah Prichard' (197 4 ), discussed Prichard's preoccupationwith community. He noted that Prichard 'painstakingly' visited the communities she portrayedin her novels and that these isolated groupswere for her the 'real'Australia and that outside these groups lifeis 'adulterated, corruptedor slightly bogus'.(Hope, 1974, p. 241).

The near-pioneering community which constitutes Wytaliba cattle station in Coonardoo, engages in just such a polaropposition. Fundamentally, Wytaliba is the site of order, and chaos obtains beyondits borders.Whilst she remainswithin the boundaries of Wytaliba, Coonardoois safe. Hugh knows this and when she wishes to accompany him to the coastwhen he is ill, 'Hugh said no to that. He knew the life of the coastaltowns 23 toowell to wish her to go nearthem'. (Prichard,1929, p. 68). Viytalibapreserves its Aborigines'human status but this is lost to AboriginesbeyopJ it.� boundaries: 'Hugh believedWytaliba peoplewere different from the blackson somany other stations. Poor degradedwretches, treated like dogs, worsethan dogs'. (Prichard,1929, p. 100). Order reigns in Bessie Watt's kingdom ofWytaliba in relationto Aboriginalconcubinage and it survivesher death: 'MrsBessie, Mollie understood,would not have Sheba sleepin the house... and Mollie decidedthat wasone ruleof MrsBessie's she would always enforce'.(Prichard, 1929, p. 99).In the adjoining property,Geary's station, Nuniewarra, chaos holds sway: 'Geary had beenknown as"a gin shepherder" forsome time and a familyof half-castesswarmed about his verandas'. (Prichard, I 929 p. 30).

A.O. Hopenoted that the dramatic tension of Prichard'sworks arisesfrom the disturbance of the socialmores in the community: the severing of the binding force encapsulated in the philosophy of 'mateship' that characterisesits socialessence. (Hope, 1974, p. 241 ). Hugh breaks the bondsof mutual dependencewhen he expelsCoonardoo fromWytaliba. Thereafter,the forcesof chaos invade the community: Coonardoo becomesdegraded and destroyed in the coc1stal towns (Prichard, 1929, p. 197); Hugh acquireshuge debts and degenerates until he is as 'dirtyas the boys'(Prichard, 1929, p. 195); and Wytal iba becomesthe propertyof Sam Geary.(Prichard, 1929, p. 200).

Prichard emphasised her intimate knowledge of the locations she chosefor her settings. In her autobiography,Child of the hurricane (1963), she recalled that she made visits with her husband to the t'.mberlandsof the South-West, the gold-rushat Larkinville, and that he had arranged forher to travel withWirth's Circusto gain authentic material for her circus novel. But, even so, her landscapesonly partiallyreflect the locationsthat she appropriated forher settings.

Richard Sadleir noted that Prichard'sdescriptions of settingare 'extremely subjective' not reallyrelated to the texturesof life and experience. He noted that when Prichard 24 depictednature it is 'neverunmanageable, never soawesome or so overwhelmingthat the humanbeing becomes meaningless'. (Sadleir, 1961,p. 34).

Prichard'spresentation of the North-West regionis largely in termsof its discomfortsof heat, droughtand dust:

Away fromthe homesteadfor two or threeweeks at a time,he [Hugh] movedcattle fromdry water-holes on to windmills, drovingnight and day whereverthere was feed and water. Eyes narrowedto slits against the fiercewhite light, swelteringthrough thick reddust, he kept the bullocksgoing acrosssun-blasted stretches of hills and plain. Drovers and beastsplodded, drooping and drowsing;the boysswayed half asleep as they rode. (Prichard,1929, p. 116).

This is as bad as it gets: the natural world is oppressive but not overpowering.

Although the novel is directlyconcerned with a forty year periodfrom about the year 1885 until the mid-l 920s,the text docs lookback to the early days of white settlement. The followinganalysis setsevents in the fictional text against factual accounts of the areaand era in order to demonstrate that Prichard ameliorates rather than accurately representsthe naturalconditions which were the 'real' lifeexperiences of thosewho encountered the region during this period.

It must beemphasised, that the comparisons are made with the fullrealisation that Pricharddid not intend to presentan historical novel, per se, but a literarytext which evokes the periodand setting.The analysis demonstrates an impulseto romanticism in Prichard's writing rather than to social realism,which would have been more consistent with her affinityto Marxism.

Thefirst steps towards settlementof the North-Westoccurred in 1861 when the region becamethe object of economicinterests. TheWestern Australian colony was little more than 30years' old, but the settlerswere already experiencing a shortageof grazingland. 25 Additional pasturage was essentialfor the continued prosperityof the colony. Britain was alsointerested in exploringthe North-Westwith a view to obtaining landsuitable forthe cultivation of cotton to replace Americanexports which had declinedduring the civil warin that country. The expedition to the North-West, under the leadershipof

Francis ThomasGregory, wasfinanced by bothBritish and colonial interests.

Gregory and his party leftFremantle on 23 April 1861 aboardthe barque, Dolphin, and came ashoreat Nichol Bay, not far fromthe site of the futuretown of Roeboume, on 14

May 1861. (Gregory and Gregory, 1884, p. 55). They spentfive months in the areaof the Maitland, the Fortescue, the Oakover, the De Grey and the Ashburton rivers.

Prichard chose precisely this location for the wanderings of Ted and Bessie Watt in the early days before they purchased the Wytaliba cattle station. A brief summary of their early history, states: They knocked about the Nor'-West a long time together, droving and cartingfrom the coast to stations and scattered mining settlements along the

Ashburton, the Fortescue and the De Grey'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 8).

Unfortunately for historical accuracy, Prichard also stated that this occurredafter Bessie had been a 'schoolteacher in Roeboume' (Prichard, 1929, p.8), and this would not have been possible as the firstschool in Roeboume was not built until 1873. (De La Rue,

1979, p.43). Textual evidence places the Watt family on Wytaliba cattle station by

1877. A mere three or four years could not in any terms be construed as a 'long time' as is stated for their carting and droving activities in the region.

Gregory's report detailed the expedition's progress through the North-West as it trekked along river beds and followed coastalrivers inland. '"leexpedition surveyed and made inventories of the region'sresources asthey travelled. Their progresswas necessarily slow due to the rough terrain over which they journeyed. Additionally,they were burdenedby the heavy and cumbersome equipmentthey took with themthat was

26 essentialfor their survivaland comfort. The expedition carried tents, cooking equipment,water andfood for several months, surveyinginstruments, guns, hobblesand bridles,all of which had to beconveyed by horses,many of which had beenlent to the expeditionand were unused to pack saddles.

Only a briefmention is made of Ted and Bessie's journeythrough the region. It is recounted,retrospectively. by Geary:

'Ted'ddrive the ration cartand she'd [Bessie] drive the bullockswith a couple of boys- blackimps - aboutten and twelve ... But it wasrough on the roads thosedays .... Damperand salt meat was all we had to eat, with a bit of 'roosteak or wild turkey now and then.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 37).

A limited menu constitutes all the hardships enduredby the Watts during their droving and cartingdays. Omitted from the text areany details of the gruellingwork that must have been entailed in moving a bullockteam over vast stretchesof ruggedterrain. Instead, the text takes up the reversal of sexroles in the distribution of labourthat occurredbetween Bessie and her husband: 'Here,'she'd say to Ted, 'You get the breakfast,and I'll get the bullocks.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 37). The text hints that their unusual division of labour has sexual implications, Bessie remarks:

'When Ted's with the rationcart I know wherehe is, and when I'm with the bullockshe knows whereI am.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 37).

'Drought-stricken'stretches of country werefrequently encountered by Gregoryand his surveyingparty. Men and horsessuffered extremes of thirstas they traversed the waterless plains and sandy desertsof the region. Gregory'sjournal entry for 7 September 1861 recordedan incident when the horsesfailed and he had to setout alone to lookfor water:

Two hours'heavy toil throughthe sand, under a broilingsun, broughtme to the ranges,where I continued to hunt up one ravineafter another until 5.0 pm without success.Twelve hours'almost incessantwalking, on a 27 scantybreakfast, and without water, with the thermometerover 100 degreesFahrenheit, began to tell on merather severely.(Gregory & Gregory,1884, p. 81).

Gregory'sexperience of near-deathfrom dehydration can beset against a similarevent in Coonardoowhen Sam Geary and Cock-eyedBob call at Wytaliba afterprospecting for gold in thehills. Theyhave almost died fromthirst, but it doesnot seemto have beena very greatordeal:

'Any luck?' Hugh asked.

'Not toobad - ' Bob began.

Geary'sreluctant growl rumbled.'But we near done a perishfor water, You.'

'Thegold's thereall right,' Bob said... 'But Sam got the wind up about therebeing no water and the camels clearin' out. So I reckonedbest thing we could do was to come in forstores.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 33).

Despitethe hardships that he endured,in the North-West, Gregory's final reportto the Governorof WesternAustralia was entirelyenthusiastic. He had discoveredmore than 2 or 3 million acresof land suitable forpasture and at least 200OOO acres of this land was additionally suitable foragriculture particularly adaptable to the cultivation of cotton. In addition, becausethe land was elevated well abovesea level, Gregory consideredit made wool-growing a viable prospect.(Gregory & Gregory. 1884, p. 96).

Of the natural productsof economic value, Gregory'sreport included an abundance of pearloysters; highly scented sandalwood,but toosparsely scattered to beof export value; a variety of fruitsincluding sweetand water melons; a wild fig; a sweetplum and a speciesof breadfruitsimilar to that foundin South Africa. (Gregory& Gregory,1884, p. 96). He furthernoted that the freshwater rivers, the Ashburton,the Fortescue,the De Grey,and the Oakover, carriedfish far inland; but th!\tthe only mineralhe had found wasiron. He consideredNichol Bay to bean excellentall weather harboursecond only to KingGeorge Sound, and that theclimate was !essoppressive than in the settledareas of the colony. (Gregory& Gregory, 1884, p. 95).

Gregorywas constantly excitedby the wealth of naturehe foundduring his expedition: abundant andbeautiful fish in rockypools, colourful birds, and strangeand exotic plants,one of which he describedin detail and as'without exception, the handsomest shrub I have ever seenin Australia'.(Gregory & Gregory,1884, p. 56).

Strangely,Prichard's text remainssilent on so many of thesenatural features. She directlyexperienced many partsof the regionnot only during her stay on TureeStation but also on the two lengthy journeysshe made throughthe area. In her letter to the Palmers of 17 October1926 she wrote:

It has beena splendid jaunt frommy own verycompatable [sic] boxof a houseon the hillside down south, and tooka weekto get here,with campings out by the way side, and will take a fortnightor moregoing home down by the Ashburtonriver and staying at stations on the way down. Then from Onslow by the coastal steamerto Freemantle [sic]. (NLA MS 1174/1/2856-7).

Prichard referredto her journey and a ten day muster in her letter to Hilda Esson of 1 November1926: 'And we go down before the worstof the summer - by the coastal boat fromOns low on Nov. 23 ... And next week I'm going on a ten days muster with men of the place, no other female, except perhapsa gin'. (Throssell,1975, p. 50).

The text remainssilent on the hazardsof the littoral district of the region,in respectof boththe dangerous topographyof its shorelineand its treacherousclimatic conditions. In the early days of settlementall communication betweenthe North-Westand the south wasby ship. The westerncoast which had beena graveyardof shipping fromthe early days of discoveryby the Dutch now becamethe causeof loss of life for the Europeans who settledthe region.

29 In 1867, sevenships werelost betweenNichol Bay andFremantle, among thesewas the Emmawhich disappearedwith 47 passengersand crew on board,including the Resident Magistrate'sson, TrevartonSholl. Thefate of the Emmawas never discovered. In Pioneers of the Nor'-West Australia(1913), LocltierClerc Burges, who had beena passengeron a previoustrip, reportedthat on that occasion,possibly due to anerror with the compass,the Emmahad gone agroundon the AbrolhosIslands and wasstranded therefor several days, during which timethe ship suffereda certainamount of damage. (Burges, 1913, pp. 29-30).

Jack Loney in Australia'sshipwreck coastand other stories ( 1986) recordedthat on the Cyclone Coast,from Cossack northwards, cyclones struckin almostevery year. In 1870 two luggers werewrecked offRoeboume and 2 menwere drowned; in 1875, four vesselswere sunk and 58 lives werelost. A late cyclone in I 887 struckthe Ninety Mile Beach and 40 vesselswere sunk or badly damaged and more than I40 mendrowned. The list goes on and even in the I 920smen were drownedand severedamage to shipping in the areais recorded. (Loney, I 986, pp. 88-9 I).

The loss of so much shipping adverselyaffected the entire community which was frequentlyshort of supplies and on severaloccasions came closeto starvation. The settlersalso sufferedeconomically when goodsthey sent to markets in the south were lost and consignments of stockthey had orderedfailed to arrive.

Almost everyfamily sufferedthe loss of at leastone of its membersin ships that sank or disappearedwithout trace. Theiranguish was mademore severe by uncertainty: it was not unknown forshipwreck victims to befound on offshoreislands or isolated beaches, weekslater.

Just such survivorshad been 19-year-old,Ivan Juric, and 16-year-old,Miho Baccich, midshipman,of theCroatian barque, Stefano, which waswrecked off the North-West 30 coaston 27 October1875. Of the seventeenmen aboard. ten menmanaged to reachthe shoreon an isolatedpart of the coast. Eight of thesedied of exposureand only Juric and Baccichwere alive on 18 April I 876 when by chanceCharlie Tuckey of Mandurah,the skipperof thepearling cutter, Jessie, landedon the beachto begreeted by thetwo young men. Tuckey, a pearler.had seen the Aborigines'fires and had come ashorewith goodwillgifts of flourand sugar. He knew that it was wiseto maintain friendly relations with the localAboriginal groups from which he recruiteddivers each year: previously, an Aboriginaldiver had murdereda crewmanon boardone of Tuckey's pearlingvessels.

Neven Smoje reportedthe incident in his article,'Shipwrecked on the North-West t:oast: the ordealof the survivorsof the Stefano'(1978). Smoje stated that in aboutthe year 1875 Tuckey had learnedfrom an Aboriginaldiver:

that a large vesselhad beenwrecked on the coast a long timeago, and that its survivorshad beencaptured andeaten by localtribesmen. including himself. It may well have beentrue; several ships had disappearedin localwaters in earlier years. (Smoje, I 978, p. 4 I).

Despitethe notorious reputationof offshoreconditions, Prichard's Watt family never have any apprehensionabout taking seatrips between the North-Westand Fremantleor Geraldton. Bessie sends hereight-year-old son, Hugh, to schoolby ship in I885 with apparent unconcernfor his safety at sea. Her most pressing fear is that Geary might 'go on a bender'and fail to deliver Hugh to the ship. She tells Bob:

'Paddy'))keep an eye on Hughie and hand him over to Captain Frenssen, who is an old friendof mine. Theschool peoplewill meetthe boat.' (Prichard, I929, p. 7).

31 Later,Hugh in his earlytwenties becomesill andis taken aboardship to Geraldtonand the voyage is a curein itself. Thetext reads:

thosedays on the fresheningblue seato Geraldton werelike lying in a cradle and beingrocked to sleepafter the long journeyfrom Wytaliba. ..

Hugh ate oranges... lying gazingover the blue dancing expanseof southernocean, sleeping, dreaming, thinking. not (Prichard, 1929, p. 71).

It is truethat the voyage betweenFremantle and the North-Westwas less dangerous after1881 when a steamship servicewas introduced and a monthly call wasmade at north-westernports from April to December.During the restof the year, De LaRue recorded: 'Thedangers of the cyclone season made the powers-that-bestop the service'.

(De La Rue, 1979, p. 117).

Again, the destructive poweris missing fromPrichard's presentationof inland cyclonic activity. Prichard's 'willy-willies' (referredto in the text by their Aboriginalname, 'winning-arras')are both picturesque and life-giving. The text reads: 'Red hazeof dust stormshid the homestead, and winning-arrasspun, dancing in long unsteady columns fromover the plains ... Coonardoohad been caught in a winning-arra,and a cooboo droppedinto her'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 74).

In the history of the region,cyclonic gales werefrequent and are describedby Nancy E. Withnell Taylor in Yeera-Muk-A-Doo: A social historyof the first settlement of North West Australia toldthrough the Withnell and Hancock families 1861 to I 90(1980). Taylor, granddaughter of bothfamilies, based her text on informationcontained in lettersand journalsof the Withnell and Hancockfamilies both of which wereprominent in the early days of white settlementin the North-West.

Yeera-Muk-A-Doo includes a referenceto the 'killer' stormof April 1872, which destroyedthe home of John and Emma WithneJI, tearing it from its foundation. The

32 experiencesof Emma Withnell arerecounted by Taylor:

It wasa night of terror. Emma. now advanced in pregnancy,suffered a deepgash to her wrist and it bled severely.To her horrorher baby, James Aubrey,who wasonly two yearsold, wasblown from her armsout into the storm.(Taylor, 1980, p.160).

Early the followingmorning the child was foundwedged betweentwo rocks'completely naked, unharmed, and howling lustily'. Emma then set offto visit her sister, Fanny, who was alone in a woodenhomestead, which, Emma discovered,had beencompletely demolished by the cyclone. Taylor describedthe situation that Emma encountered:

In this saddest of countries, this wasthe saddest thing she had seen. Fanny lay completely unconsciousin the rain soaked bed;her long fair hair, drenched,was drapedover the pillow. Cradled in her armlay her dead baby. They had beenexposed to the wind and rain during that dreadful nightand when the roofcollapsed it was partly supportedby the top of the iron bedstead. It wasthe bedsteadwhich saved Fanny, but not her baby, from certain death. (Taylor, 1980, p. 160).

The Bureauof Meteorology confirmsthat cyclones reachinland asfar as TureeCreek and beyond.Although they will have weakened after crossingthe coast,they still comprise winds in excess of I 00km per hour and can causemuch damage from flying debris and floodingfrom torrentialrain.

Prichard was aware of the Withnell family and their history and includes a referenceto Emma in the text. Hugh compares his querulouswife, Mollie, unfavourably with Emma Withnell:

And had not MrsWithnell, the pioneer woman of the Nor-West, brought up a large family on a lonely station, without sight of another white woman foryears at a time? (Prichard, 1929, p. 118).

Nancy Withnell Taylor recorded that Emma 'said in later yearsit wasthe loneliness and isolation she felt most'when she wasthe 'only white woman in that vastcountry'. (Taylor, 1980, p. 44). 33 Emma's sister, Fanny, returnedto the south. Taylor records that forFanny 'theNorth proveda life of sorrow'. Shehad lost a daughter, andthe baby bornin the gale, andthen in August 1872 her four-year-old son died of diphtheria Just 23 years old and Fanny had lost threechildren to that hard country. (Taylor, 1980, p�. 166-167).But this was not the end of her sorrows: in January1879, her husband, George, who hadgone south to purchase stock, was drownedon the returnjourney when the schooner,Rosene, was wreckedin a raging gale just offthe coast of Cossack. Fanny had enduredtoo much, 'she packed and left the North-West by the first vesselthat sailed fromCossack, returningto her mother and the old family home at Beverley'. (Taylor, 1980, p. 198).

The omission of so many of the region's more spectacular featuresmeans that Prichard fails to fully realise her North-West setting. And yet Prichard's presentationof the

North-West scene is praised by those who claim to know the areawell. Henrietta

Drake-Brockman stated: The opening passagesof that bookare in my opinion as fineas anything yet written in Australian creative prose... The impact of the countryside strikes clear and sharp, almost as if you see and smell it'. She goes on to say: 'Because I know the Northso well, perhaps I am unduly prejudicedin favour of Coonardoo, but I do not believe so'. (Drake-Brockman,1953, pp. 217-218).

A careful reading of Coonardoo revealsthat the landscapeis composed of a fairly narrowrange of elements. And a great many of these make their initial appearance in the first paragraphs of the novel. Thereafter,they recur repeatedlythroughout the novel.

In the following extractswhich have been taken from the openingparagraphs of

Coonardoo, I have emphasisedthe elementswhich are repeated throughoutthe text and have included in bracketsthe, veryapproximate, number of timesthey appear. This analysis wasnot rigidly carried out but it is fair to say these numbers indicate the minimum recurrence of the particularitem. 34 Thenovel openswith Coonardoogazing out acrossthe land towardsthe horizon. Coonardoo inventories the landscapeas she sits clicking two small sticks and singing quietly 'underdark bushes (12) overhung with curdy white blossom', near the veranda of the 'long houseof mud bricks and corrugatediron'. The Aboriginesare asleep in 'the brushwoodsheds beyondthe kala miah'. Coonardoowatches 'the plains(52) , the wide shallow pan of redearth ( 15) under ironstone pebbles(12) which spreadbefore her to the furry edge of the mulp (22), grey-green,under pale-blue sky'. (9) The next paragraph refersto the windmill and the station buildings, and the heat and the 'clear whitelight' (19), 'Trunksof gum-trees(20) werechalk white all along the drybed of the creek,( 40) and beyondthe creek, bareand red,soared the ridge of dog- toothed hills (38). In addition morethan 20 specificreferences are made to the 'Tomorrow ranges'.

Such a quantitative analysis might appearrather an empty exercise, to say the least. But in fact, the repetitionsgo beyond the text of Coonardoo and appear in Prichard's earliest fiction, 'A city girl in Central Australia': her adventuresand experiencesat "Back o' Beyond"' ( 1906), Herethe station environment is described in the followingterms:

As far as you can see, the country is WiBara. To the east, long and bare the plains lie. To the west, stony stretches and a long, low line of hills abovethe edges of the creektrees. In the nonh. again, arestones, gravelled quartz, ironand sandstone, with raggC\." mulga straggling among them. A muddy streammoves slowly round the homestead, with slender gums, in grey-greenleafage, hovering over it. (Prichard, New Idea, 6 June 1906,p. I 182).

TheNorth-West descriptions that appear in the openingparagraphs of Coonardoo appearto have their source in a 'big black exercisebook' into which the excited 23- year-old Prichard scribbleddetails of her surroundings asshe travelled by horse-drawn coachto takeup her positionas governessin 'the back country�f New South Wales' in

1906. In Childof the Hurricane( 1963), Prichardquoted from this exercisebook in 35 which she had describedthe Jagged rocks0�1 high ruggedhills' and 'the grey-greenof scantymulga-trees'. She hadalso written: 'Thecreeks were all empty beds of smooth­ worn pebbles' and'the plains, spreadwith gravelledironstone, lie black and glistening'.

(Prichard, 1963, p. 80).

Prichard'sshort story 'Happiness' ( 1927), which is virtuallythe prototypeof Coonardoo, also contains many of these elements. What is praiseworthy is Prichard's skill in finding so many ways of describing the same natural phenomena. In "Happiness" she speaksof

'those bushes with curds of blossom' (Prichard, 1927b, p. 103); 'the wedge of red and yellow purple-rivenhills' (Prichard, 1927b, p. 105); and '[a]crossa stretch of ironstone pebblesthe buildings of Nyedee homestead were clear in the high light of early morning'. (Prichard, 1927b, p. 103).

The inclusion of so many descriptive passages that reflect the New South Wales countryside of the series, 'A city girl in CentralAustralia' (1906), certainly appearsto contravene a statement Prichard made in 'Some perceptions and aspirations' (1968). In this essay she wrote:

For instance, I travelled to an isolated cattle station four hundred miles beyond the railways of Western Australia to have authentic details forthe short story, 'The cooboo'. While the spellof the back country was on me, and sights and scenesof the north-west were still glowing, I wrote Coonardoo and Brumby Innes. (Prichard, 1968, p. 238).

In fact, during her visit, Prichard expressed a very unfavourable view of her North-West surroundings. In her letter to Hilda Esson of J November J 926, already referred to above, she recorded that they were far from spellbinding:

The homestead is of corrugated iron - unlined. The flies and heat and dust - almost unlivable - to us other folk. Fliescrawl all over your food, and you just take them off- the dust stormpowders your meatwhile you eat. And at present - we're on salt meat, the flour is flavoured with petrol: butter ran out a few weeksago, and the new butter hasbetrayed our confidence. It stinks. No fruit,almost no vegetables - veryfew green 36 turniptops andso on. (ThrosseJI, 1975. p. SO).

A dilemma facesPrichard. in that she cannot simultaneously presentan authentic North­

West background and maintain the position stated in her Jetter to Henrietta Drake­

Brockman:

Also, everybody seemedto me to be living in the shadow of Lawson. And Lawson's pictures and atmospherewere mostly of a greyand distressing country. I wantedto bring a realizationof the beauty and vigour of our life to Australian literature.I think I did usecolour when most peoplewere writing in neutral tints. (Drake-Brockman. 1953, p. 214).

Prichard'slandscapes have escapedcomparison with Lawson's. although his philosophy of 'mateship' is a central structure in her portrayal of pioneering communities and industries. On the other hand. her descriptions of landscapesand working environments have not escapedcomparison with the works of D.H. Lawrence. In Katharine

Susannah Prichard ( 1967). Drake-Brockman stated that the Lawrentian influence in

Prichard's work is 'difficult to discount. notably in Working Bullocks, published in 1926'.

(Drake-Brockman. 1967. p. 6).

In 'Some perceptions and aspiration' ( 1968). Prichard denied that Lawrence was of any great significance in the development of her descriptive prose. She stated, not unambiguously: Then the cult of D.H. Lawrence dominated English writing. I was not influenced by it more than other writers of my time'. (Prichard, 1968, p. 243).

Prichard had some correspondence with Lawrence during the 1920s. She quoted extracts from these letters in her article, 'Lawrence in Australia' ( 1950). OveralJ, it was her contention that Lawrence 'failedas a writer of the first magnitude' because 'he transferred hispsychological vagaries, his 'fear of death and impotence',to many of the characters in his novels. Prichard consideredthat Lawrence'sgenius was blighted by the

'drossand rubbleof those fears'but that 'thebeauty of Lawrence'sdescriptive writing' 37 would survive.(Prichard, 1950, p. 259).

Comparisons betweenPrichard and Lawrencewere not in�uent and on occasion Lawrencewas considered the lesser writer. Muir Holbom'sarticle, 'Katharine Susannah Prichard' ( 1951), lauds Prichard'swork in the followingterms: 'It is hard to think of any English-speakingnovelist in whosework is felt so constantly the struggle,the tension the active relationshipbetween man and nature'.(Holbom, 1951, p. 236). Holbomgoes on to say:

D.H. Lawrenceis an author who is often thought of as particularly successful in revealingthe man-naturerelationship, but in Lawrencethe intercourseis nearly always one-sided.... Man's defiance usually ends in squirmingdefeat and death, unless ... he yields up his essentially human qualities and subsides into some curiously passivestate of accordwith Nature.Katharine Prichard's chief characterswill not acknowledge defeat even in the midst of desolation. They remainresolute in their faithand integrity. Coonardoo, shornof all hopeor consolation, is unbroken. (Holbom,1951, p. 236).

Richard Sadleir referredto the 'general over-estimationof the writings of Katharine Susannah Prichard' and describedthe aboveanalysis by Holbom as 'a curious derangement of literary values'. (Sadleir, 1961, p. 31). In fact,the 'resolute... faithand jntegrity' of Coonardoo referredto by Holbomis entirelya consequence of Coonardoo's incapacity to understand or reactto the events which have destroyed her. Coonardoo's faith is bothtragic and misplaced and her passivity so greatthat she literally becomes partof the natural surroundings in death: 'Her armsand legs, falling apart,looked like those blackened and broken sticks besidethe fire'.(Prichard, 1929, p. 206).

Not every literarycritic has seen a Lawrentianstrain in Prichard's works. Notably, H.M. Green,in A historyof Australian literature ( 1961), who stated:

Prichardhas been called a discipleof Lawrence: she admireshim and for her asfor other writersof her period'he liftedhorizons and gave us a confidenceof attack',but there is no other resemblance,except perhaps in a couple of passagesthat werewritten before she hadread any of his 38 books. (Green,1961, p. 1010).

Thisstatement is well justifiedbecause, as already stated, Prichard'slandscapes have their beginningsin herjourneys to theback country of New SouthWales andVictoria in 1905and 1906and, thus, they predateLawrence's first novel Sonsand Lovers which wasnot published until 1913.

KaterynaArthur in heressay, 'Katharine SusannahPrichard and the negativetext' ( 1984), exploredPrichard's presentation of the Australian landscape. Arthuremphasised that Prichardwas the pioneer writerof Australianlandscape and that she 'put into words what the pioneer paintersa centuryand morebefore her had struggledto representon canvas'. (Arthur,1984, p. 38). Arthurnoted that Prichard's scenesare 'painterly rather than photographic'and 'romanticrather than documentary'. (Arthur,1984, p. 40). Arthur stated that Prichardset herself the task of making Australialess strangefor both Australian city dwellers andoverseas readers alike.Thus she adopts the conventions of Europeanromanticism with its familiar imageryand is content to createcolc,urful and seductiveimages of texture and colour. It is Arthur'sview that Prichard'wa,1ts to bring the Australianlandscape into view and at the same timeshe wants to recon:mendit to her readersas asubject worthy of literaryattention'. (Arthur, 1984, p. 40).

Literary purposeis an importantconsideration in Prichard's presentationof landscapein Coonardoo. Equally compellingis her deepaffection for theAustralian countryside. In 'Theland I love' (1958), which firstappeared in Thehome annualin 1936, Prichard declared:'I love everyinch of Australia'. In lyrical proseshe salutesevery aspect of the Australian landscape, includingthe sceneryof the North-West withits:

Plains, dove-grey and green, under malice and curari bush, beyond Meekatharraand theAshburton, broken by the blue backsof hills like prehistoricmonsters: redearth of the gold fields,tom by the shimmering wraiths of salt lakes anddead rivers: thegorgeous tapestry of the sand plains in spring time,woven withwild flowerspink, yellow, saffron, purple,blue and scarlet. (Prichard,1958, pp.26-27).

39 Although, it should benoted, in thesame article she hadharsh comments to makeabout aspectsof Australian societyand culture, which aredefinitely in themode of 'socialist realism'.

Thetopographic features and environmental conditionsof the North-Westare, of course,merely the startingpoint of Prichard'stext; the necessary foundationfor the economicand socio-political dimensions of the novel. The latter being largelyin a dependentrelationship with the former. For the most part,the text of Coonardoo is centred on events and activities relatedto the industrieswhich developedas a resultof the natural resourcesthat were discovered in the North-Westfollowing European settlementof the region. Of these,the pastoralindustry wasthe most significantand widespread. Thehistory and development of the pastoralindustry during the period mid-I 860sto 1920sis the subject of the followingchapter.

40 CIIAPl'ER3

PASTORALINDUSTRY

The focusof this chapter is the representationof the pastoralindustry in the novel and the reconstructionof the pastoralisation processas it occurredin the historical situation.

Prichard's text, either directlyor retrospectively,covers the entirehistory of pastoral development in the North-West region fromthe days when the firstLeases were taken up in the mid-l 860suntil the author's own contemporaryperiod when she undertook fieldwork on a North-West cattle station in 1926.

The chapter is divided into two sections, each of which traces a particularaspect of pastoralisationin the region. Initially. a largely descriptive account of European settlement in the region is given, including details of the activities involved in the foundation,development and maintenance of pastoral enterprises. This informationis basedon contemporary journals,memoirs and familyhistories and is set against parallel situations and events in Coonardoo.

Discussion then centreson the colonisation of the region. Referenceis made to the displacement of the Aboriginal peoplefrom their traditional homelands. Of particular interestis the erroneous assumptiGnmade by both legislatorsand white settlersthat the land of the region was not alreadyunder economicmanagement. Documentary evidence is presentedrelating to the subjugation and coercionof the indigenous people in thepastoral workforce. An explorationis madeof the legislative measurestaken for

41 the protectionof Aborigines. Again, misapprehensionis the foundationof the legislation enacted.This was based on the notion of the inevitable and imminent extinction of the Aboriginalpeople.

A particularpoint of study is the contradictionbetween statements made by the author in the 'Introduction'to the novel, to the effectthat Aborigineson remotepastoral stations werewell-treated, and the events she portraysin the novel which fails to supportthis statement.

F. T. Gregory'sjournal and reportof his North-West expeditionwere presented to GovernorHampton on 6 February 1862. The report wasgenerally favourablein regard to the potentialof the regionfor agricultural and pastoral development. In an Appendix to the report,Gregory stated:

It now only remainsfor me to give an opinion on the capabilities of the countryfor colonisation ... The total amount of land available forthis purpose... I should estimate at not less than two or three millions of acres. (Gregory& Gregory, 1884, p. 96).

Settlement of the North-Westcommenced soon after F.T. Gregory's reportbecame known. The firstsettler into the region was Walter Padbury who had earlier ascertained from Gregory that conditions in the regionwere suitable fora pastoral enterprise. Padbury immediately thereafterprepared fordeparture. That his aspirationswere high is attested to by the reportin the Inquirerdated 8 April 1863 which read:

Mr Padbury,an active and shrewdcolonist, has, on the faith of the explorers'representations, determined at a very heavy cost to form a settlementin the new country...

Upon the success of Mr. Padbury'sadventure will, in part,depend the immediatecolonization of an entirelynew country.and it may be, hereafter,a separateprovince. (Inquirer, 8 April 1863).

42 TheInquirer article noted thatPadbury had already purchased a surveyvessel, Mystery, which had precededhim to the North-Westand that he would followin abouta fortnight. The'Shipping Intelligence' in the Inquirerfor 29 April 1863 stated that the following expeditionwould besailing on that day:

Tien Tiso, 254 tons, J.P. Jarman,commander, for Nicol Bay andDeGrey River, Passengers - Messrs.W. Padbury,M. Samson, S. Ridley, J. Mccourt,C. Naime, D. Brown,W. Jones, G. Sivert,Boy (cook)and 5 natives. Cargo- 11 horses,6 bullocks,540 sheep,and provisions. (Inquirer, 29 April 1863). [spellingas original].

On arrivalat Nichol Bay, Padburyand his party'sailed into a glorious bay east of Point Lambertwhich they named "Tien Tsin" harbourafter the vessel which broughtthem to the North-West'. (Taylor, 1980, p. 26). They came ashoreon 6 May 1863 not far from the futuresite of Roeboume,but failedto find sufficientpasturage in the vicinity. Padbury returnedto Fremantle,whilst the rest of his partyremained and searchedfor a moresuitable site for settlement; which they eventually discoveredon the De Grey.

The secondsettler into the region was John Wellard who left Fremantleaboard the Tien Tsin on 8 August 1863. Wellard's partyremained at Tien Tsin Harbourand the Manager, William ShakespeareHall, built a houseoverlooking the harbour.Wellard's pioneering enterpriseconsisted of provisions and livestockof 370 sheep,26 cattle and 9 horses. (DeLa Rue, 1979, p. 15).

Other settlersfollowed and J. Battye recordedthat by the end of 1863, 'therewere three runsof 100OOO acres each beingstocked in the newly openedareas'. (Battye, 1924, p. 264). Theseruns were held by Walter Padbury,John Wellard and C. von Bibra.

Into this areacame Emma Withnell, Prichard'stextual exemplarof thepioneering white womanwho stands by herhusband throughall thehardships and dangersof frontierlife. (Prichard,1929, p. 118). TheWithnell party, under the leadership of Emma's husband, 43 John, embarkedat Fremandeon 23 March1864. The disasters they encounteredon the journeyto the North-Westwould beexperienced time and again by settlersentering the region.The story is relatedby NancyE. Withnell Taylor, in Yeera-Mulc-A-Doo(1980).

John andEmma Withnell had setsail aboardthe Sea Ripple with their two small children;John's brother, Robert; Emma's young siblings, Fanny and John Hancock; and three servants. The Withnells tookwith them considerableeconomic goods including livestockof 650 purebred sheep. draught andsaddle horses,cows and sheepdogs. They had sufficientstores to last forthe firstyear, including ten tons of flour,sugar, firearms, tools,farming gear, timber, and clothing. Their planned destination was the DeGrey northof Tien Tsin. (Taylor, 1980, p. 33).

The first stage of the Withnells' journeywas made in excellent conditions but just before they reachedNichol Bay they encounteredrough weather and the ship was swept along in a gale fornearly 200miles (325 km). Passengers and stock suffered badly, the latter beingthrown fromtheir feet and trampled. Finally, the ship founderedon reefsand was badly damaged. As they were closeto their intended destination an attempt was made to land the stockon shorebut the animals perished by their hundredsin the sea or in the quagmire which formed the coastline.

When the ship was finaJly repaired, Withnell had to contend with the duplicity of the ship's captain who refused to take the partyon to their planned destination. Eventually he agreedto land them at Tien Tsin in returnfor a further£ I 00from John Withnell. To resolvethe situation, recorded Taylor, 'John gavehim a cheque or orderon Mr George Shenton, a successful merchantin the Colony, who assisted settlersfinancially with low rates of interest'. (Taylor, 1980, p. 35).

Eventually, on 14 April 1864,the party arrivedat Tien Tsin to receivethe verywelcome assistanceof John Wellard'sManager, William Shakespeare Hall, and overseer,Olarles 44 McCourt. Taylor recorded: 'It wasthe acceptedcustom for a ship, on arrival,to sounda gun shot, with a secondshot on landing'. (Taylor, l 980� p. 37). Withnellhad followed this practiceand Hall had hurriedto the reliefof the party.

Whilst Emma, aged 21 yearsand very pregnant,camped out on thebeach with her small childrenand sister, surroundedby what remainedof their stockand stores, John Withnell, Emma's brotherand Charles McCourtset out to tryto recoverwhat stockthey could fromthe earlierlanding. On this expedition'they foundno traceof the missing stock'. (Taylor, 1980, p. 39). Although, apparently,some stock were eventually recovered.

When Withnell returnedto Nichol Bay, he foundthat his bad luck had not abatedand that most of his remaining storeshad beenwashed away in a gale. During thesearch for his livestock, Withnell had made an extensive surveyof the countryand discovered excellent land on the HardingRiver and decided to settle there. When the party eventually arrived at the Harding River, 'Emma named the hill behindit Mount

Welcome becausethe partyhad at last reacheda place of restand refreshment'. (De La Rue, 1979, p. 16).

De La Rue noted in regard to the storyof Emma Withnell's experiencesas told in newspapersand other accounts that: 'Unfortunately,these accounts contradicteach other in various details'. (De La Rue, 1979, p. 16). But DeLa Rue agreedthe journeyto the North-Westwas probably accurate in its essentialdetails.

Coastal conditions and shipping costs made movement into the region both hazardous and expensive. 'Freight was sometimes ashigh as 13s. persheep'. (Gunning, 1952, p. 133). Governor Hampton decided o assist settlementby encouraging the establishment of an overland route. TheInquirer reported Hampton's offerof '100OOO acres of land rentfn,e for 12 yearsto the firstoverlander who should drive a certain numberof stock

45 fromthe settleddistricts to anyspot north of the tropicof Capricorn'. (Inquirer, 31 August 1864).

Thischallenge wasaccepted by E.T. Hooley,who leftGeraldton in May 1866with 'nearly2000 sheep'. (Battye, 1924, p. 271) and arrived at Tien Tsin, later named Cossack, on 27 August 1866. The excitement of his arrival can be gauged fromthe words of TrevartonSholl:

Greatand glorious news forTien Tsin, Hooley hasarrived!! - This most indefatigableexplorer arrived hereat 1 pm. He hasbeen just three months from the GeraldineMine, lost only eight sheepen route,had not the slightest difficultyin bringing his drays across, foundplenty of water & a firstrate dray routethe whole way. (T.C. Sholl, Journal,p. 143; quoted in De La Rue, 1979, p. 115).

The Government's eagerness to expand settlement 1ft the North-West regioninduced it to offer extremely liberal terms and conditions forland allocationin the umdAct, 1862 (WA). The government's land regulations werepublished in the Government Gazette of WesternAustralia forTuesday, 23 December 1862 and came into force on 1 January 1863.

TheseRegulations divided the land into two classes: ClassA lands wereto be held on an annual License and comprised'all land within two miles of the Sea Coast, including the adjacent Islands'; and Class C lands provided for more 'extended occupation'and included all remaining land.An application forpermission toproceed to the North for the purpose of occupyingland under the Regulations was necessary and once granted the permission remainedvalid for twelve months.

46 Section 4of the Regulations provided:

Freepasturage for the Stockenumerated in an application, and fortheir naturalincrease will beallowed on the unappropriatedLands ..• forthe spaceof twelve months fromthe date of their arrivaltherein; and within this period,runs not exceeding( 100000) one hundredthousand acresfor any oneEstablishment, may beselected. (LandAct, 1862 (WA), s. 4).

The annual rentof bothClasses was 5/- per 1()()(l acres for the firstfour years, and 10/­ per I OOOacres thereafter.

Section 8 stated:

Leasesand Licenseswill betransferable while chargeable with rent,on its beingshown to the satisfaction of the Governorthat they have been properly stocked. (LandAct, I 862 (WA), s. 8).

In Prichard's text the original owner of Wytaliba station, Saul Hardy. enters the North­ West in the early days, at which time he 'tramped up and down the Nor'-West, droving, and loading stores'. Eventually he 'had taken up that stretchof Wytaliba country'. But he very quickly discovers that he is not suited to the life of a squatter. The text states: 'He had been a rolling stone toolong to sit down in one place'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 8). When drought and financialhardship cause Hardy to sell his Lease to Ted and Bessie Watt, the novel is describinga situation which was not unusual; many pastoral venturesfailed or were abandoned in the early years of settlement.

The first Lessees,John Wellard and Walter Padbury, veryquickly disposed of the Leasesthey had been granted. Wellard sold his Lease No. 1. of 100OOO acres on the Harding River in 1866 to W. Burges & Co for an undisclosedsum which was believed to have beenin excess of £2000. (Taylor, 1980, p. 108; DeLa Rue, 1979, p. 16). Wellardretained an interestin the Northas his daughter married A.R. Richardson who owned Pyramidstation and Wellardmade many visits there.(Taylor, 1980, p. 109).

47 Padbury allowed his LeaseNo. 2. to expire on 3 August 1867.

CaraCammilJeri in her article. 'Walter Padbury 1820-1907: pioneer.pastoralist. merchantand philanthropist'( 1971 ). detailedthe circumstances surrounding Padbury's withdrawalfrom the North-West. Thishad beenoccasioned. in part. by the lossof his ship. Emma, with all on board.including his brother-in-law, Charles Nairn. Cammilleri stated:

After this loss, and owing to the low price of wool then ruling.Padbury and �is friends were so disheartened that they decidedto abandon the country.... Padbury had the stockremoved in 1868, leaving behind wool press, buildings, and a quantity of other property.

Padbury's reason forabandoning the station wasthat it yielded no return but rather was a constant financial drain. (Cammilleri. 1971. p. 55).

Many of the early Leases were abandon. \V.B. Kimberly recorded:

During the year [ 1867] nine runs, comprising I O15 OOO acres, lapsedin the north-west districts, but others were taken up; the number of selections held at the end of the year was sixty-one, representing 5 805 OOOacres against forty-nine runs and 4 720 OOOacres in December 1866. Two of these runs were surrendered in 1868 when the figures stood:- Fifty-nine rum,, 5 605OOO acres. The statistics of stock in the north-west in December, 1868 were:- sheep, 38 580; cattle, 444; horses, 208; and goats, 23. (Kimberly, 1897, p. 211 ).

In Coonardoo, textual evidence suggests that Saul Hardy had first arrived in the North­

We prior to 1870. The text states: 'He had brought cattle west from the Queensland border in the early days'. (Prichard. 1929, p. 9). In fact.cattle did not arrive in Western

Australia from Queensland until aboutthe mid- I 880s. Norman Bartlettin Thepearl seekers (1954) recounted the reminiscences of an 'old cattleman' who stated that it was not until 'eighty-threeor 'eighty-four' that the firstcattle had been brought into Western

Australia from Queensland. Bartlett's informantrecalled: 'Bluey Buchananwas the first into theKimberleys with cattle... although theDuracks were pretty hard on Buchanan's

48 heels'. He also notedthat: 'In thosedays there wereplenty of cattle moving from

Queenslandinto the NorthernTerritory butnobody coming as farWest asthis'. (Bartlett,

1954, pp. 173-174).

Essentially,the North-Westwas a woolgrowing region. R.D. Sturkey'sthesis, Growth of the pastoral industryin the North West 1862-1901(1957), recordedthat 8 bales of

'dirtyunpressed wool' were sent south asearly as 1863 and that exportsof woolfrom the

North-Westhad increased to 294 bales by 1868. Theprosperity of the settle:-:. dci,en

Sturkey quotes the price perlb obtained by Alex McRae who received an average of 10 l/4d in 1869; 19d in 1871 and 21 112d in 1872. (Sturkey, 1957, p. 14). But fromthe mid-l 870s, woolprices beganto fall; from an average of I 8d perlb in 1875 to only 9d perlb in 189 I. (Sturkey, 1957, p. 17).

In the 'real life' situation, cattle were not considered economically viable in the early settlement period. De La Rue recordedthat as late as 1877 Farquhar McRae reported:

Sheep farming appears to be the only investment that is likely to pay here now, and stations are hard to be got. I have 4 or 500 head of cattle here now but they are not much good to me as I cannot sell them and there is little demand for Beef ... it would not pay to start a station with cattle here. (F. McRae to his father, 11 February1877, quoted in De La Rue, 1979, p. 68).

The cattle industry did not develop in the North-West until after World War I. (De La

Rue, 1979, p.68). Although it should benoted that records dating from the end of the nineteenth century reveal thatat that period there werecattle runsin the vicinity of

TureeStation: notably the McCay brothers stations at Roy Hill and Ethel Creek.

Thisfact is mentioned by Elizabeth Salterin her biography of Daisy Bates, DaisyBates: the great white queen of the Never Never ( 197 I). Salter relates the history of the Bates's

49 acquisition of their cattle station in the localgovernment districtof Windell; the district in which TureeStation is alsolocated. Wealthy pastoralistsin the area,the McCay brothers,had reasonto begrateful to JackBates who haddeveloped a vaccineagainst 'pleuro',an infectiousand fatal diseasein cattle, which wasdecimating the McCay hercl. Bates therebysaved the McCays fromconsiderable economic loss and in returnthe McCays showed him a parcel of goodpastoral land available in the area. Theland consisted of 183 OOOacres of excellent pasturein the Ophthalmia Ranges closeto Ethel Creek,and Salter stated: 'Any man preparedto work it could make money'. (Salter, 1971, p. 67). In aboutthe year 1900,the Bates family tookup the cattle runand named it 'Glen Carrick'. The land was otferedfor sale in June 1912. (Salter, 1971, p. 152). The followingadvertisement appeared:

Glencarrick. Threelots, two at 50 OOOacres, one at 83 OOOacres. Near Nullagine. Annual rentalof house £23. No improvements. Little fencing required on account of Ophthalmia Range. Water at 20 feet. Also from FortescueRiver. The Estate close to the GoldfieldsStock Route. Brand of 200lost head of cattle. Price 500. (Quoted in Salter, 1971, p. 154 ).

Salter stated that the advertisement 'tells its own story'. The Bates family obviously were not 'preparedto work' their North-West property.

The early development of Wytaliba was under just such desultory management. Saul Hardy expendedno greater energy than 'to sit down in one place, breedcattle and wait forthem to grow'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 9). Such a minimal effortwould scarcely have made it possiblefor Hardy to meet the £500annual rentrequirements of his one million acreLease let alone acquire'three thousand head of cattle'. (Prichard,1929, p. 8). Hardy's indolence doesnot accord well with the purposefulactivity neededby the early settlerswhen they entereduntried countryto establish their pastoralproperties.

The actual work involved in establishing a pastoral stationis outlined in diaryentries recordedby Alexander RobertRichardson and published as: Earlymemories of the so great Nor-West anda chapterin the historyof W.A. (1909; 1914). Thislater date refers to an updatedand expanded versionwhich includedmany of his earlydiary entries. Richardson wasa memberof the PortlandSquatting Company, fonnedin Victoriain the year 1864,which arrivedat Tien Tsin aboardthe MariaRoss on 2 April 1865. Not quite 18 yearsold when he arrived,Richardson was associatedwith the developmentof the regionthroughout the latter partof the nineteenthcentury. He went on to develop the Pyramid and the DeGrey stations. He waselected Member of the LegislativeAssembly forthe DeGrey from 1890-1897 and was Minister forLands 1894-1897. Thereafterhe resignedto becomea Trustee of the Agricultural Bank. (The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australia, Vol. 4. p. 2615). Richardson's memoirs of his experiencesof setting up his pastoral station during the early phase of white settlement in the North-Westcan be setagainst events and situations depicted in Prichard's text to reveal the extent to which it does,in the words of Roman Jakobson, 'accurately depict lifeby displaying verisimilitude'. (Jakobson, 1978, p. 20).

Richardson's memoirs indicated that the establishment of a pastoral station requiredthe expenditureof every ounce of mental and physical energy:

from the day you get your approval of the government granting you a leaseof the land until you can tum it out a going and, let us hope,a paying concern,with homestead buildings, station yards, hundreds of miles of fencing,sheep paddocks,water wells, dams, and in the present day windmills, troughs, outstation yards. (Richardson, 1909, p. 39).

Purposefuleconomic development of Wytaliba commences only after ownership passes to the Watt family. It is more particularlyrelated to the enterprise of Bessie Watt than to her husband: 'As a matter of fact, everybody knew hadshe beenresponsible for the managementand working of the station, ever since she and Ted boughtout Saul Hardy'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 8). Bessie could fit into Kay Schaffer'sparadigm of the bush woman of Australian fiction, who in 'exceptional circumstances'can becomea 'pioneeringhero' able to 'stand in placeof her husband, lover or brotherand take on masculineattributes 51 of strength,fortitude, courage and the like in her battle with UICenvironment'. (Schaffer, 1988, p.14).

But Bessie Wattis notable to entirelydispense with male assistance. Thetext states:

She talked wells and well-sinking with Charley half the night, costing and depths, and worked with him on a map she had madeof Wytaliba. wherewells ought to besunk; wherethey could bestbe sunk. (Prichard, 1929, p. 13).

Richardson's account of his entrepreneurialendeavours in the pastoral industryarc given in highly moralistic tones. He speaksof his 'yearsof patient work, planning detail, management and anxious thought and care'and of the 'yearsof anxious and economical contriving to obtain the needfulfunds forall thesenecessary improvements'. (Richardson, 1909,p. 39).

Financial contrivance is the province of Bessie Watt. It is Mrs Bessie who 'broughtoff' the deal with Saul Hardy: Ted could never have worked out, and brought offa deal like that'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 9). Conflicting accounts of the transaction arc given. The text states 'she planked down all the money they had saved for years', suggesting that the money is in the formof cash having beenhoarded and kept in the Watts' possession,but the next paragraph refersto the same negotiations in terms of a more sophisticated monetary transaction: 'Mrs Bessie made her bargain, wrote a cheque fora couple of hundredpounds'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 8). Either situation is possible,as banking facilities had been in place in the colony since June 1837. (Battye, 1924, p. 143). On the other hand, they were not available in the North-West. R. D. Sturkey recorded:

It was not until the 'eighties that a Bank was established at Roeboume. Until then the supply of money in the district had beenscarce and purchasesfrom localstores were paid foreither by woolor pearlshell. (Sturkey, 1957, p. 25).

52 Thedesire to remove Ted fromthe temptations of alcohol hadbeen the impetus for

Bessie's purchaseof Wytaliba: 'She hadan idea if theygot a place of theirown she could keep him away fromthe pubs'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 8). But this is oneof Bessie's plansthat fails andTed meets his deathin a fall fromthe 'balcony of a hotel in Karrara'.

(Prichard. 1929, p. 8). Thereafter, Bessie continues with her plans to developWytaliba but now the incentive is to provide an unencumberedinheritance for her son:

She was determinedto pay offthe mortgageand hand the station over to Hugh without 'a monkey on it'. Meanwhile she worked with an energy and obstinacywhich never flagged. (Prichard, 1929, p. 13).

Bessie becomesobsessed with securing Hugh's future. Everything is sacrificedand daily living impoverished to that end: 'hardand meagrethe life on Wytaliba had beenall those yearsMrs Bessie wasmaking the station for Hugh'. Bessie ignores her social obligations: 'If a drover or prospector strayed into Wytaliba therewas no whisky'.

(Prichard, 1929, p. 27). In this respectWytaliba station differsgreatly from the historic situation in regard to hospitality on pastoral properties. At Mount Welcome station, for example, the home of the Withnell family:

sick or weary travellers were assured of an hospitable reception, no matter how tired the family was, how hard the day had been, or what time of the day or night they werecalled upon. Lonely young lads away from home found Emma maternalto them .....some of whom she had nursed back to health after a severesickness. (Taylor, 1980, p. 74).

Bessie's lack of hospitality to itinerant white men was occasioned not only by her parsimonious naturebut for fear that they might jeopardise her economic goals by causing trouble in the Aboriginallabour camp:

White stockmen she refused to have on the place, because she said they would only make trouble about their gins with Warieda and Chitali, who werethe beststockmen in the country.(Prichard, 1929, p. 14).

53 But Bessie's relentlessdedication to the developmentof Wytaliba is not without

personalcost andas her bank balance grows so doesthe cancer in her stomach: 'always

thepain wasthere. She moanedand groanedhalf the night'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 28). But Bessie seesthe fulfilmentof her dreamfor Hugh andWytaliba. WhenHugh returns

fromschool she declares:

'Welcome home, my laddie. It's all yours.' Shewaved her hand to the wide plains and far hills. 'I've done the bestI could with it foryou.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 30).

During Hugh's schooldays, the text states: Theseasons were good, and MrsBessie was verybusy all those years Hugh was away at school'.(Prichard, 1929, p. 13). But froman

historical perspective the periodduring which Hugh was at school, approximately 1885

to 1898, had beena time of financial hardship in the North-West. R.D. Sturkey

recorded that:

In 1876 then, the Nor'west pastoral industry entered a depression which lasted about two decades. During theseyears, therewere two particularly serious slumps - in 1877 and 1890/92, and it is unfortunate that drought co-incided with each. (Sturkey, 1957, p. 17).

In about the year 1898, Hugh takes over the management of Wytaliba cattle station. He

remains in ownership, according to textual evidence, until about 1926 when a

combination of circumstances forces him to relinquish the holding. His economic ruin

is occasionedby a series of disasters and failures.The station has a long run of drought seasons: 'Again and again Wytaliba missedthe rains when almost everyother station

inland belowthe twentieth parallel got it'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 195). He also fails to keep abreast with trends in the pastoral industry,and regretfullyhe tells Phyllis: 'If only we'd

switched on to sheep - when everybody elsedid. But I've beenafraid of the dogs.'

(Prichard, 1929 p. 174). He hasbeen relyingon an unstable export market forhis horses in Singapore and the Straits Settlements; and at home, with the advent of motor transport: Thebottom had fallen out of the market forhorses'. Consequently, large S4 mobs of horsesroam the plains and have becomea pest.(Prichard, 1929, p. 194). The heavily mortgagedstation is eventually lost to 'Sam Geary [who] would probablybuy and workthe place from Nuniewarra'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 201).

• • • •

I should now like to considera secondand parallel strand in the historyof the North­ West pastoralindustry: the colonisationprocess and the subjugation and displacement of the region's Aboriginalinhabitants. Thisaspect of pastoralisation is not directly confronted in Coonardoo; although it is a silence which is not remarkablegiven the era in which Prichard wrote. Susan Sheridan in her essay, Womenwriters' (1988),stated: 'In fictional representationsof Aboriginalpeople in the periodbefore 1967 thereis a near-total silence aboutthe history of colonisation'. (Sheridan, 1988, p. 331).

The text of Coonardoo in no way contradicts this view. The colonial process,in so far as it is ventilated at all, is presentedin a series of anecdotes characterised by historical closure;being confined to the personalreminiscences of Saul Hardy. Hardy states: Thirtyyears I've beenin this country, and there'sthings I've seen... .' (Prichard, 1929, p. 104). Hardy's exposition of interracial encounters and competing land uses is excessively simplistic. He states:

'You can't help seein' the blacks' point of view. White men came, jumped their hunting grounds, went kangarooshooting forfun. The blacks speared cattle. White men got shootin' blacksto learn'em. Blacks speareda white man or two - policerode out on a punishing expedition.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 105).

The text adds nothing to the storeof socialknowledge as these situations werecommon knowledge when Prichard wroteher novel.

Saul also refersto the widely-known practice of chaining Aboriginesafter they had been SS UTCStedby policeor when they hadbeen kidnapped for pearling crews. The police, Saul says:

'Usedto bring the niggersin, in chains, leather strapsround the neck, fastenedto their stirrupirons. Twenty or thirtylike that, and I've seenthe soles of a boy'sfeet raw whenhe came in.

'And therewas black-birding too.... I've seenblacks broughtin, in chains forthe pearlers'crews. Only on a certainpart of the coast though.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 105).

Saul specifiesthat it is the policeand pearlersrather than the pastoralists who are responsiblefor the arrests andchaining of Aboriginalprisoners. Saul states:

The policewas makin' a goodthing out of "punitive expeditions".' (Prichard, 1929, p. 105).

This was frequentlytrue. Peter Biskup in Not slaves not citizens: the Aboriginal problem in WesternAustralia, 1898-/954 ( 1973), stated: 'Since a constable could claim a daily living allowance of 24 cents [ I Sd] "per knob" for all aborigines arrested,women and childrenwere usually brought in as "witnesses" in order to swell the numberof prisoners'. (Biskup. 1973, pp. 32-33).

These payments made a useful addition to police pay especiallyas very little was spent on feeding the prisoners. Saul Hardy makes the point: 'Never spent eighteen pence a nob on 'em either. Police'd let one or two men hunt for the rest, bring in kangaroo.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 105). At the same time. many arrestswere at the instigation of station owners who requiredthe policeto hunt down and return runawayAboriginal workers to their white 'owners'.

The text never really grapples with the disruptiveforces of colonisation: displacement of the Aboriginesfrom their homelandsdestroyed the roundations of their cultural and spirituallife just assurely as the pastoral processdestroyed the substructureof their 56 economiclife.

Thewhite ownersof Wytalibado notquestion theirright to occupythe land. They consider that it is morallyand legally theirsby virtue ofthe physical energyand financialresources that they have expendedon its development. As alreadynoted, Bessie hasno uneasewhen she gives the land to Hugh, stating:

'It's all yours.'She waved her handto the wide plains and farhills. 'I've done the bestI could with it foryou.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 30).

A.R. Richardson's memoirs gave voice to a similar view when he reflectedon the mind­ set of the white colonist confronting for the firsttime the land and peopleto be colonised.Of particularrelevance was the notion that the land was not alreadyunder Aboriginaleconomic management. Richardson reflectedon the initial phaseof settlement:

In those times sturdy, self reliant settlers went forthto subdue the wildernessat their own charges, staked their all, including the hazardof their lives, and by their efforts,their enterprise and their brains converted that which was valueless, becauseno one wanted it or caredto take the risk commercial and actual, of occupyingit, into a national asset and sourceof wealth. (Richardson, 1914, p. 37).

On the same day he first came ashore in the North-WestRichardson had recordedhis reflections on the morality of dispossessingthe original owners of the land. His diary entryon that day in April I 865 comments that the presence of the 'more numerous savages, naked and black might beaccepted rather as evidence that the white man is only an intruder' and that after a hurried lookaround the white man must quickly evacuate the country he so avidly longs for but which is the possession of the numerous Aborigines. Richardson continues:

Timid prudence,or even cautious expediency,might thus counsel,but a very boldand confident 'No,' is not only the voice but the very attitude of

57 the pioneer. He feelshimself (or he should do so)both intellectually and morallysuperior to the savage tribes. (Richardson,1914, p. 20).

Richardson'sdiary entry goeson to debatewhether or not it is superiorweaponry rather than superiorityof racewhich gives the Europeansthe right to possessthe land. He

concludes that 'might is right' becausethe sine qua non of producingsuperi�r weaponry is racial superiority. Richardson believedthat racial superiorityalso gave the European settlers the right to colonisethe indigenous people,stating:

In some such consciousmood then we lookaround on these savages so greatlysuperior in number,and at once, almost asan instinct, assumethe superiortone of command and the attitude of superiority. They aretold to minister to the wants and requirementsof the numericallyinsignificant company, to fetchwater, light fires,carry wood, etc. (Richardson,1914, p. 21).

In similar vein, Bessie Watt addressesthe station Aborigineswhen Hugh takes over the runningof the station. And thereis morethan a suggestion of threatconcealed in her words; in fact she is verbalising the virtualenslavement of the Aborigines:

Mumae [Bessie] told Chitali, Warieda and the rest of them that Hugh was master of Wytaliba now. They wereto serve and obeyhim as they had her, and all would be well with them. (Prichard, 1929, pp. 30-31 ).

There is a certainsense of ambivalence in Richardson's statements aboutthe white presence on the land. There is a momentary hesitation in his argument that the whites' supposedsuperiority of race 'might' not constitute a morevalid claim to the land than the Aborigines'greater numbers and priority of occupation. Thereis also evidence of disquiet in his avoidance of the moral question in favour of the practical one of 'prudence'or 'expediency'.

Although Prichard's text doesnot directlyconfront the subject of colonisation, thereis some senseof uneasein regardto Hugh's ownership of the land. This is revealedin the

58 passagewhich seesHugh and the Aboriginesin partnershipin relationshipto the land:

Throughhis love of the countryand of Wytaliba, Hugh reali?.Cd,was woven regardfor the peoplewho hadgrown in and werebound to it To the country he had attached himself awith stubbornnessthere was no thwartingqr denying; and the peoplewho servr,dand foughtit with him, claimedhis loyalty, protection. (Prichard, 1929, p. 100).

The partnershipis, of course,illusory becausethe Aborigines'labour has been obtained by the threatthat their well-being dependson their servingand obeyingHugh. By describing Hugh's attachmentto the land as one of 'love' or 'stubbornness' Prichard diverts attention fromthe question of Hugh's moral right to attach himself to the land.

Fighting the land together suggests a camaraderie betweenHugh and the Aborigines but it also questions the notion of 'love' and is contrary to the Aborigines' traditional interaction with the land. Prichard's use in this passage, and elsewhere in the text, of the

Aboriginal notionof 'growing in' the land could possiblybe seen as a device to restrict their bond with the land to their present lifetime and to deny their ancestral title to it.

No real problem regarding ownership of the land is recorded in the text which presents a seamless transfer of the land from Aboriginalto white ownership. The transfer is conceived as ultimately to the benefit of both parties:

Neither Saul Hardy nor Mumae had ever experienced trouble with Wytaliba folk. Generous, kindly their relationship had been, in an overlordship imposed, gradually and imperceptibly, until the blacks recognised and accepted it, by conditions of work forfood and clothing. (Prichard, 1929, p. 100). In the historical situation, Aboriginalresistance to white settlement in the Ashburton district had beenparticularly strong. TureeStation, the prototypeWytaliba, is situated on a tributary of the Ashburton.F.W. Gunning recordedthat �n 1866 E.T. Hooley established a station on the Ashburtonbut: 'Having settledthere, he found that the natives were fiercelyhos ile, and after a few yearshe was compelled to abandon the holding'. In a footnote, Gunning stated:'The Ashburtonhad a decidedlyevil reputation

59 as'the white man'sgrave' and for someyears no one attemptedto settlein that good pastoralcountry'. (Gunning, 1952, p. 133).

LockierClerc Burges, an early settler,recorded his experiencesduring the time he was leftin chargeof E.T. Hooley'sstation on the Ashburton:

The natives killed some of his men as well as a native fromthe 'Swan' and also threatenedthe lives of the partyin Mr Hooley'sabsence. The trouble grewso greatthat the resident magistrateof Roeboume,Mr. Sholl, had to send a party down to the 'Ashburton' to the reliefof Mrs. Hooleyand the other peoplethere .... The reliefparty had a big fightwith the natives, who werevery hostile at that time. (Curges, 1913, p. 32).

De La Rue recordedthat Mrs Hooley,'following a visit to Perth,had said that 3he would never go back to the NorthWest'. (De La Rue, 1979, p. 24).

De La Rue noted that the early settlerswho were successful in establishing stations had certainfactors in common: they 'were young, and many were unencumberedwith a

family'. (De La Rue, 1979, p. 24). Thus, the absenceof white women doesnot seemto have been detrimental to the economic development of the region. This situation runs counter to the central structural thesisof Prichard's novel, which J. J. Healy elucidated as:

What station lifein the outback needed was white women, freedof pretension,who recognised the nature of the task their men facedin settling the land. (Healy, 1978, p. 145).

The notion of the pioneering woman 'freed from pretension',if the phrase is to be interpretedas 'abandoning the feminine role assigned to her by the civilised sector of society',is counteredby Susan Hunt in Spinifexand Hessian (1986). Hunt recorded that the roleof the pioneering woman in the North-Westwas in no way differentfrom that of her southern counterpart, entirely centredon home duties. Hunt stated: 'rather than a view of thesewomen asparticipating in and contributing to a "pioneering venture" the landedwoman's role was often seenin tennsof female dedication and self-sacrificefor her mate andher family'. (Hunt. 1986, p. 38).

Familylife may have added to the anxieties of the settler. Gunning recordedthat when Hooley'sstation wastaken over by the Forrestfamily and Septimus Burtin 1876, young David Forrestwho tookcontrol 'nearlydied at the hands of a treacherousnative. He had to make the coffinsof his firstand secondchildren born there and himselfhad read the burial servicefor them'. (Gunning. 1952, p. 133).

A.R. Richardson and L.C. Burges published accounts of their experiencesduring the firstdays of settlementin the North-West,but neither of them provided any details of the exact means by which the original owners of the soil were dispossessed oftheir land. A clue could possibly befound in Paul Hasluck's Black Australians: a surveyof native policyin WesternAustralian, 1829-1897 (1942). Hasluck recordedthat during 1867 a memorial was drawn up requesting the 'withdrawal of all Governmentauthority from the district' so that 'settlers might work out their own salvation'. (Hasluck, 1942, p. 180). Hasluck notes that this memorial was signed by, amongst others, Richardson and L.C. Burges, and that the latter had beenresponsible for drafting it.

Violent clashes betweenwhite settlers and Aboriginesare referredto in J.T. Reilly's Reminiscences offifty years residence in WesternAustralia (1903). Reilly stated that:

I have beforeme the diary of exploration trips in the north-west(by the late T.C. Sholl) in the sixties, and hereand there I come across entries coollyset down like this:- 'shot a native todayto deter the rest of the tribe';'came acrossabout I 00natives this morning,seven or eight shots werefired among them, could not tell how many of them werehit'; 'saw any amount of niggers to-day. obliged to "pepper"the lot'; 'killed a native among a hostile crowdthis morning'; 'trackedup threenatives at Barlee's spring and shot them'; 'one native had nine balls in him, his entrails protruding, but he closed in, and threwa spear;another shot was fired;he stoopedto pick up another spearand fell dead'; and so on adnauseum. (Reilly. 1903, p. 375-376).

61 Thesituation which developedin theNorth-West between the white settlersand Aborigineswas, obviously, not unifonnthroughout the region. Discussingthe settlement processthroughout Western Australia, Hasluck stated that: 'It would be true to say that therewere large numbers of settlers in every district whose treatmentof natives waswise, considerate and, to usethe word they themselves favoured, "humane", and that their relationswere unmarked by any violence'. At the sametime, Hasluck admits that thereis a 'grim' side to the early stages of contact which'left antagonism betweenthe races'. (Hasluck, 1942, p. 179).

Prichard's text distances the settlersfrom atrocitiesagainst Aboriginesby distinguishing between their treatment in coastal towns and on pastoral stations. This is made clear in the narration in relationto Mollie, whose attitude is summarisedas: 'Coming from one of the coastal towns, she had acquired the beliefthat it was a divine right of white men to ride rough-shodover anything aboriginal whichstood in their way'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 104).

It is Mollie's beliefthat 'the abosare filthy and treacherous'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 104). This is denied by Saul who states: 'No, girl... they're not treacherous- except when they've beentreacherously dealt with.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 105). But, noticeably, it is not unambiguously denied. Mollie is expressing a widely held view of the 'treacherous' Aborigines. J.T. Reilly claims that in some instances the Aborigineshad beenthe aggressors and that: 'In the early days the natives were bothcruel and treacherous, and very oftenthey reallydeserved the harsh treatment meted out to ttfem by the settlers'. (Reilly, 1903, p. 375).

The Aborigines'loss of autonomy is maskedin the text by the paternalismof the Watt family. This situation is reflectedin the name 'Mumae' that the Aboriginesgive to Bessie Watt. Hugh explains that in the dialect of the station Aborigines'Mumac' means

'father'. Hugh tells Mollie: 'mother was proudof their namefor her. It meantmother and

62 father really.'(Prichard, 1929, p. 92). Thus the hierarchyof poweris disguisedas familial in constitution.

It is interestingto note that one of the few alterationsmade to the text of the Bulletin's serialversion of Coonardoo when it appearedas a novel, emphasisesthe paternalnature of the powerrelationship.

Chapter 13 in the Bulletin ends with the scenein which Hugh has just returnedto Wytaliba with his new bride, Mollie. Observingthat the homestead has beenneglected during his absence, Hugh assuresMollie that the Aborigineswill beset to cleaning it the followingday. The chapter ends with the words: Tomorroweverything'II befresh and sweet as a new pin.' (Prichard, Bulletin I O October,1928, p. 51)

Chapter 13 in the novel includes these words but a scene has beenadded which presents Hugh distributing gifts to the Aborigines in the mode of a fatherreturning to his children:

'Here you fellows, how about some rations?'

The blacks crowded to the kitchen door. 'HereJoey, Warieda, and you, Meenie!' Hugh called, naming two or three to come into the kitchen and pass on foodas he portionedit out. When he openedthe flour-bin,moths flewout, spiders had woven their webs over the sugar. Rut they were liberal rations everyman, woman and child on Wytaliba got that evening. There were apples and boiledJollies in the packs on the buggy, and Hugh dispensedthem with tobacco and tins of jam, promising new boots, trousers, hats, pipes,gina-ginas and goodness knows what not, when he visited the store next morning. (Prichard, 1929, pp. 80-81).

Prichard's intention is to portraya beneficentpaternalism but the subtextual message conveyed is that the Aborigines have lost their adult status: childlike they dependon Hugh forfood and clothing. During Hugh's absence from the station the peopleat the uloohave come close to starvation. They cannot revertto their traditional hunting aud gathering lifestyle becausethe pastoral processhas destroyed their hunting lands:

63 The menhad gone out hunting andbrought in a kangarooor two, but most of the kangarooswere so poorthat they could not be usedand had to be hung on a treeas a warningto the spiritresponsible for growing kangaroos that this wasall the goods provided werefit for. (Prichard, 1929, p. 75).

The textual implication is that it is the spirit world which has failed the Aborigines.

Thus it divertsattention from the colonial processthat hasproduced the conditions which forcethe Wytaliban Aboriginesto work on their own land forthe benefitof their dispossessors.

Very early in the history of settlement, Aboriginallabour became essential to the pastoralists and C.D. Rowley, in Thedestruction of Aboriginal society:Aboriginal policyand practice ( 1970), stated that: 'by the end of the 1860s the Aboriginallabour camp had become an essential adjunct of the station economy'. (Rowley, 1970, p. 68).

The early holders of Governmentland grants had requested the servicesof convicts and ticket-of-leave men, but due to the difficulties of supervisionneither of these classes of prisoner was allowed northof the Murchison River.

Aboriginal labour was essential to the pastoralists. Neville Green writes: 'The pastoralists made serfs of any Aborigines crossing "their" land'. (Green, 1981, p. 101).

Many Aborigines found themselvespart of station work forces when they made their crosses on documentsthey did not understand. They were then forcedto work for the pastoralist and becamevirtually his property. Moreover, as stated above, when they absconded they were forciblyreturned to their station owners by the police.

R.D. Sturkey, on the other hand, presenteda relationship of mutual benefit betweenthe races. By 1868, he stated, becauseof the acute labourshortage, the pastoralists came to relyon their Aboriginalworkforce and a relationshipof mutual benefitdeveloped. In returnfor the Aborigines'labour, '[t]he settlers offered the aboriginesfood, protection

64 fromthe warrior tribesmen on the Tableland, and treatmentduring sickness'. (Sturkey, 1957, p. 14). C.D. Rowley adds a furtherinducement to Aboriginalgroups to enter station camps: 'the danger of beingcaught out in the bush by armedsettlers'. (Rowley, 1970, p. 192).

The processby which Aborigineswere converted from traditional life to pastoral workers appearsto have beenextremely rapid. One pastoralist, George Gooch, preferredAboriginal to white labourand stated that he was entirelydependent upon his newly acquiredAboriginal labour force for the runningof his sheep station. Writing from W andagee station in May 1886, he stated:

The sheep areshepherded by natives and I hope to utilize their labourin other ways, such as tanking and fencing.... Six years ago they never saw a white man. No white man had ever trodden here. Last season they shore over 10 OOOsheep for me. I merely mention this to show that a poorman could not do without them. (quoted in Green, 1981, p. 101).

Goochstated that white shearers 'would not risk their lives to come such long distances from the southernareas to shear a fewsheep' and that Aborigines foundshearing 'was congenial and being congregatedenabled the natives to hold their corroboreeseach week-en� at least, and sometimes nightly'. (Gunning, 1952, p. 72).

In Coonardoo the work of the cattle station is carried out entirely by Aboriginallabour; but always under white supervision. In Hugh's absence, Saul is left in charge of the station even though Hugh admits: 'Warieda and Chitali know as much about running things as I do.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 67). The textual pretextis that Saul would be 'sore'if control fellto anyone else; but essentially, the text cannot conceive of Aborigines working in anything but a subordinate positionto whites.

Bessie Watt's methodof controlling the Aboriginalworkers on Wytaliba is describedby Hugh, who states:

65 'Mother handled them extraordinarily well. It's the ironhand in the velvet glove doesthe trick, she usedto say. Wasvery strict aboutsome things. Respected them and their ideas.Made 'em respect hers.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 84).

This was a view that was also stated by H.G.B. Masonin his memoirs,Darkest West Australia: a treatise bearing on the habits and customs of the Aborigines and the solution of 'the native question': guide to outback settlers ( 1909).Mason wrote:

Treating a native properlydoes not constitute lavishing presents and rations on him one day and abusing or kicking him the next, but a uniform procedure of firmness, without familiarity and the fulfilmentof any promise made to him, with sufficient foodand clothing forhis actual requirements and a reasonable amount of work, without overdoing it. (Mason, 1909, p. 40).

The first attempt to control the working conditions of Aborigines in the pastoral industry was the legislation enacted in The Aborigines Protection Act, I 886 (WA). The stated purpose of the Act was: 'to provide for the better protection and management of the

AboriginalNatives of Western Australian, and to amend the law relating to certain

Contracts with such Aboriginal Natives'.

The provisions contained in The Aborigines Protection Act, I 886 (WA) were basedon assumptions regarding the Aboriginal populationthat had beenstated in the Reportof a commission appointed by His Excellencythe Governorto inquire into the treatment of Aboriginal native prisoners ofthe Crown in this colony: and also into certainother matters relativeto Aboriginal natives, known as the Forrest Commission Report of

1884, to the effect that the extinction of the Aborigines was only a matter of time. The

Reportdeclared:

It is a melancholy fact that throughoutAustralia the AboriginalRace is fast disappearing, and that progress of settlementby Europeans meansin this Colony and in all parts of Australia, as it doesin many other partsof the world, the gradual extinction of native races,who have for ages existed uponthe landprevious to the advent of the white man...

We have no hopethat the Aboriginalnative will ever be morethan a servantof the white manand therefore our aim should be devoted to such instructionas will enable him to live usefullyand happily among the white population.(Western AustraliaVotes andProceedings of Parliament, 1884, No. 32).

Hugh certainlybelieves that the Aboriginesare disappearing. He recalls: 'Dirty, diseased,ill natured,lost to their tribal law and customs, he had seenthem, remnantsof a dying race,drifting about the up-country towns and settlements along the coast'.

(Prichard, 1929, p. 100). Hugh also subscribesto the view that Aboriginalworkers are incapable of competingin the white workforce. He tells Mollie: 'But you must never work them too hard - speciallygins. They're not made forhard work, can't stand it.'

(Prichard, 1929, p. 92).

The Aborigines Protection Act, I 886 (WA) was designed to ease the last days of the

Aborigines and to protect them from ill-treatment and exploitation. For this purpose an

Aborigines Protection Board was established under the authority of the Governor. The

Board controlled 'monies allocatedby the Legislative Council for the benefit of

Aborigines'. It was responsible for all measures of relief and the careof Aboriginal children. Protectors of Aborigines were appointed to 'report to the Board on the wants and treatment of Aboriginals and their contracts of service and employment'.

The Act stipulated that a contract of employment had to be in writing and had to specify the nature and duration of service, which could not exceed twelve months. Additionally, it had to specify exactly what would be supplied to the Aborigine in terms of

'substantial, good, and sufficient rations, clothing, and blankets, and also medicines and medical attendance when practicable and necessary, unless the illness of the Aboriginal be causedby his own improperact or default'.

Section 44 of the Act retained the provisionsof the 'Masters and Servants Amendment

67 Ordinance,1868' and its 'Amendment, 1886', wherebythe maximum penaltyfor breach of engagement, contract,or servicecould not exceed the sum of Ten pounds, or one month imprisonment with or without hard labor.(TheAborigines Protection Act, 1886 (WA), s. 44).

It should benoted that the provisions of TheAborigines Protection Act, 1886 (WA) relatingto the employment of Aborigines,applied only to thosewho enteredinto contracts; therewere very few of these.In 1905Commissioner Roth stated: The proportionof natives under contract... to natives actually employed is one in twelve'. (Roth Report, 1905,p. 8).

Many of the abuses that were remediedin The Aborigines Protection Act, 1886 CWA) werere-introduced by a seriesof Acts passed in the 1890s. Thesemeasures reinstated flogging;increased the penalties forbreach of contractin the caseof an employee to three months uut reduced the employer's penalty to a nominal fine; and removed the disqualification of employers sitting as Justices of the Peace in cases concerningtheir own employees. As a resultof thesechanges, Biskup noted, 'the considerable powerin the hands of the settlers becameauthority'. Biskup reported the case of a 'Murchison pastoraJist who sentenced one of his aboriginal workers to two months' hard labour with flogging'. (Biskup, 1973, p. 37).

The literatureof the periodmade frequent references to acts of cruelty by whites against Aborigines. In 1885 Rev. John Brown Gribble, an Anglican missionaryfrom Queensland, arrived in the North-Westto setup a mission in the Gascoyne district. His experiencesof the laboursystem and the ill-treatment of Aboriginesat the hands of certainpastoralists and policelead him to denounce the entiresituation to his superiors and in the press. Later, these reports,together with a statement, 'How native witnesses aretreated' ( 1886) by David Carly, werepublished as Darkdeeds in a sunny land: or blacks and whites in North-WestAustralia (1886). 68 Gribble's reportswere particularly directed against the sexualexploitation of Aboriginal women by the white settlersof the North-Westregion. He stated:

But yet another reasonfor my definingthe native laborsystem as a speciesof slaveryis the sad fact of the assignmentof native women and girls to white men, the greatmajority of whom aresingle .... On every station womenand girls areengaged, principally asshepherds, and these creaturesare entirely in the hands of the owners;I say owners,because certainsettlers have told me that they owned all the natives on their respectiveruns. (Gribble, 1886, p. 35).

Gribble's reportreferred to facts'so exceedingly repulsive in their character as to be unfit forthe columns of a family newspaper'.He stated: 'Assignment of native females against their will forpurposes of immorality is a sign of slavery'. (Gribble, 1886, p. 35).

Sexual abuse of Aboriginalwomen is a significantdimension in Coonardoo. In the novel, the white pastoralist most consistently associatedwith sexual exploitation of female Aborigines, is Sam Geary. Gearyand his prototype,Brumby Innes,who appearedin Prichard's three-actplay, Brumby Innes, arebased on an historical person,a pastoral station owner, well-known in the North-West for cohabitation with Aboriginal women. The pastoralist, A. Leake of Prairie Downs Station, was known locallyas 'Brumby'Leake. Prichard encountered Leake during her North-Westvisit and her letter of the 17 October 1926 from Turee Station to Vance and Nettie Palmer contained a postscript, stating,

I've done a play to becalled The Brumby',or 'Brumby ---' somebodyor other. The real thing is here. His name is Leake. It fits so - 'Brumby Leake'. And I've got to find one that won't runme in forlibel. (Quoted in Throssell, 1974, p. xiv). (Further details of 'Brumby'Leake are contained in Appendix 1 ).

Although Aboriginalwomen areessentially powerless to withstand exploitation by Sam Geary,there is no overtcoercion in relationto his concubinage of Aboriginalwomen in

69 the novel. 1besexual coercion of Aboriginalwomen is a centraltheme in the play. Gearytreats his Aboriginalconcubines with generosity,at least whilst they arein favour,presenting them with silk dresses and evenmoney. He providesthem with 'corrugated-ironhuts on Nuniewarra'and they remainon the station even when they are out of favour.(Prichard, 1929, p. 51). On the other hand, he is indifferentto the fateof his part-Aboriginaldaughters who, apparently, areentirely at his disposal.The text states that: 'girls had beengiven to passing teamsters,or drovers'. (Prichard,1929, p. 98).

Gribble noted tJie prevalenceof Aboriginalwomen travelling with teamsters. He r corded:

Uponasking some of these men why they had girls and not boysattached to their teams, some said they 'preferredthem'; others said they were 'betterthan boys',and that 'boysalways runaway', but othersfrankly admitted that they had them for immoral purposes.(Gribble, 1886, p. 35).

Prichard deals with this situation in Coonardoo, but the text doesnot demonstrate that the practice is in any way repugnantto Aboriginalwomen, or their menfolk. Bardi leaves with Don Drew's camel train of her own volition:

She had runafter the camels and joined Don's camp, although Coonardoo shut her up one night in the bathroomat the homestead. Don had left a couple of blankets forChitali, whose woman Bardi was, and Chitali seemed to prefer the blankets. (Prichard, 1929, p. 134).

Gribble's reportsof atrocities against Aboriginescaused a furore of disapprovaland denial as well as physical and verbal attacks on him personally. Eventually, Gribble was forcedto leave the colony.

The Colonial Secretary, in fact,took the allegations made by Rev. J.B. Gribble seriously. He requestedinformation from the Roebournepolice on the individual allegations made by bothGribble and Carly. Some of the allegations wereo .smissedas

70 either 'vastly exaggerated'or 'untrue'and in quite a few caseswere not followedup because Carlyhad refusedto namethe personaccused. (PROW A CSO ACC.388. Files 3657/86 to 3682/86).

Commentingon the 'Gribble Affair'as it becameknown, Paul Hasluck stated that, in all probability,Gribble's 'tactlessness and temper'was responsiblefor much of the abusehe receivedand that: 'Thewelfare of the natives was obscured in an all-roundblackening of reputations'.(Has luck, 1942, p. 165). Hasluck contends that there is ample evidence to suggest that Gribble could have made individual charges of ill-treatmentand he could have challenged the prevailing relationsbetween white masterand black servantquite successfully if he had been more moderate.

In his 'Introduction'to Dark Deeds in a Sunny Land, Bob Tonkinson, stated: 'What is remarkable is that the whites did not risk the loss of respectabilityand socialstanding by their inhumane treatment or killing of Aborigines'. (Tonkinson, 1987, p. xv). This is a point also made by J.T. Reilly in 1903who stated: 'In the past a very erroneousopinion has prevailed,to the effect that therewas really no moral delinquency in shooting a native. Natives wereregarded as exceedingly troublesome, and to clear them offthe face of the earthwas esteemed a work which brought no obloquy on those who engaged in it'. (Reilly, 1903,p. 375).

An appreciablenumber of North-Westernersdescribed as leading membersof European societyin the region were involved in atrocitiesagainst Aborigines. John Withnell was implicated in the Flying Foam massacre of 1868, in which many Aborigineswere killed. The exact toll is not known, stated Hasluck, 'the account of the numbersvarying from the alarming figureof 150 quoted on one side and the conservative phrase "it is doubtful if more than ten werekilled" on the other side'. (Hasluck, 1942, p. 189). Withnell was also a partyto an act of violence against an Aboriginalwoman, Talarong, which is described by Susan Hunt in Spinifexand Hessian (1986). In May 1891, Talarong,who 71 workedon a remotecamp belongingto the Withnells, refusedto carefor the sheep placed in her charge. In fact.she stated that theycould 'go to buggery'. 'Withnell, standing nearbywith his horse,struck her hardwith his bridle'. (Hunt, 1986, p. 99). Talaronganned with a stick rushedat him but he wasable to stave offher attackwith the stick belongingto another Aboriginalwoman. In the ensuing affray,Talarong receivedsevere injuries from which she died two days later. Withnell was absolved fromblame due to the 'greatprovocation' he had receivedfrom Talarong. (Hunt, 1986, p. 101).

Coonardoo presentsa similar act of violence by a station owner against an Aboriginal woman. Ted Watt is responsiblefor the death of Maria, Coonardoo'smother, who dies in similar circumstances to those surroundingthe death of Talarong, cited above. Maria had 'refusedto do something he [Ted] told her when he was drunk. He had kicked her offthe veranda. Maria died a few days afterwards'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 8). No legal penalty results from Ted's action, but providence intervenes and a fewmonths later he is killed when he walks over the balcony of an hotel and 'the blacks believed justice had been done'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 8).

There is a chronological discrepancy in the text in respect of the deaths of Ted and Maria. Early in the novel a statement is made that: Ted Watt had died so long ago, before Hugh could speak. Soon after he was born indeed'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 3). But later in the text Geary asks if Coonardoo is the child of:

'Maria ... the one that died and there was all that fussabout, couple of years ago?' (Prichard, 1929, p. 5).

If the first reference,which dates the deaths of Maria and Ted in the babyhoodof Hugh and Coonardoo, is intended, then the details of the incident would have remained hidden from them: the Aboriginesnever speakof the dead and Mrs. Bessie, 'held her tongue'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 8). If the later date is the relevantone, then Hugh and Coonardoo 72 would have beensix and seven-years-old,respectively. In which casethe text would needto accommodatethe fact that Coonardoois devoted to the son of the manwho murderedher mother.

Of in�erest,is the differencein the portrayalof the incident in the Bulletinserial and in the novel. The serialversion of Ted's attack on Maria reads: 'He had flunghimself at her, and kicked her offthe balcony. MrsBessie had tried to pull him away fromthe gin, and he had knockedher down too'.(Prichard, Bulletin, 5 September 1928, p. 55). The novel limits the attack on Maria to 'kicked her offthe balcony' and makes no reference to intervention by Bessie Watt. Possibly, Prichardwas awarethat the moregeneralised violence in the Bulletin version of the incident contravened her attestation in the novel's 'Introduction'to the 'humanity' of the station owners on 'isolated stations of the Nor'­ West'. It certainlycalls into question the notion of the status of the Watt marriage as essentially successfuland of Bessie's status as the driving forcewithin it.

Allegations continued to bemade that settlers weremistreating their Aboriginalworkers and these charges werethe subject of newspaperreports in Britain and the eastern colonies. Paul Hasluck.expressed the opinion that: 'Many of the wilder and worse­ foundedcharges gained currency in the other colonies and in England and attracted the reproofsand stem advice of many ill-informedsympathizers with the natives'. (Hasluck, 1942, p. 165). These press reports were, possibly, responsible for the provision in the 1889 Constitution Act, which granted self-governmentto Western Australia. that Britain would remain responsible for the Aborigineswhen Western Australia tookcontrol of its own affairsin October 1890.

The Imperialgovernment's retention of Aboriginalaffairs was an affrontto the newly formedstate governmentwhich resented the implication that it was inadequate or unwilling to carefor its own indigenous population.The new governmentwas further angeredby the provisionsof the Act which requiredit to finance the Aborigines 73 ProtectionBoard at the rate of I% of annual revenueor £5000whichever wasthe greater, whilst controlof the BoardremainC'! in the hands of the Governor.With the discoveryof gold in WesternAustralia colonial revenueincreased beyond all expectation. In 1897 I% of revenuemeant that in that year nearly £30 OOO(Hasluck, 1942, p. 203) wasdevoted to Aboriginalwelfare. Following a visit to England by the Premier,John Forrest,the AboriginesProtection Board wasabolished. The Aborigines Departmentcame into existence on I April 1898. (Biskup, 1973, p. 25). Paul Hasluck summed up the situation, asfollows:

With the settledideas that the natives weredying out and wereof inferior class, and without a single shredof idealism, the peopleof Western Australia receivedinto their carethe sacred charge of several thousands of human beings. The ImperialGovernment ended its ruleof uncertainty, inconsistencyand neglect and handed on a charge that was ill-kept, contaminated, hopelessand despised. (Hasluck, 1942, p. 203). Peter Biskup estimated that at the end of the 19th century therewere about 3500 Aboriginesin the North-Westwho were'more or less attached to white settlements'. (Biskup, 1973, p. 29).

In ttieearly years of the 20th century allegations of exploitation and ill-treatmentof Aboriginesin the pastoral industry of the North-Westcontinued to appearin the pressof boththe easternstates and Britain. Representative of these charges is a letter to the Editor published in the London Times of 8 April, 1904, in which a certain Walter Malcolmson claimed that:

After an experienceof several years of the north-westdistrict of Western Australia, I consider the Aboriginesthere are worse off than the negro was in American slave days. I have repeatedlyseen the natives flogged with horsewhips and sticks by their 'masters' fortrivial faults,and I have often seen 'indentured' servantsin stations eating offal to satisfy their hunger. The policetroopers are supplied with chains to drag back runawayservants ....

We�tern Australia is the one slave state in the Commonwealth. The record of the 'indenture'system thereis a black stain on British justice and a foulcrime against sufferinghumanity. 74 I wish frommy heartthat the last Aboriginalof Western Australiawas at rest (Times, 8 April 1904).

The Times published extracts of a letter received from Daisy Bates in response to

Malcolmson's allegations, in which she stated:

For Mr Malcolmson to describe indenturing as slavery ... is ridiculous... thereis no hope of the station ownersever growing into plaster saints, yet the majority of them arehumane and will not wantonly ill-treat their natives. (Times, 24 May, 1904).

This is not, in fact, a complete repudiation of the charges made by Malcolmson. Later in the year Mrs Bates applied fora government post to 'record the customs and dialects of the Aboriginal population'. She commenced her appointment on 3rd May 1904 and was paid 8/- perday.

Prichard's text does nothing to discount Malcolmson's charge:; of slavery and ill­ treatment by pastoralists in the North-West. Hugh defines the working relationship betweenmanagement and Aboriginal workers on Wytaliba forthe benefit of Mollie, who had believedthe Aboriginal women wereher servants. Hugh tells her:

'But these peopleare not servants ... not in the ordinary way. We don't pay them, except in food, tobacco, clothing.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 92).

Although monetary wages would be valueless to Hugh's Aboriginal station hands as they would have nowhere in the immediate vicinity to spendit, their overall welfare receives scant consideration on Wytaliba. Notably, the poorquality of their housing.

The text states: 'Every hut in the uloo had water lying in it, and all round. The roofs were sieves through which the rain poured'.(Prichard, 1929, p. 76).

The Wytaliban Aborigines'Jack of autonomy is revealed in the sketch that follows

Hugh's aggressiveattack on Coonardoo. The Aborigines resent Hugh's cruelty to her but: 'There was no thought of failingto do as Hugh had commanded'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 15 187).

Prichardpresents a situation which comesvery close to slaverybut which is partially disguisedby the representationof Aboriginalfear of the spirit world. Thebreach in the relationship between Hughand the Aborigineswhich would logically have followed Hugh's treatmentof Coonardoois obviated by the Aborigines'belief that Hugh's actions arebeyond his control. The Aboriginesstay away fromHugh: 'As though he werean evil spirit, possessedby a narlu'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 187). The Aborigines'only defiance is to sulk and averttheir gaze. Earlier in the text the statement is made that the Aboriginalstation hands 'knew Youie too well to disobey'him. (Prichard, 1929, p. 123).

The West Australian governmentcould hardly ignorethe continual charges of slavery within its borders. Particularlyas it was 'claiming to subscribe to liberalideals'. (Biskup, 1973, p. 59). In April 1904 initial approacheshad beenmade to Dr Roth, 'Assistant Protector of Aborigines for Queensland, an Oxford-educatedsurgeon and ethnologist of repute', requesting him to make a survey of Aboriginal administration. On 31 August, 1904,he was formally appointed Royal Commissioner. (Biskup, 1973, p. 59).

In 1905the Royal Commission on the Condition of the Natives, known as the Roth Commission, published its Report and Recommendations with respect to the employ�nt conditions of Aboriginalworkers.

The Roth report received the full support of the Morning Herald and the Daily News and the majority of churches. It was criticised by the West Australian forits failureto suggest an effective policy for future guidance. The Anglican church remained cautiously neutral with Bishop Riley claiming the 'whole of Dr Roth's time hasbeen moreor less wasted'. (Biskup, 1973, pp. 59-60).

76 John Forrestwho had refusedto institute enquiries into the treatment of Aboriginesin WesternAustralia was quick to discreditthe findingsof the Roth Royal Commission particularlythose indicting the prevailing conditionsof employment of Aboriginesin the pastoral industry. That Forrestwas not a disinterested partyis revealedby C. T. Stannage in The people of Perth: a social historyof WesternAustralia's capital city ( 1979), which stated: 'John Forrest'swealth derived from his wife's inheritance and pastoral concernson the Ashburtonand MtirchisonRivers'. (Stannage, 1979, p. 222).

Following on from the Roth Report,the Aborigines Act, 1905(WA) came into force. The preamble to the Act stated that its purposewas 'the betterprotection and careof the Aboriginal inhabitants of WesternAustralia'.

The Act dealt directly with the employment of Aborigines. It retainedcontracts and required employers to provide their workers with rations, clothing, blankets, medicine and medical attention but did not specificallyprovide forthe payment of cash wages. It prohibited the engagement of children under sixteen and abolished indentures of apprenticeship.

The Act provided forthe setting up of reserves, not exceeding 2000acres, to which unemployed Aboriginescould beremoved and restricted. The legislation permittedthe policeto arrest, without warrant, any Aborigines who offended againstthe provi!-ionsof the Act. Biskup comments that the Act was a formalacknowledgement by the government that it had abandoned any attempt to bring the 'blessings of civilisation' to the Aborigines but aimed, instead, at the ruthlesscontrol of both full-bloods and part­ Aborigines. But even so, Biskup stated: 'In the pastoral north, forall its manifest shortcomings,the act was a step in the right direction'. (Biskup, 1973, p. 65).

The Act made the sexual exploitation of Aboriginalwomen by white men a punishable cffence.

77 Section42 .,tipulated:

No marriageof a female aboriginalwith any personother thanan aboriginal shall becelebrated without the permission,in writing, of the Chief Protector. (Aborigines Act, 1905(WA), s. 42).

Section 43 stated:

Every personother than an aboriginalwho habitually lives with aborigines,and every male personother than an aboriginalwho cohabits with any femaleaboriginal, not beinghis wife, shall be guilty of an offence againstthis Act.

Every male person,not beingan aboriginal,who travels accompanied by a female aboriginal,shall bepresumed, in the absence of proofto the contrary, to becohabiting with her, and it shall bepresumed, in the absence of proofto the contrary, that she is not his wife. (Aborigines Act, /905 (WA), s. 43).

Penalties were set out in Section 58 of the Act, which specified:

Every personconvicted of an offence against this Act shall, except as is herein otherwise provided, beliable to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, fornot exceeding six months, or to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds. (Aborigines Act, /905 (WA), s. 58).

Coonardoo makes no allusion to the illegality of Hugh's cohabitation with Coonardoo which commenced in about 1913. The relationshipremains unconsummated but this would not have constituted a legal defenceas cohabitation was prohibited by Section43 of the Aborigines Act, 1905.

The novel's message in regard to interracialsexual relationshipsis not unambiguously presented. Such liaisons are, seemingly, condemnedin the novel (and by Prichard elsewhere,see Irwin, 1956, p.31 ), but at the same time the text demonstrates that such sexualrelationships are not only desiredby bothparties but arealso essentialto their well-being. 78 Coonardoois defeated by the sterility of her relationshipwith Hugh. His continued sexual repudiationof her is shown to beentirely contrary to her wishes. She 'could not imagine why Hugh did not take her ashis woman... sullen anger grewin Coonardoo's eyes becauseof it'. (Prichard,1929, p. 140). She is still waiting forHugh. 'half dead in her sterility', when she is seducedby Geary.Coonardoo's sexual need has becomeso greatthat she succumbs to the man 'whom she had loathed and fearedbeyond any human being.Yet male to her female. she could not resist him.Her need of him wasas greatas the dryearth's for rain'. (Prichard, 1929, pp. 179-180).

Hugh's celibacy in relationto Coonardoois representedas due to his 'cussedness' which 'deterredhim from doing what everybodyexpected him to'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 140). A consequence of his 'swag of ideals'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 44). But Hugh is also acting contrary to his needs and desires. He believesthat:

herein a country of endless horizons. limitless sky shells. to live within yourself was to decompose internally. You had to keep in the lifeflow of the country to survive.... After all what was this impulse of man to woman. woman to man. but the law of growth moving within them. How could a man stand still, sterilize himself in a land wheredrought and sterility were hell? ... No wonder the blacks worshippedlife, growth - sex - as the lifesource. (Prichard, 1929, p. 109).

Even though he holds such a view, Hugh ignores the potencyof Coonardoo'sown sexual needs and punishes her, cruelly, when he learnsshe has succumbedto Geary.

In Coonardoo acts of cruelty are committed with impunity by the male ownersof Prichard's fictionalcattle station against Aboriginal women. Already mentioned is the death of Coonardoo'smother, Maria, after she is beaten by Ted Watt. (Prichard, 1929, p. 8). Thereis an oblique referenceto Hugh's brutality towardsAboriginal women in the descriptionof his differential treatmentof white and Aboriginal women.The text acknowledges that Hugh might shake Mollie or threatento strangle her: 'But a stick. or a

79 boot,he would only useon a gin'. (Prichard,1929, p. 119). Finally, thereis Hugh's assault on Coonardoowhen he learnsshe hashad sexual relationswith Geary:

He dashed her away in his fury... bashedCoonardoo acrossthe face... struggledwith her.... To escapeher desperategrasp he dragged her across the fire.... Hugh twisted her wrist back, thrustingher away fromhim. Coonardoofell backinto the fire. (Prichard, 1929, p. 186).

Following the attack, Hugh is indifferentto the suffering he has causedCoonardoo. He must have beenaware of her wretched physical condition:'All night she lay moaning'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 187). He makes no provisionfor her medical treatmentand doesnot attempt to rescindher banishment once his anger has abated. Although he admits he would not have treateda dog so badly, he still does not sayto the Aborigines: 'Bring her back. See that you bring her back, boys,no matter where she is, what she'sdone.' (Prichard, 1929, p.192). Neither doeshe anticipate or receiveany legal penaltyfor his action.

Prichard's statement that on pastoral stations in the North-West,Aborigines 'are treated with consideration and kindness' (Prichard, 1929, p. v), is contradicted by the abuse of Aboriginal women presented in her text. Her statement is certainlycontradicted by historical data.

Susan Hunt refersto the almost universal sexual exploitation of Aboriginalwomen in the pastoral industry. Many Aboriginalwomen wereplaced under contracts of employment which boundthem fo the station owner or his manager. Many weresigned against their will forsexual services.(Hunt, 1986, p. I 06).Hunt records the case of Caroline, a young Aboriginalwoman at ByroStation in 1898. Caroline was forcedto sign a contract to work for thepastoralist Walter Nairn.The contract, which included sexual services, had been witnessed by his brother, William Nairn,J.P. Caroline had threechildren by Walter Nairnand had beenforbidden to mix withother Aboriginal

80 people.Caroline was25 yearsold but she earnestly wished 'she were an old woman... so that she could bush walk and no-one would want to fetch her back'. (Hunt, 1986, p. 106).

Similarly, Coonardoois at the disposalof her white employer on the death of W arieda. The textual excuseis that Hugh saves her frombecoming Geary's woman. But even so, she is not consulted but simply transferredfrom the Aboriginalcamp. Hugh tells her:

'You will be my woman, now, Coonardoo,'Hugh said. 'Sleepin the room at the end of the veranda.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 139).

In Prichard's text there is never any doubt that Coonardoois sexually available to Hugh.

The fact that he abstains fromsexual intimacy with her is his decision alone. 'Hugh's hunger was in his eyes when he lookedat her ... and yet he would not touch her'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 140). A similar situation was reportedby a Police Trooperof the

North-West mounted police,E. Morrow,in Thelaw provides (1937). Early in the 1920s, Morrow had interviewed a young man on an isolated station in northern Western Australia who spokeof his struggle to keep his self-respect by abstaining from sexual liaisons with Aboriginal women. The young man stated that:

Frequently... he rode miles out of his way to avoid a native camp where dwelt young native women. Company and a certain satisfaction were there for his taking, but so farhe had valued his pride and manhood more.(Morrow, 1937, p. 94).

The young man obviously did not consider it necessary to consult the wishes of either the Aboriginal women or their menfolk. Ann McGrath, in her article, 'Spinifex fairies: Aboriginalworkers in the NorthernTerritory, 1911-39' (1980), noted that in traditional

Aboriginal society 'wifelending' was allowed under certain conditions: the permission of the husband had to be obtained and suitable payment received.McGrath stated:

But in the colonial context the black man had virtuallylost his bargaining 81 powersand the colonizer assumed almost total control,so the interaction betweenwhite manand black woman wasone markedby compulsion. (McGrath, 1980, p. 249).

Morrow's young man found Aboriginalwomen both'irresistibly alluring' and available.

Prichard'sportrayal of Coonardooas aromantic figure is not as unrealisticas is implied by one of the judges of the Bulletin's£500 prize novel competition, CecilMann, who stated:

With any other native, from fragrant Zulu girl to fly-kissedArab maid, she could have done it. But the aboriginal,in Australia, anyway cannot excite any higher feelingthan nauseated pity or comical contempt (Quoted in Throssell, 1975,p. 54).

Ann McGrath, noted that: The Jaw against cohabitation with black women was extremely difficultto enforce'and that 'Aboriginalwomen were consideredthe ideal in exploitable human flesh'. (McGrath, 1980, p. 250). She reportedthe incident in which:

One manager had induced a white man to enter his employ by offering him the pick of the best'black velvet', informing him and other employees that there were plenty more down in the camp if they wanted them. (McGrath, 1980, p. 25 I).

MyrnaTonkinson in 'Sisterhoodor Aboriginal servitude? Black women and white women on the Australian frontier' ( 1988), reveals that a degree of socialcontrol was exercised by white societythrough the attitudes it maintained towards sexual relationships between white men and Aboriginal women. Socialapproval was inversely proportional to the duration and stability of the relationshipsentered into.

Tonkinson reportedthat, in the view of white society, the most acceptable relationship was 'prostitution';the taking of 'black velvet'. In many casesthe 'white man simply exercised his droit de seigneur with women in his employ'. (Tonkinson, 1988, p. 30).

82 In the novel such casualsexual encounters do not receiveany great disapprobation. When Billy Gale admits to Phyllis: 'I'm not shookon gins myself.... Not that I've been any betterthan most menwho've lived a long timein this country, Phyll.' She merely 'smiled into his glittering faun'seyes. She imagined he was relievedto have got so much offhis chest'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 171). For Gale, sexualrelationships betweenwhite men and Aboriginalwomen are,'as a rule',no morethan 'accidental' and he expresses the view: 'A man doesn'tlove a gin, not a white man.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 198).

Tonkinson recordedthat a less acceptable formof relationshipwas concubinage: in which a white man lived with an Aboriginalwoman and the offspringof their union. But here the man would facethe contempt of white societybeing known as a'Combo', or in Prichard's description of the fictional Sam Geary, 'a gin shepherder'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 30).

White society'sdisapproval of the concubinage of Aboriginalwomen to white men is conveyed in the novel by the behaviourof Bessie Watt on her journey fromthe coast to Wytaliba:

Although she passed within a fewmiles of Nuniewarrahomestead, Mrs Bessie would not call in there.... she would not meet a gin as mistressof a white man's household, or spend a night under Sam Geary's roof,if she could help it. (Prichard, 1929, p. 30).

Textual disgust of concubinage is made explicit in the words of Hugh Watt:

'I'm going to marry white and stick white.' Hugh said ...

'No stud gins for mine - no matter what happens,'he sworeto himself. (Prichard, 1929, p. 46).

D.R. Bums in Directions of Australian fiction /920-1974 (1975), noted that Hugh 'is sensiblyand puritanically awareof the slovenliness associatedwith such arrangements'.

83 (Bums, 1975, p. 18).

Almost unheardof was the presenceon a pastoralproperty of a white woman andan Aboriginal concubine. In Prichard's text socialdisapproval of such situations is made explicit in relation to Phyllis's residenceon the station whilst Coonardoois installed at the homestead: Therewas scarcelya white man in the district who did not disapprove of Hugh Watt's having his daughter on Wytaliba'. (Prichard, 1929. p. 171 ). The presence on Wytaliba of Coonardooand her son by Hugh facilitates Mollie's escape fromthe arduous life on Wytaliba without incurring the reproofof white society. 'Hugh had taken a gin, it was said, and Mrs Hugh refused to live on the place with her and her children'. (hichard, 1929, p. 135).

The rejection and banishment of Coonardoofrom Hugh and the cattle station wasa fictional reflection of the fateof many Aboriginal women in the historical situation. Almost inevitably the Aboriginal concubine was discarded by the white man either becausehe left the district or becausehe desireda moreregular marital union with a white woman.

Myrna Tonkinson stated:

Thereare numerous instances of Aboriginal women assisting white men to establish stations while cohabiting with them, then, when the place was fit for a White woman, the man marryingone and installing her in the homestead. (Tonkinson, 1988, p. 34).

Involved in the situation quoted above,is the complex question of inheritance and legitimacy. This is a theme which is addressedin Coonardoo. Hodgeand Mishra summarise the text's position:

In the scheme of the novel, marriage is the signifier of political and economic union, conferringlegitimacy on the transfer of propertyto the next generation. (Hodge& Mishra.1990, p. 55). 84 In the text inheritance is circumscribedby notions of legitimacy which are consistent

with attitudes prevailingin Prichard's contemporary society in respectof bothmarriage

and miscegenation. In the caseof Wytaliba, Hugh's son by Coonardoois excluded from

inheritance by reasonof his illegitimate birth(that is, in the eyes of white society)and

because he is part-Aboriginal.Phyllis is excluded from directinheritance by reason of

her non-male status but not by illegitimacy of birthor miscegenationand she ultimately

inherits through her husband, Billy Gale, who is Geary'sheir in respect ofboth

Nuniewarraand Wytaliba.

In the case of Nuniewarra, the part-Aboriginalprogeny of Geary are not so much

excluded from inheritance as never consideredat all. Billy Gale states: 'Sam's getting on

and he's got no one belongingto him, except Sheba, Tamar, and the rest of them and

their kids' (Prichard, 1929, p. 169).

Hodge and Mishra's statement that the meaning of Prichard's novel is: 'only the union of

Black and White is worthy to inherit the land', is not easily sustained. In every case,

Prichard shows half-caste offspring being rejected by propertyowners. This attitude is

made quite explicit in the play, Brumby Innes, when Brumby tells May:

'But I want youngsters. And a good home. You can make it what you like. Now the station's grown, there's the question who's to get it when I'm gone. I want youngsters, and I want'm thoroughbred.' (Prichard, 1940, p. 98).

Tonkinson noted that in the historicaJ situation, marriage was the least acceptable form of relationship between a white man and an AboriginaJ woman. Such marriages inevitably lead to the rejection of the husband by white society; at best he woul:::tbe accepted but his wife was almost certainlyexcluded fromany sociaJ interaction. Such marriages were regardedas cuttingall ties with white society and particularly with white women and the man's 'degradation was irrevocable'. (Tonkinson, 1988, p. 31). 85 Prichardwas aware that any kind of permanentrelationship between a white manand an Aboriginal womanwas unrealistic, given the prevailingsocial conditions in the period of the novel, 1866-1926. In her essay, 'Some perceptionsand aspirations'( 1968), Prichard emphasised that she 'could not falsify reality'when constructingher fictional texts. (Prichard, 1968, p. 239). She stated that the historical conditions did not justify the creationof an Australian communist hero in her goldfields trilogy. The same constraints applied to the portrayalof a viable marriagerelationship between a white man and an Aboriginalwoman in the text of Coonardoo which would have been contraryto the historical situation.

The sexual ex.ploitationof Aboriginal women was part of the colonial process.Susan Hunt noted: 'It was an aspectof the wider Europeanpastoral expansion and partof the exploitation and dispossessionof Aboriginalpeople'. (Hunt, 1986, p. 112).

Dispossessionand displacement from their ancestralhomelands had consequences for the Aboriginesbeyond the destructionof their traditional economy. It meant also the disruptionof their social patternsand separation from the foundationof their spiritual and ritual life. Nt:itherPrichard nor the Europeansettlers in !he North-Westwere aware of the cosmic significanceof Aboriginalrituals and ceremoniesand their place in ·he maintenance of the physical and spiritual world inhabited by the Aborigines.Abonginal traditional socialand cultural forms,both as they are representedin Coonardooand as they occurredin the wider historical context, areexplored in the next chapter.

86 CHAPTER4

ABORIGINAL SOCIETY

In this chapter I wish to highlight and discuss the Aboriginaldimension in Coonardoo in termsof the author's representationof Aboriginaltraditional socio-culturaland religious forms.

The overall purposeof this thesis is to readthe text of Coonardoo back into the historical situation. The task of this chapter is to 'recover'the world of the Aboriginesin the pre-settlementperiod. The text provides an entrance into the world of the first Australians and serves as a framework forunderstanding the social,religious and cultural patternsof that world. Thesetraditional practices areexplored both as they are depicted by Prichard in the novel and in light of subsequent ethnographic studies of Aboriginaltraditions.

Prichard stated that the Aboriginal inclusions in her text werebased on her own personal observations of these formsin operationin Aboriginalsociety. This claim is assessedin relation to the contemporary Aboriginalcultural and religious activities taking place in the region at the time of the author's field trip to the North-West. Discussion centreson the author's possiblemotives formaking this claim with particularreference to the socialmores and evolutionary beliefsexisting in her contemporarysociety.

Possible sources forthe Aboriginal dimension in the novel are investigated with particularattention beinggiven to the works of anthropologistsand ethnographers available to Prichard when she was writing her novel.

A significant theme of this chapter is the socialsituation and status of Aboriginal

87 women bothas conveyed in the text of Coonardooand as manifested in the wider historicalcontext. This subjectis discussedin relationto the religiousand economic significanceof Aboriginalwomen in the pre-colonialperiod and subsequently. Also under reviewin this chapter is the widely held beliefthat Aboriginalwomen lacked sexual autonomy in traditional societyand this is shown to be acomplex situation with socialand religiousimplications.

Brief referenceis made to the 'real'life situation of the Aborigineswho residedon Turee Station during Prichard's visit and some details of their living and working conditions and their historyis presented here.

It is almost certainthat Prichard had no directexperience of Aborigines or their culture prior to her visit to the North-West. This is revealedin her letter from Turee Station to Vance and Nettie Palmer dated 17 October 1926, in which she stated:

And the blacks are most interesting- fairhaired - and I find them poetic apd naive. Quite unlike all I've ever beentold, or asked to believeabout them. (Throssell, 1975, p. 49).

The temperof Prichard's previous 'beliefs'about the Aborigines may begauged from a passage in her early fiction written when the author was 23-years-old. The serial 'A city girl in Central Australia: her ups and downs at the "Back o' Beyond"' (1906), includes the followingdescription of Aboriginallife:

Their filthy,reeking camps are always infestedwith hordes of starving mongreldogs. They had a mysterious ceremonyof 'rain-making'; covered themselveswith dirt,and ran aboutcutting their bodies,waving their anns,yelling and moaning a monotonous chant. The lubraswere ill-used. and beaten;the piccaninnies as oftenas not destroyed. (Prichard,New Idea, 6 July 1906,p. 48). Twenty yearslater, Prichardset out forthe North-Westwith a view to gathering material forher shortstory, 'The cooboo' ( 1927). Detailsof her journey and intentions are 88 describedin Louis Esson's letter to Vance Palmerdated 29 September1926. Esson referred to Prichard'svisit to the North-West:

She hasjust gone off into the interiorwhere she will get wonderful material, just the verything she wants. She goesto the end of the railway, and then 400miles to McGuire'sstation that is somewherein the centre of WesternAustralia. It's five days journey.The station is runby blacks, and I'm sureshe will get a finebook out of it. The blacksare so interestingthat even Mrs. Gunn's mild and inadequate account of them has a certainfascination. But Kattie will do them verydifferently, and she's certainto give the spirit of that strange weird countryas it hasnever beendone before. (Palmer, 1948, p. 77).

When Coonardoo appearedin novel fonn in 1929, Prichard included an 'Introduction' which she titled 'Forewordto First Edition'. In this 'Introduction',Prichard stated that her field trip to the North-Westhad, indeed, provided all the material she needed forthe novel. She claimed: 'Facts, characters, incidents, have beencollected, relatedand interwoven. That is all'. (Prichard, 1929, p. v). She stated that this material had been authenticated by an expertin Aboriginalculture:

BeforeCoonardoo was printed in the Bulletin I asked Mr ErnestMitchell to read the MS. Mr Mitchell is Chief Inspectorof Aboriginesfor Western Australia. He has had thirtyyears' experienceof the aboriginesand no one in this country has wider knowledge and moresympathetic understanding of the Westernand Nor'-West tribes. Mr Mitchell suggested an omission and several changes of spelling,but said that he could not faultthe drawing of aboriginesand conditions, in Coonardoo, as he knew them. (Prichard, 1929, p. v).

With respect to the expertiseand the extent of ErnestMitchell's contact with Aboriginal society thisis rather morelimited than Prichard stated. Pat Jacobs, in Mister Neville: a biography ( 1990), recorded that Mitchell's officialstatus was 'travelling Inspectorof the North'(Jacobs, 1990,p. 117) and not Chief Protector of Aborigines. Jacobsnoted that his appointment extendedfrom about1916 until he was 'retrenched'in 1930. (Jacobs, 1990,p.186). Jacobs made a numberof referencesimplying Mitchell over-assessedhis knowledge of Aborigines. She describedhim as,'E.C. Mitchell, that fountof inside

89 informationon Aboriginal Affairs. (Jacobs, 1990, p. 134). She stated: 'He had a well­ developedsense of his superiorability to overseethe welfareof Aborigines'. (Jacobs, 1990,pp. 186-187).

Bob Hodgeand Vijay Mishra, in Dark side of the dream: Australianliterature andthe postcolonial mind ( 1990), also had reservations bothin regardto Prichard's claim of direct experienceof Aboriginaltraditions and the appropriateness of using Mitchell to authenticate her material. Hodge and Mishra stated:

In her preface to the bookshe emphasised the factual basis of the novel, its grounding in first-hand knowledge and researchin the field. But surprisingly her prefaceappeals to the authority of no less than Ernest Mitchell ... A version which could not befaulted by such a source must be extremely devious, or else complicit with the dominant regime. (Hodge & Mishra. 1990, p. 54).

Throughout her life,Prichard continued to assertthat her Aboriginal inclusions in the novel were based on her own observations. In an interv�ew in 1967 with Tony Thomas she re-affirmed her beliefin the expertiseof Ernest Mitchell, stating: 'I did have valuable contact with ErnestMitchell, who had beenprotector of Aborigines,and knew several dialects. I consulted him aboutmany facets of Aboriginal lore.' (Thomas, 1967, p. 55). But, significantly, when asked: 'Would it have mattered if she had got a lot of the lorewrong'? She replied:

Therehas beensome controversy whether any white man living among black women could have been celibate to the extent that Hugh was in the novel. But the situation wac;quite feasible.' (Thomas, 1967, p. 55).

A response whichis a non sequitur: black-white sexual liaisons could not be construed as Aboriginal 'lore'. The evasion of the subject is a frequentcharacteristic of Prichard's statements. In this respectshe resembledher own character, Mollie: 'She oftenspoke like that quite irrelevantlyand off the subject,in a way which made youhopeless of reachingher mmd, combating what she had said'. (Prichard,1929, pp. 104-105). In respectof Prichard's'Introduction' to Coonardoo, Gail Jones in her doctoralthesis, Mimesis and alterity: postcolonialism, ethnography and the representation of racial 'otherness'(1994), makes a numberof observationswhich have relevance to the discussion presentedhere. Jones expressedthe view that the'Introduction' is constructed as an 'authorialattestation' in which Prichard makes a specificclaim forthe scientific/ethnographicstatus of her text. It · s not a work constructedfrom 'romantic imagination' but is foundedon the dispassionate observat;ons of the 'natural scientist'. Jones noted that when Prichard assertedher work as basedon direct experienceshe was therebymaking an unassailable claim that it is 'somehow actual and veridical'. (Jones, 1994, p. 64).

Gail Jones noted that ethnography's essential pul""poseis the discovery of the essence of the cultureit scrutinisesand the extual preservation of that essence; which is alreadyin the processof disappearing. These two elements are combined in Prichard's 'Introduction'in the passage:

People who see the blacks only along the transcontinental line, or when they have become poor, degraded and degenerate creatures,as a resultof contact with towns and the vices of white people,cannot understand how differentthey are in their natural state, or on isolated stations of the Nor'­ West. (Prichard, 1929, p. v).

Thus in one sentence Prichard affirmed her cognition of the essence, 'natural state', of the Aboriginesand at the same time she confirmed the transience, 'degenerate creatures', of her subjects. In the 'Introduction' Prichardis claiming that her text bothguarantees and preserves the culture she scrutinised.Jones stated: 'It is a positionof moral authority: there is moral capital in beingthe agent of such culturally commiserating recuperation'. (Jones, 1994, p. 65).

Prichard's 'Introduction'emphasised the conservationistnature of her text in faceof the

91 inevitable extinction of the Aborigines,who, like the fossilmen of Europe, would inevitably disappear. She noted the many aspectsof the moribund natureof Aboriginal culture.The meaningsof myths and legends performedin corroboreeswere already lost and werewritten in a language the Aboriginescould no longer understand.Aboriginal poeticlanguage had 1:,,.;eninvaded by 'the adoption and growth of white man's wordsin the native idiom'. (Prichard, 1929, p. vi). The Introductioninfers that the powerof conservation is beyondthe grasp of the Aboriginesand, thus becomesthe responsibility of the white colonisers who alone can betrusted to interpret and preservethese remaining cultural fragments.

Even so, Prichard's metamorphosis from 'romantic' writer to ethnographer is surprising given the author's desire for acceptance by the Australian literary establishment. But it can, perhaps,be understood as a responseto the furore which greeted Coonardoo when it appearedin serial formin the Bulletin in 1928. The Editor, S.H. Prior, stated: 'our disastrous experience withCoonardoo shows us that the Australian public wm uot stand stories based on a white man's relations with an Australian aborigine'. (Throssell, 1975, p. 55). Prichard, herself, referredto this public disapproval of Coonardoo: 'Prior kept sending me ridiculous letters fromanonymous correspondents'. (Throssell, 1975, p. 55).

Thus it is possiblethat Prichard's 'Introduction' was an attempt to rehabilitate her text in the eyes of the reading public by transferringit from the artisticto the scientific realm. But, as will bediscussed, the text doesnot accord very well with ethnographic data in respectof the historical situation of the Aboriginesin the North-Westregion at the time of Prichard's visit to Turee Station.

By 1926 the pastoral industry had alreadybeen established in the North-Westfor approximately 60years and traditional Aboriginal culturein the region had largely disappeared.All that remainedwas a modificationand adaptation of the original customs and practices. Thisis the substance of R.M. Bemdt's essay, 'Traditional 92 Aboriginallife in Western Australia: asit was and is' (1979), in which he describedthe gradual dissolution and re-integrationof Aboriginalsocio-cultural patternswhich took place throughout the settlementperiod.

Berndtlooked back to the earlydays when Aborigineswere closely tied to specific stretchesof country. This territory.the homeland, was the basis of the groups' economic and spiritual life. Socialinteraction and communication was restricted to the people within the territory who sharedthe same language, or dialect, and the same domesticand religious patterns.

Colonial development not only displaced the peoplefrom their homelands with its hunting grounds and sacred sitesbut forcedthem to integrate with other Aboriginal groups whose language and customs were different from their own. Gradually. the various displaced groups were incorporated into a new cultural pattern centredon the resettlement area. On a few pastoral stations where the original group remained,their traditional cultural formsstill existed but wereseverely curtailedby the groups' lack of autonomy in respectof freedom of movement within the station boundaries and the group 'had little opportunity for independent action'. (Berndt, 1979,p. 4).

Very little information is available in regard to the pre-contacttraditional groupsin the regionof Turee Station. A single paragraph in a letter dated 23 May 1995 receivedfrom Diana Maccallum, the Heritage Officerof the AboriginalAffairs Department stated: 'As faras I know, the Yinhawangka (lnawongga) and Ngarla (Ngarlawongga) socio­ linguistic groups traditionally cccupiedthe TureeCreek area'. (see Appendix 2).

Boundaries of the homelands of the original groups of the North-Westare shown on a numberof maps of varying reliability. Themap presentedhere is includedin Western Australia: an atlas of human endeavour 1829-1979 (1979). (Jarvis, 1979, p. 32). The map shows the boundariesof thetraditional socio-linguistic groups mentioned by the 93 AboriginalAffairs Department. 'lnawongga' and'Ngalawongga'; Prichard's text refersto the station Aboriginesas 'Gnarler'. (Prichard. 1929, p. 10). Themap is reproducedby permissionof the Departmentof LandAdministration:

94 TRADITIONAL ABORIGINAL SOCIETIES

A Su1Mc1,om. ...U11 m mau,hne M dinornt, m udy 1uoc.. ttdwi lh p,u11lonul toe.f drMlMI llfllll.lPL Mudblr1 WMlhlj (W1lb11 1I Nor 1t11nn

r,1l11H.tl U,M1n,h1.-i

TIW' 11.K1111on ti ,•h , ...... , \l\l(>f.trrn . ;~ml Hnrlh V,J ..~1 rn tr,n,1,. i lh"W"'"l•"fn ~'"-"'l "'''""' c P11rlllnul loell dine.II l'OUIK, ..o.-1in.«MCll!ln&.lladl 't"N', .·:~: '.~::t::'.·: : \ H... ,-• 0 s.a.- wtth ..tweet mauf. { Mal.... s;~ .. '""' ._._ n- Labell &Md for !MM waiom .. .., ,...... ,, ..lhouth.,...... ,i- _ ...... _ Aho paWi· / \..<._··:: ...... IDcal dnaftl ~ C.8djl,t G•11tt• • Ny..-1 . ~·r,pr•• ~·· ..r··-·

...... ___ .__ ...... _...... _., •'"•~•D.Aho.~- 1N1t,.._,.*"°""...... ,,...t. ~ ·

"""cl- ftCII wefl dafwwd; ,-trililoNl--'to--·1.. , ...... ~.--intOtMl'ff ~·,..,.u -~ ­ Widi'"(Pt' '!aalu

It

0 1•.. u...,.all

...... ~_.. .,. . ..-!dMl...... klCIII ...... f'f'PI •.

l\t~n.11., """"M""" lrwk,. .-Id r...... ~ twlu'-M 1ou1 "''""" •°"l'I· ...... CIMK!ftt­ W11htnhntoroc:1u,..,.,1~elilfl'...... ;...... _,.....,: ho!tfl1Pf1Kle11nfr..-,ndle­ _.. ,,..,,I t,,_,. I- ,t,fj"'"'tv .... _...... ,. _ .. WCIKIII 'V\'U- IMICtl ...... '?fHd tnlO lheMe.al, - · ...... "'""' ,,,..., cnmtNn,111 to ltYl'11 • •.., ...... ,..., ...... ,...... ~ 11,1rt' wo,.m. n,h k che ...... ~oflhitrad, t ••!l"'n 1te11 in 1\11111.at.1 whtd, hkN!,1w.niiffl 0-. forffll 11ao.lihonaltyh11fl-•ll""'II 0...-..•· Gel'ID · ~ ... itvin~al fll.,_. .,\•I...... , ltypt•, W11,teono..-1·1v1,e',

95 A very briefreference is made by NonnanTindale in Aboriginal Tribesof Australia: their te"ain, environmental controls, distribution, limits, andproper names(1974) to the lnawongga and Ngarlawongga. Thesection titled'Catalog of AustralianAborigines tribes,Western Australia', gives the following particulars:

lnawongga. Loe. On Hardey River south of Rocklea, south-east along upperAshburton from Turee Creek upstream to Kunderong Range and Angelo River; south only a shortdistance fromthe main AshburtonRiver channel to the northof Mount VernonStation. Enmity with the Ngarlawongga prevented them fromvisiting Tunnel Creek. 0 0 Coord: 117 45'E x 23 25'S Area: 3,600sq. m. (9,400sq. km). Alt. Inawangga, Inawonga (in error) (Tindale, 1974, p. 241 ).

Ngarlawongga. Loe. Headwaters of the Ashburtonand Gascoyne Rivers; south to near Three Rivers and Mulgul; east to Ilgarari. Coord: 118 55'E x 20' S [sic]. Area 8,700sq. m. (22,600sq km). Alt. Ngalwongga, Nalawonga, Ngarla-wamgga, 'SouthernPad'ima', Ngalawonga, Ngarla (not to be confused with de Grey River tribeof that name). (Tindale, 1974, p. 252).

It has beenpossible to obtain first-hand information regarding the early history of Turee

Station from Dr. Richard J. Maguire,son of the original owner of the station. Dr

Maguire recalls that, as a seven-year-old, he had been presenton Turee Station during

Prichard's visit there. A record of a telephone interview with Dr. Maguireis included in

Appendix 1.

Dr Maguire stated that the Aborigines camped on Turee Station in 1926 did not constitute anything like a 'tribe'; although they wereof the same 'pattern' as Aborigines within a radius of aboutfifty miles of the station.

TheTuree Station Aborigines had arrived on the station with the original ownersPiesse

96 and Maguire. Maguirehail acquired his herdof cattle over a numberof years, commencingin the early daysof the centuryand had graduallymoved into the area. travelling along the Ashburton Riverand TureeCreek. In his transmission along the waterways,various Aboriginalgroups camped in the vicinity had joined him and together they had moved into the unoccupiedlands which eventually constituted Turee Station.

At the time of Prichard's arrival, about50 or 60Aborigines were living at the Aboriginal camp - this numberincluded children. None of the Aboriginal peoplehad beenborn on the station although some of the children and young teenagerswho came with the original groups might claim some kind of relationship with the station, stated Dr. Maguire.

Informationabout Aboriginal customs, but of a limited nature,may have beenavailable to Prichard in 1926. Ric Throssell recollected that as a four-year-oldhe had observed Prichard gathering material on the station:

For hours, day after day, it seemed to an aggrieved small son, she sat at the edge of the station veranda talking to the shy aboriginalgirl who helpedin the homestead kitchen; rode with her sometimes to the dry creek-bed near the aborigines'camp. (Throssell, 1975, p, 49).

The 'drycreek-bed near the aborigines'camp' was, possibly, as close as Prichard came to viewing Aboriginalcamp life at Turee Station. Ric Throssell recalled that whilst on TureeStation, Prichard acquired her material from within the confines of the homestead:

From the yams of the men round the firein the long kitchen on cold nights, or stretchedout on the veranda afterthe heat and glareof the day, she learntthe folkloreof the north-west,the tragedy and comedy of everydaylife. (Throssell, 1975, p. 48).

At the timeof her visit, Prichardseems to have shown asmuch interestin the activities 97 of the white pastoralists at the homesteadas in the customs of the Aboriginesin their employ. In her letter to Hilda Esson of 1 November, 1926, towardsthe end of her visit. she wrote:'And next weekI'm going on a ten days muster with men of the place,no other female, except perhapsa gin'. (Throssell, 1975, p. 50).

In his autobiography, My father's son ( 1989), Ric Throssell recallsthat Prichardwas unable to attend the ten-day muster whilst at TureeStation due to his having contracted trachoma; she remainedat the station homestead to nurse him. (Throssell, 1989, p. 96). In the novel Phyllis misses a cattle-muster when she has an 'attack of blight' (trachoma). (Prichard, 1929, p. 173).

Prichard intended no insult to Aboriginalwomen when she used the term 'gin'. In the periodin which she wrote the usual termsfor Aboriginalmen and women were'man' and 'gin', respectively.Even so, it was a marker of the 'otherness'with which Prichard regardedthe Aborigines. Prichard never doubted her superiorityof race in regardto the Aboriginesin termsof evolution. In the 'Introduction'to the novel she re-iterated HerbertBasedow's statement: 'In other words, the Australian aboriginalstands somewherenear the bottomrung of the great evolutional ladder we have ascended'. (Basedow, 1925, p. 58; Prichard, 1929, pp. v-vi). This view finds expression in the novel in such descriptive passages as the following,which attributes Warieda's horsebreaking skill to an affinity between the Aborigine and the animal world:

Warieda went up to the horse, his arm,the dark sinewy armof a black that was like the branch of a tree,stretched out beforehim ... His hand going straight to brain communicated the spellof the man, in language of the flesh, an old forgottenflow of instincts. W arieda wasnearer to the horse than any of the white men abouthim. Handsome, aboriginalas he was, that was perhapsthe secret of his power.(Prichard, 1929, p. 48).

The files of the Departmentof AboriginalAffairs, formerly the Departmentof Native affairs,contain verylittle archivalmaterial from TureeStation. Theearliest records are

98 contained in two files, which areavailable under 'Restricted'access. That is to say, beforea fileis opened, permissionhas to beobtained fromthe Departmentof AboriginalAffairs, who ensurethat any material of a sensitivenature has been removed fromthe filebefore releasing it.

Departmentof AboriginalAffairs's file: PROWA. DAA. ACC.2819. File 38.209.1951- 1968, includes details of Aboriginal welfare,wages, housing, etc. on Turee Station for the years 1951to 1968. This is rather in advance of the periodunder consideration but it doesreveal something of living conditions forAboriginal workers and their families on the station. The standard of amenities in this later periodcan, at best.reflect those obtaining in earlier years. For example, the Inspector'sReport dated 13th July, 1956 described Aboriginal housing:

Accommodation:Three local timber and corrugatediron huts and one timbersided tarpaulin hut areprovided. These are crudedwellings and the natives have complained that they do not keep out rain. (PROWA. DAA. ACC.2819. File 38.209.I 951- I 968).

The Inspector'sReport dated 28th February, I 958. recorded that: 'No sanitation is provide for natives - they go bush'. (PROW A. DAA. ACC.2819. File 38.209. 1951- 1968).

The earliest Inspector'sReport to the Departmentof Native Affairsis undated, but other archival evidence suggests it was compiled about t 953. Extracts fromthis report provide details of Aborigines and camp lifeon the station:

Natives: Brumby Bill @ Bingamara (approx. 55). His wife is Big Kubu (approx. 35). This couple together work stock, Bill beingpaid 30/- a week and his tribal wife t 5/- a week. Both get full keep, including tobacco and clothes, as do aJI natives on this station.

lld(noEnglish name)is approx. 35. He receives25/- a week. His wife To.psy also works as a mustererand is aged 60years. She receives15/- a week. Topsy's aboriginalname is Kundri. 99 Paddy@ Jambu (approx. 60)is known mostly asTuree Paddy. He receives25/- a week andMaggie, his 60year oldwife lives at the homestead whereshe doesnot work. She is not paid.

Dinni ( 17) has no English name.He is the son of Kubu and his father was Tumbler (deceased).Dinni is single and is paid 25/- a week.

Billie @ Manubonng and tribal wife Tessie @ Kadadu areaged indigents. Billie is blind. 1bey arefed and clothed.

Bessie is BrumbyBill's mother and aged morethan 70. She doesnot work but is fed and clothed at the station.

Bidgie is a native woman, aged about50. She has no tribal husband and doesnot work. She is however a tribal relativeof some of the employees at the station, and is allowed to live at Turee,being fed and clothed.

Quarters: Iron and timberhave beensupplied to the natives at this station and they have themselves built weather-proofhuts. They areunlined, the roofheight is low, beingabout 6 or 7 feet, the floorsare of earth.The manager, Mr. Jones, was understanding and co-operativewhen it was suggested to him that quarterscould beof a bettertype. It was obvious however that he genuinely believedthat the natives preferredthe humpies in which they were living. He said that the humpies previously had beenquarters, but that the natives had askedthat they beallowed to have the material to build their own shacks. The quarters had been one large building. Mr Jones said that the natives had preferredsmaller separate dwellings which they claimed werewarmer.

The aborigineswere questioned about their housing and they intimated that they were happy with what they had. They said that they did not want other quarters. In the circumstances it was not insisted that quarters should bebuilt.

Diet: Diet was varied and sufficient. From a good station garden a large variety and quantity of vegetables was supplied to the natives. They have ample fresh meat and bread baked at the station .

... Wages appearedto bevery low and this factwas mentioned to Mr. Jones. He agreed to raise wages 10/- in the case of everybody. (PROWA. DAA. ACC. 2819. File 38.209.1951-1968).

In regardto the entries above,the symbol'@' undoubtedly indicated the person's Aboriginalname. The name Kubu is usually written 'Cooboo',stated Dr Maguire. (See Appendix1 ).

100 Of theseAboriginal employees, perhapsthe most interestingin relationto the novel, is 60-year-old'Topsy' whose tribal name is 'Kundri'. An Aboriginenamed 'Topsy'appears in the earliest archivalmaterial, dated 1923, (PROWA. DAA. ACC. 653. File 680/23). This fileprovides information relating to events which occurredduring 1923 and 1924.

On 29 July 1923, J.J. Maguire,who was part-ownerof TureeStation, as alreadystated, addressed a letter to the Officerin Charge of the Police Station at PealeHill requesting permissionfor the Station Manager, J. Brown, and his wife to talcean Aboriginalfamily on holiday with them to Queensland. The Aboriginesconcerned were Duck and Topsy and their child, aged 18 months. The Police Officer,J. Coppinger, PC 1083, forwarded Maguire'srequest, together with his own reportto the Protector of Aboriginesat Meekatharra, Sgt J. McDonald.

P.C. Coppinger's Report,together with its idiosyncratic spelling, is as follows:

Herewithplease findattached letter received fromMr J Maguire of Turee CreekStation, he is asking forpermission to talce Native Duck and his woman Topsy and child for a holiday to Queensland.

The natives in question are well known to me, they werebrought up at TureeHomestead, arevery intelligent and well able to spealcenglish,

I am shure Mr Maguire is well known to you, also Mr J Brown and his wife, Browns wifeis Maguiressister.

I re mmend that the natives bepermitted to visit Queensland as requestedas I am quite satisfiedthey will bewell caredfor by Mr and Mrs Brown, both are deacent respectablepeople.

18/8/22 J. Coppinger - PC 1083.

(PROW A. DAA. ACC. 653. File 680/23).

Sgt J. McDonald forwardedthe application to the DeputyChief Protectorof Aborigines in Perth. Thereafter,£25 depositswere paid foreach Aborigineand RecognisancesNos IOI 1035 and 1036 were issued in compliance with Section 9 of The AboriginesAct, 1905. A furtherRecognisance was issued at the lastmoment becauseit wasdiscovered that none had beenissued forthe baby. The Brownsand the Aboriginalfamily travelled together through Queenslandfrom December 1923 until April 1924. They wereall back in WesternAustralia by 22 April 1924.

It is interesting to speculatewhether the 'Topsy'referred to in this correspondencewas one of the sources forPrichard's informationabout Aboriginal life on a North-West cattle station. Perhaps she was the Aboriginalgirl Prichard talked to 'For hours, day after day', referredto by Ric Throssell (Ric Throssell, 1975, p. 49).

If so, Topsy's child would have beenabout four-years-oldat the time of Prichard's visit and would have been one of the station childrenwith whom the four-year-oldRic played in the dust. Ric Throssellrecalls 'tracking imaginary bungarras, runningin convincing terror when one of my aboriginalplaymates shouted, 'Narloocomin'! Narloo'llget yer! '(Throssell, 1975, p. 49) These children'sgames were captured by Prichard in the openingscenes of the novel when Coonardoo,Bardi, Wanna and Hugh play together beforeHugh leaves forschool in Perth: 'Hugh

More importantly,if the 'Topsy' of 1923 is the 60-year-old'Topsy' of the 1953 Inspector's report,whose tribal name was 'Kundri' this may indicate that she was the prototypeof Prichard's Coonardoo.Even though in the 'Introduction'to the novel Prichard expresslystated: 'The CoonardooI knew and usedto ride with, for instance is not the gin whoselife-story has beentold'. (Prichard, 1929, p. v). On the other hand she also stated: 'when I learntmore aboutAboriginal women of out-back stations, I was able to write Coonardoo which revealedthe character of one of these women'. (Williams, 1963, p. 27).

102 Dr Maguire expressedthe opinion:

'I always thought Topsy wasthe heroine.I've no proof. I just assumedso as she is like Topsy.Not of course,in the lastpart.' (Appendix I).

Ric Throssellalso stated:

'Topsy' was indeed the modelfor much of the characterisation of Coonardoo. Thereare photographs of her in the red albums annotated in Katharine's writing 'A girl like Coonardoo'. (Ric Throssellto M.V. Austin-Crowe, dated 15 October 1996).

The Aboriginalcouple, Topsy and Duck, were very likely Prichard's sources forthe working conditions of Aborigineson pastoral station and they possibly gave her informationabout Lieforms of the open-sacredceremonies. It is unlikely that they were able to introduce Prichard to any Aboriginal secret-sacrP.d cultural practices, such as the puberty rituals she describes in the novel.

In her 'Introduction',as already stated, Prichard makes referenceto the anthropologist, Basedow. An entry relating to Herbert Basedow (1881-1933) appearsin th� Australian dictionaryof biography, vol 7. 1891-1939 (1979) which describes him as an 'anthropologist, geologist, explorer and medical practitioner'. The dictionary article states that Basedow made expeditions in South Australia, the NorthernTerritory and WesternAustralia, both as a government geologistand medical practitioner; during which he had opportunityto study Aboriginal languages and culture. Prichard acknowledged Basedowas the sourceof her ideas regardingthe evolutionarystatus of Aborigines, but her debt to Basedow is far greaterthan this: a greatdeal of textual material relatingto Aboriginal traditionallife and culturewhich appearsin Coonardoo

103 can beshown to have beentaken almost intactfrom Basedow's text. TheAustralian Aboriginal ( 1925). Thedictionary entry refers to this text as:

a positivecontribution at a time when little detailed material was available to the public. Basedowwas not a socio-culturalanthropologist and was not in a positionto providea systematic analysis of Aboriginal life. However, the bookencapsulated his experiencewith the raceover twenty years.(Australian Dictionaryof Biography: 1891-1939, 1979, vol. 7. p. 203).

Prichard's debt to Basedowwas noted by Kay Iseman in her essay, Katharine Susannah Prichard, 'Coonardoo' and the Aboriginal presence in Australian fiction( 1980), in which Iseman stated:

It is clear from the Foreword to the first edi!ion of the novel that she read Basedow sometime beforepublication of the novel. Thereare several directparallels betweenPrichard's descriptions and interpretations of aboriginal ceremoniesand beliefsand those which he describes. Specifically,the firedance of the narlu as thief and the initiation ceremonies, involving bothadulation of the breasts and mutilation of the flesh, (the later [sic] a most uncommon practice according to recent anthropological evidence)are all describedin very similar termsin his study. (Iseman, 1980, p. I 0).

Prichard's description of the 'breast ceremony' which was partof a seriesof initiation ceremoniesthrough which young Aboriginalgirls passed on their way to maturestatus in the group, closely follows Basedow's account of the same event. Prichard's text states:

Then one morningduring a pink-eye, Warieda had told her he knew where therewere bardis in a tree not far fromthe creek. Coonardoo went off with him to findit. Several men streakedout from the ulooafter them and walked a little distance over the plains.

Shy and a little afraid,when she foundherself so farfrom th� other women, Coonardoohung her head and turnedto go backto them. But W arieda commanded her to sit down on the ground. He sat down before her, and all the restof the mensat in a half-circleround them.

104 W arieda had put his hand on her breasts,and smoothedthe round pointed bulbs with gentle fingers. He beganto sing in a low, far-away murmuringvoice. He wastalking and singing abouther breasts. Coonardoounderstood. She sat quivering and filledwith excitement and mystery... She knew verywell that W arieda wassinging to make her a woman. His hands moved round her breasts,moulding and kneading them. He pasted redochre mixed with emu greaseround the nipples, singing to make them grow quickly, bestrong and fullof milk to nourish her children.

Therest of the men who werenuba to her ... repeated his words and kept up an accompaniment to his singing, clicking their kylies, swaying and muttering rhythmically.... As Warieda put his mouth to the ruddy nimbus he had made on her budding breast,Coonardoo knew that he was drawing all the threadyinstincts, deeply buried in her body, towards him. (Prichard, 1929, pp. 19-20).

Basedow's 1925 text includes almost the same details:

Without advertisement,the tender novice is quietly coaxed away from camp by the men, who, by talking kindly to her, have no need to apply coercion. At no great distance they halt, and the future husband anoints the areassurrounding bothnipples, which are likely to bulge forthas the future breasts, with grease; the anointed areas are then covered with a layer of red ochre. Whilst this is taking place, all present sing to the budding milk-gland, firstsoftly, then vehemently, and with ceremony .

... The painted areolas are frequently charmed by touching them with a magic stone, and at intervals the enchanters bring an anointed circle into contact with their lips, as if endeavouring to draw the nipple forwards, that it might grow. (Basedow, 1925, p. 19).

As can be seen, Prichard does very little more than interject her fictional character into the situation detailed in Basedow's text.

Prichard describesthe second stage of the Aboriginal girl's initiation into womanhood in almost identical terms to Basedow. Prichard writes that Coonardoo:

foundherself dancing, scared and naked, at the head of a long line of women under a clear, starry sky.

The women danced and kept on singing until Coonardoo was ready to drop; but Bandogera with hands on her hips pushed her on, giving her little smacks on the back. (Prichard, 1929, p. 23)

105 Basedow'saccount stated:

An old gin places herselfbehind the girl and lays her hands uponthe latter's shoulders. Then all the other women taking partfonn a continuous chain by standing in a single rowbehind each other and 'linking up' in a similar vay. They beginto sing 'Ya, Ya, Ya', in a long­ drawn melancholy note, and the old gin immediately stamps her feet, and moving forwards,pushes the girl along in front of her.... the old gin stops shortand strikes the girl's back thrice with her hand. The same perfonnance is repeatedtime after time during the night. (Basedow, 1925, p. 252).

Apartfrom the 'old gin' placing her hands on the girl's shouldersin Basedow's text, and Bandogera with her hands on Coonardoo's hips, in Prichard's, the two accounts arevery similar.

The finalinitiation of the young girl into womanhood is describedby Basedow:

Then she is requested to lie flat on her back, and her head is placed upon the lap of one of the men who squats to keep it there. It followsthe act which is destined to make her marriageable;her virginity is doomedto mechanical destruction.

The in�truments,if ·1ny, which areused for the operationvary according to locality. In th(. �entral areas ... an ordinary stone-knife with resin haft is used. (Base iow, 1925, p. 255).

Prichard's account of tt.e girl's final initiation is, in its essential details, exactly as recounted by B�vw. The text describesthis ordeal in relationto Coonardoo:

she knew it would soon bemorning, stars were so faint in the sky, when the men sat round her in a ring and she wasspread out on the ground beforethem ....Then in a flashof pain, she heard her own cry, shrill and eerie like the note of a bird. (Prichard, 1929, p. 23)

106 Theactual mutilation is not presented directly but through the outragedsensibilities of

Bessie Watt:

Mrs Bessie was clearly annoyed; her white woman's prejudicesinflamed.

'Oh, well,' she declared, 'I think it's perfectly disgusting foran old man to destroya girl's virginity with a stone, like that.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 24).

The serial text omits the final partof the sentence following the word 'disgusting'.

(Prichard,Bulletin, 5 September 1928, p. 61). Whether this is text which was added in the novel version of Coonardoo, or one of the few passages Prichard claimed was edited by the Bulletin in the serial version, is a matter of speculation.

Male initiations are also channelled through Bessie's consciousness. During the 'pink­ eye' gatherings of the neighbouring groups, the initiations are perfonned. Bessie can hear the men chanting the Aboriginalwords which mean 'cut! cut!' (Prichard, 1929, p.

21). Bessie has made a virtue of non-interference in Aboriginal cultural practices: 'She had never seen a native who was better for breaking with bis tribal laws and beliefs'.

(Prichard, 1929, p. 13). And so: 'She had been careful not to interfere with her natives in any of their own ways and customs. She tried rather to leave them entirely to themselves in all that did not concern her'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 15). Nevertheless, Bessie signifies her disapproval of male initiations, with their 'crude rites of circumcision and mutilation'. She mutters: 'Devils!Old devils!' when she hears the chants of the men and the booming of the coolardie whichaccompanies the ritual activity. (Prichard, 1929, p.

22). It is the sexual nature of Aboriginal initiations that Bessie findsdisquieting: she senses 'a sadism in them, a whipping-up of sexual excitement in the crueltiespractised by old men on boys and girls'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 21).

Intentional cruelty was not an essential elementor motivation in the traditional rite of

107 circumcision. AlthoughBasedow recorded that circumstanceshad changedin recent years,that is pre-1925.During this period,repeated cases had occurredin which young males attempted to avoid the circumcisionrite by escapingto areasoutside the jurisdictionof their groupelders; some youths had even taken refugewith Europeans. But, Basedownoted, the candidate is never reallysafe. 'It is usually only a matter of time and he will beambushed by men of his own tribeand taken back to camp. The operationis then immediately performed,and is made extraordinarily drastic as a punishment'. (Basedow, 1925, p. 243).

The reasonfor this drastictreatment can beunderstood in relationto information contained in an essay by Diane Bell, 'Women's business is hard work: Central Australian Aboriginalwomen's love rituals' (1981). Bell noted that the performance of ritual was regardedas 'work' or 'business' by both men and women; bothwork to uphold and maintain the law of the ancestors. (Bell, 1981, p. 345). (The women's ritual sphereis discussed later in relationto arranged marriages). Initiations arepart of the men's ritual activity essential forthe maintenance of the ancestral law and to preserve the link 'to the Dreamtime whence all legitimate authority and poweronce flowed'. (Bell, 1981, 347- 348). The cruelty,reported by Basedow, inflicted on those who tried to avoid initiation, was, undoubtedly, a consequenceof the men's fearsfor the survival of the law of the ancestors. The severity of the ordeal was, possibly,a responseto the men's difficultyin carrying out their legitimate business, or work, and, additionally, served as a deterrentto others against future breaches damaging to the ancestral law.

In Prichard's text, Bessie Watt (and possibly, Prichard, herselO regarded the initiation ceremoniesessentially as ritual ordeals which permitted the passage into adulthoodand conferredstatus within the group: 'MrsBessie understood.... Girls of some of the Nor'­ West tribeswere subject to a preparationfor womanhoodas the boys were for manhood'.(Prichard, 1929, p. 24). Bessie interpretsthe initiations in termsof their socio-culturalfunction of maintaining group cohesion and affinitywith the land: 'Her 108 peopledid not wish to loseCoonardoo either. She wastheirs by bloodand bone,and they wereweaving her to the earthand to themselves,through all her senses,appetites and instincts'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 24).

Basedow.additionally. saw the girl's initiation in tennsof a propitiatorysacrifice. 'a desireto offerthe girl's pudicity to one of her spirit-husbands'. A 'legendary tribal relative who is supposedto beliving in the astralfonn and who is likely to come back to earthat any day'. (Basedow, 1925, p. 256).

But the initiations went beyondgroup affiliation and cohesion, or propitiatorysacrifice; they werepart of a ceremonialand ritual system that functionedto maintain an all­ encompassing ontological structure,which had given meaning to Aboriginalculture and societyfor thousands of years.

In her 'Introduction'to Wise women of the Dreamtime; Aboriginal tales of the ancestral powers ( 1993), Johanna Lambertdetails the exact natureof the space-time continuum of Aboriginal existence. The Aborigines lived in a created universe that had beenfonned from the invisible patterns and energieswhich flowedfrom the Dreamtime,the epoch which ended beforetime beganand in which the spirit ancestors had their being. At the conclusion of the Dreamtime, Lambertwrites: 'the energy and vibrational patternsfrom the exploits of the greatAncestors congealed the initially limitless space into the topographyand fonnsthat we now experienceas the material aspectof the universe'. (Lambert, 1993, p. 8). These energies thereafterwere retained in everypart of the natural world and ritual activity is essentialfor releasing and renewingthis energy.

In relationto the text of Coonardoo, this would have positionedPrichard's Aboriginal heroine inside a 'totalistic reality'in which the metaphysical world of past, presentand futureare at one with the empirical world of all natural phenomena whether of earthor space and which included,landfonns and all speciesof plant and animal life including 109 humans.

Thecreative energies emanating fromthe Dreamtimealso formedthe psychological and sociallife of the Aboriginesand the relationshipsbetween humansand the natural world. Theserelationships were the ancestral law that had to bemaintained forthe continued survivaland well-beingof the group. Lambertdescribed the essentialplace of myth and ritual in traditional Aboriginalsociety:

The continuation of the Aborigines''Dreamtime law' is assuredby the constancy of ritual and ceremoniallife in which they enter into ecstaticor trance states, contacting and listening to the voices of the Ancestors echoing from the greatDreamtime. (Lambert, 1993,p. 7).

The hypnotic state producedby the initiatory procedurewith its continuous chants, rhythmic dances and its final painfulordeal, producesa state of consciousnessin which the 'initiate not only sees the ancestors but discovers his identity with them'. (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1975, vol m, p. 660). Through the initiation he becomes partof a circularprocess in which he is reintegratedwith the Dreamtime from which he emerged at conception and to which he will return at death.

Prichard's Coonardoo makes referenceto the threemajor crises of earthlylife: birth, marriage, and death. The distinctive practices in relationto these events aredepicted in the text and, once again, they appearto bebased on informationcontained in Basedow's text.

In relation to Aboriginal birth beliefs,Prichard's text states the view, widely held in white society, that: Theblacks, unenlightened by white people,do not associatethe birthof children with any casual sexrelationship'. Thetext states that although a husband might lend his wife in the way of hospitality, 'any childrenshe might have would beher husband's children'. (Prichard,1929, p. 21).

110 Basedow'stext likewise expressed the view that Aboriginesdo not regardconception as 'connectedprimarily with any conjugal libertiesa husband or numberof tribal husbands may beprivileged to enjoy'. (Basedow, 1925, p. 62). Basedowstated that Aboriginesdid not entirelydiscount the roleof sexualityin the formationof the humanbeing but regardedit as complementary to the action of the totem spirit. (Basedow, 1925, pp. 284- 285).

R.M. Berndtalso noted that even when Aboriginesacknowledge the physical bond betweenparent and child, the spirit componentis the most importantaspect of conception. A spirit child wasbelieved to come fromthe Dreamingand animate the fetus. (Berndt,Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1975, vol. 2. p. 426). Conception was associatedwith accidental contact with some object, usual1y hol1ow in nature,such as a reed or empty snake skin. (Basedow, 1925, p. 62).

Basedow noted that the whirlwind is particularly dreadedby some groups of Aboriginal women who fear that if it passed over them, the spirit of a child will immediately enter their bodies. (Basedow, 1925, p. 62). The conception of Winni had beenattributed to the whirlwind, hence his name Winning-arra.Prichard's 'Glossaryof native words' (Prichard, 1929, p. 207) defines 'winni-carra,winning-arra' as whirlwind. (Prichard's inclusions of Aboriginal vocabulary is discussed later in relation to Aboriginalsongs and poetry).

Coonardoo has obviously not attributed Winni's conception to her sexual encounter with Hugh. She only learns of this when she hears Mollie and Hugh quarrelling. This leads her to examine Winni's nails and in the shapeof his ears she detects a certainlikeness to Hugh. Coonardoois describedas pleased and proud 'though the mysterywas beyond her understanding'and she retainsher beliefin 'totemic' conception, telling Winni: 'Out of the winning-arrayou came to me,but it was the spiritof Youic in the winning-arra.' 111 (Prichard,1929, p. 133).

As she lies dying Coonardoorecalls the sexualencounter with Hugh but still doesnot understandthat he has impregnatedher. She mulls over the situation:

And then, wasit true,what he said?That Winni washis son, not Warieda's? How could that be? wasshe not Warieda'swife, given to him by her people,and had not Warieda senther to Youie when he was alone and baba, grieving forMumae? (Prichard,1929, p. 204).

Marriagein Aboriginalsociety was surroundedby verystrict rulesin regardto permissiblespouses. Basedow'stext gave an account of the sectionalsystem which regulated marriage unions but an abundance of other sourceswere available to Prichard. Even so, the informationin the novel is only partlycorrect. Prichard names the North­ West sections, which she terms'families', as: Banniga, Burong,Baldgery and Kurrimurra. This is confirmedelsewhere, although a variety of spellingsis used. But she goeson to say: 'A Banniga woman might be given to a man who was Kurrimurra. Their child would beBurong and could not mate with either Banniga or a Kurrimurra. Beyond that there was roomfor choice'. (Prichard, I 929, p.2 I).

In fact,there was no roomfor choice as marriage within the individual's own section was also forbidden. Berndtnoted that: 'The section system uses four labels. Everyone belongs(belonged) from birth to one of these; they are exogamous. (Berndt,1979, p. 11). Daisy Bates refersto the North-Westsections as 'the fourgreat classes', which she names as: Boorong, Banaka, Kymera, Paljeri'. (Bates, 1905, p. 41). She states: 'Persons bearingthe same class name must not marry. Severepenalties, frequently deJJth, follow a breachof this law'. Bates had been toldby a settlerin the Roebourne area,

112 that the union of Boorongand Boorong is to the nativesthe union of brotherand sister, although theremay beno realblood relationship betweenthe pair, anda union of that kind is lookedupon with horror, and theperpetrators very severely punished and separated, and if the crimeis repeatedthey arcboth killed. (Bates, 1905,p. 42).

Both Bascdowand Ronald Berndtnoted the severepenalties for breaches of the marriagelaws. Bascdowstated that marriage withinthe individual's own division is 'forbidden underpenalty of death'. (Bascdow,1925, p. 219). Berndtalso noted that illegal marriages 'would courtdisaster, bringing aboutconflict and spcarings'.(Berndt, 1979, p. 13). Thus, in the paradigmatic marriagesystem presentedin the novel only one division would have beenavailable for a legal union, namely, Baldgery.

An early writer on the subject of Aboriginalmarriage sections, was Sir John Forrest, who presenteda paperto the 1891 Meeting of the AustralasianAssociation for the Advancement of Science titled: The marriage laws of the Aboriginesof North-Western Australia' (Forrest,1891, pp. 653-654 ). Forrestspelled the sectional names, which he tenned'families', as: 'Banigher', 'Boorunggnoo', 'Paljarie', and 'Kimera'. He noted that marriage could only take place betweenBoorunggnoo and Banigher, and between Kimera and Paljarie, and that the section of the children was detenninedby the father. In the case of Boorunggnoo fathers, theirchildren would beKimera and Kimera fathers would have Boorunggnoochildren, alternating from Boorunggnooto Kimerafor ever. Rigid, alternating patternsof marriage and birthsections applied in the case of both males and females. Forrest notedthat these rulesof legal marriage alliances motivated a great deal of Aboriginalbehaviour especially in relation to interactions with membersof the opposite sex. Potential marriage partners,for example, Boorunggnoofor Banigher, and Kimera for Paljarie, werecarefully avoided, whereasmembers of the opposite sex who arc forbidden in marriagewere treated without the leastrestraint. This ruleapplied to strangerswho visited the group,who would quickly distinguish betweenmembers eligible formarriage and must beavoided and thosewho werein the positionof kin and

113 wereobligated to providehospitality. Forrestconcluded: "Ibis etiquette is always observed,and is readilynoticed'. (Forrest, 1891,p. 654). Notably, this observation militatesagainst the notion of promiscuoussexual activity in traditional Aboriginal society.

John J. Withnell, in The customs andtraditions of the AboriginalNatives of North WesternAustralia (1901), recorded that Aboriginal'marriage laws arevery strict'. He names the sections,which he designated 'tribes', as: 'Banaka', 'Paljarri','Boorong', and 'Kymera'. He also introducesthe term'Nuba', which, he stated, has the 'meaning tribal wife or tribal husband'. (Withnell, 1901,pp. 14-15). This termis used by Prichard in the novel but only in relation to eligible husbands.

Prichard never doubted the Aboriginalwoman's lack of sexualautonomy in traditional Aboriginalsociety, particularlyin relationto 'arrangedmarriages'. Coonardoois perceivedas a disposable item vulnerable to the whim of her disreputable old father, JoeyKoonara. Joey'scareful consideration of Geary's offerfor Coonardoo casts some doubt on the validity of marriage contracts entered into at the birthof the girl. The text states:

Joeywas more than tempted. He found it impossible to refuseso much wealth. It was so long since Warieda had made his bargain, and a rifle- Joey'seyes glistened. (Prichard, 1929, p. 26\

Diane Bell tookissue with two views, widely held in white society,in relationto the j status of Aboriginalwomen in traditional society. Notably, the beliefthat women had no ritual powersand that their services in marriage werebestowed entirely at the whim of a male gerontocracy. Such ideas, she stated, had emanated from male dominated, anthropologicalresearch. An example of such reportageoccurred in the text by Stanley

H. Porteus, Thepsychology of a primitivepeople ( 1931). Porteus, an American psychologist, carriedout a sociologicalsurvey in the Kimberleysand CentralAustralia

114 during 1929 at the request of the Australian National ResearchCouncil. Porteus upheld the view of the depressed status of Aboriginalwomen in traditional society. He stated:

women cannot but be in an inferior position. In a marriage alliance, for example, they contribute nothing either of wealth or prestige. They can never be the mothers of tribalheroes but must remain the mere receptaclesof new life, the soil from which the ancestralindividual springs anew. As an articleof property,or an object of barter,woman comes to beregarded as a being of inferior status and must beexcluded from any share in the secretsof the tribe. (Porteus, 1931, p. 282).

Bell noted that anthropologists have consistently failedto recognizeor record

Aboriginal women's ritual activity. (Bell, 1981, p. 347,. This, undoubtedly, occurred because anthropologists, both male and female, tended to addresstheir enquiries to male groups and for this reason would not learn of women's sacred ceremonies. Bell noted that 'Aboriginal men cannot and will not discuss women's business'. (Bell, 1981, p.

349).

Bell reported that Aboriginal women in the desert groups she studied performed importantrituals concerned with the maintenance of health and harmony in the community, and the 'broad themes of attachment to country'. (Bell, 198 i, p. 348). Ben declared that so completely have women's sacred rituals in respect of maintaining country been ignored that their 'tie to the land is deemed by many white observers never to have existed'. (Bell, 1981, p. 354).

In her essay, 'A complex strategical situation: gender and powerin AboriginalAustralia'

( 1981), Annette Hamilton also notes the importanceof women's ritual to the community in its powerto regulatehuman relationships and to promote harmony in society and 'as a forcefor curing and healing the sick'. Hamilton does not deny that precedence is accorded men's ritual and that this is a fundamentalelement in maintaining male dominance in the community but she notes that certainrituals performedby men and 115 women areof a complementary nature. For example, those which areessential to ensure the productionand increaseof plant and animal life. Hamilton states: 'Both men and women, throughtheir rituals and knowledge of song, design, and dance areable to actas mediatorsof the powersin the naturalworld'. (Hamilton, 1981, p.80).

The disposalof women's services in marriage at the whim of a male gerontocracy, Bell stated, is also not endorsedby Aboriginalwomen. In fact, women 'play a decisiverole in maintaining the promise system of marriage through their politickingand ceremonial activity during male initiation'. (Bell, 1981, pp. 349-350). The young Aboriginalman is forbidden marriage until he reachesa certainstage in the initiation processand at this stage female-initiated marriages areformally negotiated. Bell noted that in traditional society, 'seen from a woman's pointof view, marriage is an evolving serialmonogamy' (Bell, 1981, p. 350) whereinwomen were able to manipulate the marriage system to their own advantage. They contracted a sequenceof marriages forthemselves which were perceived asprogressively more beneficialin terms of the alliances and relationships they were able to establish thereby.

Bell reported that:

Women stated that they used love rituals, yilpinji business, to establish and to maintain marriages of their own preference. In these rituals women clearly perceived themselvesas independentoperators in 2 domain where they exercised power and autonomy basedon their Dreaming affiliationswith certain tracts of land. These rights are recognised and respected by the whole society. Women arenot, and never were, the pawns in mate games, and they have always beenactively engaged in establishing and maintaining male/femalerelationships of their own choosing,that is, they have engaged in women's work. (Bell, 1981, p. 350).

Bell noted that 'women exercise wide choice in second and subsequent marriages'. In the case wherethey go to a much younger man it is becausethe woman wishes to do so. Neither doesthe man enter the marriageas a duty but becausehe is 'desper tely in love

116 with an irresistiblewoman'. (Bell, 1981 , p. 366).The success of the match hasbeen achieved through theperfonnance of yilpinji. In tum hannonious marriageshave importantconsequences for the well-beingof theentire community.

Bell's statements can beset against the situation in Prichard'snovel which saw the aged Meenieas unmarriageable. Hugh believes,'Meenie was old now. It was not likely she would be sought or demanded'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 139). In light of Bell's infonnation, Meeniewould not have been,entirely, subject to male disposalbut could 'exercisewide choice in secondand subsequent marriages'. (Bell, 1981, p. 366). She would also possess the ritual knowledge to bring aboutthe desiredmarriage and ensureits success.

Catherine Berndt,in 'Aboriginal womenand the notion of 'the marginal man' (1979), also takes issue with the postulationof an exclusively male secret-sacred domain and the powerlessnessof women in traditional society. Berndtargues that becausewomen weresecure in their role of economic providers and becausethey exercised infonnal influenceat domestic level, they had beenlenient in their acceptance of men in a 'managerial role' in religious matters. Catherine Berndt stressed the co-operative nature of traditional Aboriginal society,particularly in relation to sharing, a fact not noted by Europeans except in the sensational topic of 'wife-lending'. Berndt,like Bell, doubts that this was as prevalent a custom as the Europeannewcomers imagined. She states that, undoubtedly some Aboriginalmen were prepared to use 'women as bargaining items, fortheir own advantage, just as others tried to check such moves'. But adds that, following Europeansettlement, the exploitation of Aboriginal women, just like the exploitation of Aboriginesin general, by the newcomers'far overshadowed anything of the sortthat may have gone on in traditional AboriginalAustralia'. (Berndt,1979, p. 36).

In Prichard's text the notion of Aboriginalwomen as powerlessand lacking sexual autonomy is demonstrated in the sketch which finds Coonardooand Bardi alone on the cattle station when Sam Geary and a miner arrivethere. Hugh lliiathe A�rlgi ___ :':'.e:: 117 areout mustering in the distant ranges but Gearyand the miner remainovernight; demanding foodand whisky and the sexualservices of theAboriginal women on the station. Coonardoocan hearGeary and the miner quarrelling:

'No.' Geary'svoice, thick and insistent, soaredand foundered. 'C'lOnardoo'smine. You can have Bardi.' (Prichard,1929, p. 180).

Theonly repercussionGeary anticipates for his actionsis the, possible,displeasure of Hugh. The followingmorning 'Geary was rather in a hurryto beoff before Hugh came in. He was uneasy in his mind abouthow Hugh would regardthe frenchleave he had taken with his houseand women'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 181 t The women arecategorised as Hugh's propertybut their defilementis considered of les� significancethan the misuse of Hugh's residential property.

A degraded positionfor Aboriginal women in traditional society,is denied by R.M. Berndt. It is true,he says, that in marriage men exercised more rights over their partner than women did, but the complementary nature of their socialand economic roleswas such that 'the status of women in Aboriginal societywas not depressed'. (Berndt, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1975, vol. 2. p. 426).

Diane Bell noted that the powerexercised by Aboriginalwomen in the community has diminished with the destruction of traditional Aboriginalsociety. Women's influence remains highest where family group and community co-incide, for example, on some pastoral stations and homeland centres, but in the larger more heterogeneous settlements, they have no role in family or community decisions. (Bell, 1981, p. 347).

By the time of Prichard'sarrival in the North-Westthe status of Aboriginalwomen was undoubtedly very depressed. Interviewswith women of the Yammatji linguistic group, included in BryanClark'sYammalji: Aborigimllmemories of the Gascoyne(1992), revealed,almost unanimously,that womenwere powerless in thematter of 'arranged

118 marriages' and that young girls weregiven away in marriage by their fathers. Dolly Butler. who wasborn about 1915 on WandageeS tion. nearCamarvon. recalledthat she was about 18 when she was given away by her father and that:

'Back then. when the fathergive yo:.aaway. you got to stay with the man and behis wife. He just tookme tc him and said. That'shim now. I give you away.

'If you don't do what your old dad wants. then they startto get wild and give you a hiding.... All us youn girls was treated like that.' (Clark. 1992. p. 25).

The textual presentationof the final crisis in earthly lifeoccurs in relation to Warieda's death by boning. Prichard's text closely followsBasedow's account of the procedures which constitute the boningritual. In both the novel and the anthropological text. the victim's reactionto the news he has been boned is instantaneous. Prichard writes:

One of the Nuniewarraboys warnedWarieda that the moppin had pointed a bone at him. Warieda went sick almost immediately. would not eat. said he had guts-ache, moped disconsolately. and felt he was going to die. (Prichard, 1929. p. 136).

One or two eye-witnesses to the boning ceremonyare the bearers of the news to the victim in Basedow's account. Thereupon:

Overcomewith consternation and terror, the fellow immediately begins to fret; and death will inevitably bethe outcome, unless the counter­ influence of a medicine man or other tribal powercan make itselffelt beforehand. (Basedow,1925, p. 175).

Hugh attempts to divertthe impendingdisaster to Warieda and sends forthe moppin­ garrctfrom Nuniewarra;but neither threats nor bribescan persuadethe 'half-crazyold man' to 'take the bulya out of Warieda'. (Prichard.1929. p. 137). The moppin-garra goesthrough a semblanceof ritual but his Jack of sincerity is apparent even to Hugh who knows that: 'Ordinarilythe moppin-garrawould besprawling all over the �ick man.

119 kneading and scrabblinghim with frenziedfingers'. He would suck or drawthe supposedpoison from the afflictedman and then, by sleight of hand,would triumphantly producesome object, shell, bone,or pebbleas the causeof the problem. The text states that the sufferer'usually respondedto the suggestion that he wasgoing to bequite well now'. (Prichard,1929, p. 138).

Basedow also reportedthe crawling over the body,the biting and kneading of the skin and the eventual locationof the poisonsite by the Nangarri, who, 'with feigned exaltation', would producesome article: small stick, a bone,pebble, meteoric bomb,or a talon, as the causeof the 'affliction'and thereafter, the victim's recoverywould be speedyand complete. 'Without the Nangarri's interception, the "boned"fellow would have fretted himself to death for a certainty'. (Basedow, 1925, pp. 181-182).

The fictional moppin-garrahas his own malicious agenda for the boningand forfailing to perform the correct ritual necessary for Warieda's recovery: the moppin-garra'sson had a right to claim Warieda's daughter Beilaba in marriage, but 'Warieda gave Beilaba to Wanna'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 137).

Prichard's text revealsthat the ownership of femalesexuality was as greata hazard to Aboriginal men as it was to Aboriginal women. Wariedarisks his lifedefending his right to the pubescentCoonardoo when he fights a young man from a distant tribewho tries to abduct her (Prichard, 1929, p. 25) and, ultimately, it is his proprietorship of his daughter's sexuality, which provokes the boningritual which causeshis death.

The death of a husband was the cause of greathardship forhis spouse(s) in Aboriginal society and this fact is noted by bothPrichard and Basedow. In the fictional text the details of the mourningare mediated through the consciousness of Hugh who forweeks hears the sound of wailing emanating fromthe ulooeach morning,as Coonardoo, Meenieand Winni grieve forthe deathof Warieda. Coonardoocontinues with her 120 domestic workat the homesteadas usual but Hugh knows that beneath her gina-gina her bodybears the gashes of sharpstones andthat: 'In the camp she would live silent and retiredfor weeks, as awidow; Meenie also'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 139).

When a man died, Basedow reported: The person who fares worstis a widow'.

(Basedow, 1925, p. 212). She will live in silence and apartfrom the community in a small bumpy and will eat nothing for the duration of the mourning ceremonies.

Basedowstated that ·f the widow fails to 'observe the strictest rules of tribal mourning', then, 'the spirit will see that her late husband's memoryis not sufficiently revered,and it will starve the woman to death'. (Basedow, 1925, p. 212).

Basedow documentedthe Aboriginal practice of disposing of the widow: 'A woman, uponthe decease of her husband, becomes the property of her late partner's brother; if there are [sic] more than one brother surviving, she falls to the senior among them'.

(Basedow, 1925, p. 213).

Similarly Coonardoo and Meenie become the property of Warieda's brother. Prichard writes:

Coonardoo? Hugh wondered what would happen to her. He knew Warieda's brother, who was one of Geary's boys, was entitled to claim her. Hugh did not intend to surrender Coonardoo. Or Meenie for that matter. (Prichard, J 929, p. J 39).

The Aboriginaldimension of the text is largely taken up with the socio-cultural practices outlined above. But Prichard also included elements from the aesthetic-creative sphere of traditional Aboriginallife: the corroborees;the myths and legends; and traditional and contemporary songs.

In relation to corroboreesthis is one aspectof Aboriginal culture that Prichard is known

121 to have experienced directly. She had beena spectatorat a corroboreeduring her visit to the North-Westbut it was a perfonnanceespecially arrangedfor her benefit.

Interview infonnationrevealed that Duck, the boss of the Aboriginalcamp and Topsy, the High Lady of the camp, had beenasked to put on a perfonnance for Prichard. The

Aboriginalmen had come to the homestead during the evening and had jumpedaround showing how the kangaroomoved, etc. (see Appendix 1 ). This, possibly,gave riseto

Prichard's statement: 'As I saw the corroboree,it was the most thrilling and dramatic perfonnanceI've ever seen,' (Throssell,1975, p. 51).

Kay Iseman's statement that thereis a 'directparallel' betweenPrichard's description of corroborees, particularlythe 'firedance of the narlu as thief (Iseman, 1980, p. 10), and

Basedow's text, is not entirely correct. Prichard's corroborees have elements in common with Basedow's text but they do not appear to have been taken directlyfrom it.

The corroborees that appear in Coonardoo are taken almost intact from the text of

Brumby Innes, Prichard's three-act play of 1926. The play remained unpublished until

1940 and was first performed in 1972. (Throssell, 1974, p. ix). Prichard's 'Preface to

1940 edition' of Brumby Innes suggests that she used primary sources for the songs in the corroborees in the play. She stated:

The Song of the Stranger' and 'TheSong of the Mate' in Act I areboth authentic fragments in an ancient language of the Gnulloonga tribe. Words of the narloo corroboree arein a localdialect. The gins seemed afraid to give me he ancient word. They would only say: 'Sing go away narloo... come dark,' waving to the hills. 'Narloo,eagle-hawk ... like smoke... moon,maybe.' (Prichard, 1974, p. 51).

Both the play and the novel contain dances and songs featuring the mythical narlu and fire/fertility.In bothtexts the choreographyand the costumesof the perfonnersin the narlu/ narloocorroboree are almost identical. Thenarlu corroboreein the play includes a prelude in which a stranger stands gazingacross the land and before entering it he spits

122 to placatethe narlus who own the land. Thestage directionscontinue:

Fromthe darkness... the narloocomes hopping. He seemsto comefrom the horizon, a crouched figure,hopping low, like a frog,all his bones outlined with white, a huge face of white bark over his head. A fearsome figure,he hops and crouchesright up to the fire,peers at the women and children. StilJsinging, their voices quivering with fear and excitement, they watch him, beatingtheir sticks. NARDADU'svoice shrills out as she steps forwardand threatensthe narloowith her stick... Thenarloo waversbefore the old woman's threateningfigure and upheld stick. He retreats backwards,thwarted, intimidated, and hops offinto darkness acrossthe plains again ... (Prichard, 1940,p. 55).

In Coonardoo, the narluceremony commences in the same way:

From darkness far out acrossthe plain, a squat figurehad come,crouched and hopping, all his bones outlinedwith white, a huge shield of white barkfor a face. He had hoppedup to the fire,peering at the women and childrensitting, singing in two rows, on the other side of the fire.

...Old Gnardadu, standing up at the end of the women, had waved her stick at him, her voice rising in anger and exultation as she threatened him. The singing of the womenshrilled, thrilling and awe-stricken, although they sang of their fearlessnessand defiance,until the narlu quailed intimidated and hoppedaway backwards, disappearingfar out acrossthe plain where the starsdropped into the earth. (Prichard, 1929, pp. 17-18).

In both the fire/fertility corroborees the descriptionsof the head-dresses is again very similar: in Brumby Innes the chief performer wears 'a high white head-dresslike a spider's web, erect from his head and jutting over his forehead.(Prichard, 1940,p. 56). In Coonardoo this becomes'a head-dress like a gigantic spider-web with a veranda out from it. The spider-web bound with white down, stood high up and jutted out from his forehead'.(Prichard, 1929, p. 23).

The overall significanceof the fire corroborees appearsto be the same in both the play and the novel. Thestage directionsin BrumbyInnes describethe performanceof the male leadwho: 'gesturesand dances beforethe firewith gaiety and abandon which

123 suggest the Dionysia, working himselfinto such a frenzythat he stands shivering, overwrought'.(Prichard, 1940, p. 56). Therites perfonned during the Greekfestivals of Dionysia arebelieved to have originatedin the worshipof the godsof fertilityand in Coonardoothis was the purposeattributed by Saul Hardyto the secret-sacredritual of the 'fire'corroboree thatno woman or child must witness, but which Bessie Watt is privileged to watch.

Chitali danced beforethe fire... His bodystreaked and patterned white and red,Chitali had gesturedand danced, kneeswide over the fire. (Prichard, 1929, p.23)

Saul Hardy attempts to interpretthe ritual of the ceremonial dance. He has an inkling that it has a mystical creative functionbut can only explicate this at a fairly superficial level: a one forone cross-correspondencebetween the symbolicand the real. The best Saul can offer is:

'I don't know. It had some sexsignificance, I suppose.Fire is male. They believe smoke causedby the men in these dances impregnatessome female spirit of things which dispenseslife - forbirds, beasts, coolyahs, bardis. The abosthemselves, I think.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 23).

Bessie senses a transcendental dimension to the ritual dance, the entrance to 'another world, the world mystic, elusive, sensualand vital of this primitive people's imagination'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 22). At the same time she is consciousof a shadowy world of infinite spaces and is fearfulleast she becomepart of them.

A commentary on Prichard's presentation of the corroboreesin BrumbyInnes is included asan appendixto the 1974 edition of the play. In 'Notes on the Aboriginesin BrumbyInnes' ( 1974), Carl von Brandenstein gives details of the mythical narlus (Naalus, Narloos)who wereneither ghosts (Prichard, 1929, p. 62) nor 'evil spirits' (Prichard, 1940,p. 122) as Prichardclaimed but human-like creatures,of an olderrace than the Aborigines. Narlus inhabited the rockylands of theNorth-West, possessed 124 individual names, some of them wereresponsible for inventing songs and music. Aboriginalwomen particularlyfeared the narlus who possessed 'an enormouspenis' which could 'stretchfor miles under groundto reachand hold unsuspectingwomen who might becomepregnant by this approach'. (von Brandenstein,1974, p. 102).

Von Brandenstein seesa similarity betweenthe narlusand the satyrsof Greeklegend in that bothwere named individuals and inventorsot' songs and music. But Sue Hosking in her article,'Two corroborees: Katharine SusannahPrichard's BrumbyInnes and Mudrooroo'sMaster of the Ghost Dreaming' (1992),deplored the practice of equating Greekmythological traditions with purelyAboriginal cultural artefacts.Hosking referredparticularly to Prichard's directionsfor the secret-sacredcorroboree in Brumby Innes in which the dancer 'gestures and dances beforethe firewith gaiety and an abandon which suggests the Dionysia'. (Prichard, 1940, p. 56). Hosking stated that Prichard's mention of Dionysia implies a 'sexual riot that is not normally associatedwith the culture she is observing'. (Hosking, 1992,p. 13). Aboriginal society,in any case, did not directlyconnect fertilitywith sexualactivity.

In the text corroboreesare performed during 'pink-eye', the annual midsummer gathering 'forthe tribesfor a hundred miles about'. During this time at the 'uloothey ate, sang and corroboreedall day'. (Prichard, 1929, pp.16-J 7). The text also states that:

Usually Mrs Bessie had beengenerous with rations forpink-eye. She had given bags of flourand sugar forthe gathering, contentthat her people should not wish to wander. In all her yearson Wytaliba they had not been away on pink-eye once. (Prichard, 1929, p. 75).

In the historical situation pink-eyewas an importantpart of Aboriginal life on Turee Station; but even during the periodwhen Prichard was resident at TureeStation the Aboriginesusually leftthe station and joined their neighboursabout fifty miles away. (seeAppendix 1 ). Twenty-five yearsafter Prichard's visit the owner of the station

125 reportedthat it wassometimes difficult to get the station workers to return. On 24

March,1951, MrsDoris Maguire, wrote to the Commissioner of Native Affairs,S.G.

Middleton, complaining that: 'Firstly, our natives went 'pinkeye' in November- now our

Manager writes that be is having difficultyin getting them home again... A couple of yearsago - I founda similarsituation and wrotedown to your Dept'. (PROW A. DAA.

ACC.2819. File 38.209.1951-1968).

Corroborcesare still an important social activity in Aboriginal life,as is recordedby

DollyBoonga, a memberof the Indjibandi tribal group. Dollywas born in about1934, and she recalledher early years when with her parents she moved seasonally from one pastoralproperty to another. Dollystated:

'We had corroborceall the time. We dance on it, too,when we little. They don't dance here, but up my way they did. They still dance corroborceat On slow. They teaching the kids, like they teached us in the olden time. I could still teach the young girl to put on corroboreedance, but they all shy. They all been to school now. They think aboutthe Wadjalla' (European) danceall the time. That's sad, isn't it?' (Clark, 1992, p. 110).

Myths and legends arepart of Prichard's reconstructionof Aboriginalculture in the text of Coonardoo. Prichard claimed to be very circumspectin her approach to Aboriginal legends. In her letter to Vance and Nettie Palmer dated 17 October, 1926, written from

TureeStation, she stated: 'I feel "to honour bound" not to touch the legends'. She expressed disapproval of cross-cultural intrusions when she commented on the literary aspirations of her hostess, Mrs Doris Maguire, who Prichard complained:

has no quality of language, capacity forimagery, or ability to see natural values. You know what I mean, weaving our psychology and sentimental morality over native legends. I've beentrying to show her how to do them on their own merits - to see things as the black seethem. (Throssell, 1975, p. 49).

The elementsof Aboriginalmyths, stories and legends arcdiscussed by R.M. Berndt 126 and C.H. Berndtin their work, Thespeaking land:myth andstory in Aboriginal Australia( 1988). The Berndtsemphasised that a fundamentalelement in aU Aboriginal myths is attachmentto a specificstretch of land. They stated that: 'No myth is free­ floating, without somelocal identification'. (Berndt and Berndt,1988, p. 5). Theland is a partof the people and it is the land which is speakingthrough the myth. The Berndts describedlandforms as 'physiographic sites' (Berndtand Berndt,1988, p. 6) which can beregarded as the chapter headings of a bookthe contents of which canbe read by those who know how to decipherthe language.

J. Y ami Lester, the Directorof the Institute for AboriginalDevelopment in Alice Springs also made this point:

Aboriginalculture cannot beseparated fromthe land. On the land are stories, Aboriginal stories that explain why people,rock holes, the hills and the treescame to bethere. The land is fullof stories. Every square mile is just like a book,a bookwith a lot of pages, and it's all a story for the children to learn.(Lester, 1981, p. 21).

Warieda's tale of the formationof the granite crag in the Nungarrahills is of this nature. The legend is told by Warieda on the journeyto the coast with the semi-conscious Hugh Watt who is suffering the effectsof sunstroke and typhoid fever. The story has the elements of Dreamtimelegends which recountthe landscaping activities of the spirit ancestors as they moved through the land forming its topographicalfeatures, but the story appearsto refer to human actions performedin the distant past. Warieda relates:

'Before my mother grow... beforeher mother, weary bugger years... big blackfellow kill people andeat 'em ....Young fellow movingar,make cloud, send lightning, tear up old fellow, send him into earth. He make stone ... big stone over therein hills. Nungarra.' (Prichard,1929, p. 70).

The mention of 'movingar' suggests the action is performedby human agency. Prichard's'Glossary of native words'gives movin-garraas an alternativefor moppin­ garra, which means'magician'. (Prichard,1929, p. 207). Warieda's speechis ethnically 127 markedin the narrationof this legend and it appearssomewhat surprising later in the text when Wariedadies and Hugh mournshim as: 'Warieda who understoodand talked like a white man'. (Prichard,1929, p. 138).

Thetale of the 'Emu and the Turkey' which Coonardoorelates to the childrenis possibly basedon the Aboriginallegend 'Dinewan, the emu and Goomble-gubbon,the turkey', which firstappeared in K. Langloh Parker's 1896 collectionof Aboriginallegends. Prichard wasfamiliar with Langloh Parker's text. In a footnotein Uterature andthe Aborigine in Australia (1978), J.J. Healy stated:

In a private letter to the presentwriter, dated 6 February1968, Henrietta Drake-Brockman relateda conversationwith KatharinePrichard, from which it appearsthat Tom Prichard, her father, had boughtAustralian Legendary Tales at the timeof first publication, 1896. (Healy, 1978, p. 152).

The tale is included in the 1953 edition of Parker's Australian legendarytales, edited by Henrietta Drake-Brockman. Parker relatesthat Goomble-gubbontricks Dinewan into cutting off her wings by positing flightlessnessas aprerequisite to socialhegemony; and Dinewan countersby suggesting to Goomble-gubbon that fewer meantsuperior chicks causing the turkey to kill all but two of her offspring. In the 'Introduction'to the collection, titled 'Aboutthese stories', Drake Brockmansuggested that the social purposeof the tale is to ventilate the dangersof socialsnobbery and maternalvanity, and to fosterthe 'idea of familylimitation foreconomic reasons',even though the practice is savage in application. (Drake Brockman,1953, p.v).

The tale Coonardoorecites has no substantive comment to make on socialrelationships beyonda possiblecaution against trustingpeople. Coonardoo tells the children:

'Turkey bin argumentwith emu, which onebetter women ... Turkeysay, emu go walkaboutall day; gotno kids. Emu say,"Eeh-mm, got weary bugger(plenty) kids." Emu go bush,come back with plenty kids. Turkey gotonly cootharra (two) kids. Turkeysay emu can't runso fast;emu run 128 to creekand comeback again. Say turkeycan't run so fast.Turkey run to creek,little way, go up, fly... leave kids with emu.' (Prichard,1929, p. 111).

Thereare many versionsof the tale of Emu andTurkey told throughoutAustralia. Berndtand Berndtin Thespeaking land( 1988) noted that storiessuch asEmu and Turkey which emphasised'situation and character interaction'rather than aspectsof the landscapewere very unusual but had beennoted by Tonkinson in the Jigalong area. which is west of TureeCreek. (Berndtand Berndt, 1988, p. 11).

In Aboriginal victors of the desertcrusade ( 1974), Tonkinson stated that the situational and interaction myths which validate aspectsof Aboriginalculture or characteristicsof somevariety of fauna. suchas the 'emu and bustard'were the provinceof women and children.(Tonkinson, 1974, p. 73). He recordedthat many myths, such as those relating to the travels and creationof natural features,were known only to initiated men. These myths are lengthy and are associatedwith ancestral beingswhose exploits are encapsulated in song lines associatedwith importantrituals. (Tonkinson, 1974, p. 73).

Aboriginalsongs are a furtherexpression of Aboriginalartistic traditions which have beenincorporated into the text of Coonardoo. ThesePrichard claimed in the 'Introduction'to the novel were'authentic fragments',the 'jewels of the primitive imagination' which had been 'garnered' by thosewho were conversantwith Aboriginal culture,namely, Ernest Mitchell, and James Withnell and his sister, Mrs James Muirdick.Only men and women like these good friends of hers, Prichardclaimed, could betrusted to know the 'sound and meaningof words in melodiessung by the blacks'. (Prichard,1929, p. vi).

With theexception of Winni's song, 'Nungardienaju, lcarrichitar-aima wa"a naju' (Prichard,1929, p. 191) in which Winni expresseshis longing forhis Mother'sreturn, thesongs which have beenincluded in thetext have littleemotional force or even

129 relevancein the plot. The 'Song of the little kangaroos'has significance because of its intimate associationwith Coonardoo. It servesto evoke the heroineeven when she is absentfrom the story. Afterher expulsion from Wytaliba. the Aborigineshear Hugh singing 'Coonardoo'slittle song... He sang in a thin, childish voice, asif it were Coonardoosinging when she was a little girl'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 191). 'Thesong of the little kangaroos'also functionsto providestructural balance: it is sung by the child Coonardooin the openingchapter and by the aged and dying Coonardooin the final chapter.

Prichard retained the songs in the Aboriginallanguage when she presentedthem in the t'!xt,and translated them in parentheses. In 'Notes on the Aboriginesin BrumbyInnes' (1974), Cart von Brandenstein noted that Prichardincorporated words from Ngaala­ wamgga, the language spoken by the socio-linguisticgroup known as Ngalla. Prichard referredto this groupas 'Gnulloonga'in the Preface to the 1940 edition, and as 'Gnarler' in the text of Coonardoo. Von Brandenstein stated:

The tribespeaking the Ngaala dialect is known to linguists as the South Pandjima.... Turee Creek, the station K.S.P. visited in 1927 [sic], is in the heart of South Pandjima territory. (von Brandenstein, 1974, p. 101).

Prichard stated: 'Many of the corroboreesongs, or tabee, arein a dead language, it seems'.(Prichard, 1929, p. vi). Carl von Brandenstein noted that Prichard's referens:eto 'tabee',or 'tabi' is inaccurate. (von Brandenstein, 1974, p. 101). In his essay, 'Tabi songs of the Aborigines' ( 1969), von Brandenstein stated that tabi is not correctly applied to corroboreeswhich areperformed by groups, but to the 'artisticexpression of one person'. Von Brandenstein reported:

But in the north-west, the Tabi is still the most commonand alive typeof music. It could becalled a pieceof poetryset to music and usually performedby the poetcomposer, who also plays theaccompaniment. A man should sing in honour of dead friendsand relatives,of heroicdeeds of the past, in praiseof his homeland'sbeauty, or sing of the travelsand mysteriesof his dreamsand, morerecently and frequently,in excitement 130 over technicalwonders, such asships, railways,cars and aeroplanes. (von Brandenstein,1969, p. 28)

Warieda's 'Song of the Steam Engine' (Prichard,1929, p. 70) and possiblyWinni's song, 'Mother mine, I stand and wail foryou, but I will returnand bring somethingpleasing for you in the way of food'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 191) come into this category.

In relation to the artisticdimension of Aboriginalculture presented in Coonardoo, it would seemthat Prichard derived her material froma variecyof sources.These sources included collections of Aboriginalpoetry and songs in the possessionof the white colonisersmentioned in her 'Introduction'. In someinstances, in the caseof the corroborees,for example, informationwas taken at fir.;thand fromAborigines on Turee Station. In respectof Aboriginaltraditional socia! forms, theseare largely basedon Basedow's text and these borrowingsfrom ethnography argue against Prichard's claim that Coonardoo is based on directexperience. This statement h.!\Sbeen accepted at face value by many literary critics. Notably. Henrietta Drake-Brockmanwho believed:

Critics forget the original researchthat made this work, for many people, an introductionto native lore and mores. Nowadays a considerable library devoted to anthropologicaland ethnological studies is available to supply background facts for creativewriters; but then Katharine Susannah Prichard spentmonths on an outback cattle-station learningat first hand, and devilled for what she could glean elsewhere. (Drake­ Brockman, 1967, p. 25).

A greatdeal of Prichard's material was, necessarily, gleaned from beyondthe boundaries of Turee Station. When Prichard made her field trip to the North-Westtraditional Aboriginal life had all but disappeared as a consequence of the economic development of the region. Of the economic forcescausing the disruption to Aboriginallife, the pastoralindustry was perhaps the most significantbut other industries, notably gold mining and pearl-shell fishing,had a deleterious effectupon the Aboriginalpeople and their society. The discussion in the next chapter centreson the goldmining and the pearl-shellfishing industries in the North-Westregion. 131 CHAPrER5

GOLD MINING and PEARLINGthe INDUSTRY

Goldmining and pearl-shellfishing made a notable contribution to theeconomic development of the North-West. The inclusion of theseindustries in Coonardoois an important elementin the constructionof a 'realistic' backgroundto thenovel. Even so, in the caseof bothindustries, their presentationin the novel is largely in terms of the earliest stages of their development. Thus the textualisation of goldmining and pearl­ shell fishing activities in the novel's chronology is largely asynchronouswith the parallel historical situation. But asboth industries arelargely peripheralto theprincipal action of the story,this doesnot becomea problem in the text.

Goldmining, in fact,never emerges as a successful enterprisein the novel but remainsat its exploratorystage. In the wider historical context goldmining became,for awhile, an importantindustry in the North-West. bringing thousandsof miners to the region.From the mid- I 880s numerous gold strikes were made in the area and goldmining was still taking place on a limited scale at the time of Prichard's visit to the North-West.

The textual presentationof the pearl-shell fishing industryis bothfragmentary and retrospectivelyconveyed. Hereagain. the earliest phaseof the industryprovides data forthe plot: Prichard presentedthe conditions which prP.vailed in the industrybefore legislation was enacted to safeguard Aborigines. Although. it should benoted, when legislation was enactedit was often ignoredor ineffective.

Finally. thischapter will show that theworking practicesof goldmining and pearling hada corrosiveinfluence on Aboriginal societyand had a perniciouseffect on Aboriginalhealth. 132 The goldmining industry entersthe text in relation to the sub-plotitolJ prospecting activities of Cock-EyedBob. Thegoldmining dimension in the novel is of secondary importancein theconstruction of 'realism' in the novel but thereis, nevertheless, a noticeable disparity between the situation depicted in the novel and historical events in relation to gold exploration.Throughout the storyBob engages in fossicking the hills and mountain rangesof the North-West. His gold explorations continue unabated from approximately the year 1885 until theend of the story: Prichard'scontemporary 1928.

During this period Bob expresses no awarenessof any gold discoveries in his immediate vicinity. In the historical situation spectacular gold strikes were being made in the

Kimberleysand the North-West, but Bob neither joins the various 'rushes' nor appears to notice the gold-mining activity taking place around him. (Although, as will be discussed later, the text at one point suggests something of an alternative history for

Bob).

Bob is introduced at the beginningof the novel when he is described as a 'slight boyish figure'.(Prichard, 1929, p. 5). The year is, approximately, 1885. He arrives at Wytaliba with Geary who has undertaken to deliver eight-year-old Hugh to the ship which is taking him south to school in Perth. Before Geary leaves forthe coast, he tells B���!e:

'Bob'll look after you until our horsesare spelled a bit. Then he's going out prospectin' in the To-Morrow. Reckons he can smell gold out there, and'II be making our fortunes oneof these days.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 6).

There is no discrepancy in this passage between the fictional events and the historical situation because payable gold was not discoveredin the North-West region until 1888.

Bob's optimism is also accurately drawn; from the beginnings of white settlement in the

North-West,it had been anticipated that gold would be found in the region.This interest was kept alive by the occasional discoveryof small amounts of gold. J.H.M. Honniball in 'E.H. Laurence,Stipendiary Magistrate'( 1975), recordedthat earlyin August 1870

133 news of a gold discovery on the IrwinRiver causedgreat excitement andbrought many hopefulminers to the region. TheGovernment Resident of the Greenough district,E.H.

Laurence,was instructed to join the 'rush'and report on the situation. But the 'rush' was very short-lived and even on his journeyto the areaLaurence encounteredgroups of miners returningto Greenough andGcraldton. Laurencereported that verylittle gold wasdiscovered; nuggets varied in siu froma 'very small pin'shead to a small pea'. But even so. he regardedit asevidence that a goldfteld would be discoveredand that this 'is now merelya matter of time'. In fact, Honniball noted: 'Long yearswere yet to pass beforea goldfield was found sufficiently rich to give the Cinderella colonythe same impetusit had given her eastern sisterssince 1851 '. (Honniball, 1975, p. 17).

From the earliest days of the Swan settlementit had beenanticipated that sooner or later payable gold would befound in WesternAustralia. Consequently. legislation was deemed necessary to ensure future government control of any gold discovered. In

August 1886. the GoldfieldsAct, I 886 (WA) was passed regulating gold exploration and mining in the colony.

Section 6 of the Act stated:

a warden may issue documents, each of which shall be called a 'Miner's Right', and which shall be in force for any number of years not exceeding ten ... at a rate of Twenty shillings for every year for which the same is in force. (GoldfieldsAct, 1886 (WA), s. 6).

Section I O and 11 dealt with leases of land for mining. These Leases could not exceed twenty-one yearsand the annual rent was one poundper acre. A Leasecould not

'embrace areas exceeding twenty-five acres'.(Goldfie/ds Act, /886 (WA), ss. 10 & 11).

Thefirst goldfield in the Swan Colony was discoveredin 1885 by Jack Slattery and

Charles Hall in the Kimberley region. W.L. Lambdcn Owen, in his memoirs, Cossack

134 gold: thechronicles of an �arlyGoldfields Warden( 1933), stated:

Thenews fromthe Kimberleysreverberated throughout Australia and New Zealand,creating immense excitement. It is estimatedthat in two yearsit drew fullyten thousand men to thearea. (Owen, 1933, p. 84).

Owen recordedthat it wasunknown how much gold theKimberley fields produced, but it wasdefinitely knownthat in 1886 the 3 OOOdiggers scattered about gained 'a fair amount',possibly about £500 each, making a total of£ I SOO fromOOO just the rank and fileof miners.To this figure shouldbe added the richstrikes such asat Mount Dockrcll where£ I O OOOworth of gold was foundjust lying aboutthe surface.(Owen, 1933, pp. 89-90).

But this firststrike proved to bedisappointing and afterfour years there was only one mine still operational in the Kimberleys.

A.C. Angelo, who joined many of the rushes,recalled that in the exodusfrom this first goldfieldhundreds of disappointedmen roamed the regionand many lives werelost. He recorded:

For months impoverishedmen werewending their way on footto one or other of the two ports,jettisoning their few meagre belongings so as to lighten their loads. Guns, rifles,revolvers, picks, shovels and even swags and clothing were litteredalong the two main roads. (Angelo, 1948, p. 39).

The firstgold discovery in the North-Westregion was made in January 1888 by Jimmy Withnell, son of John and Emma Withnell. Jimmy and his brotherwere working on the family'sholding, Mallina Station, near Whim Creek when Jimmy noticed crows raiding his tucker-bag. Therock he shied at the crows gleamedin the sunlight and Jimmy discoveredthat it contained flecksof gold. (Taylor, 1980, p. 224). Someyears earlier Jimmy hadmet the Kimberleyminers, Slattery and Hail, and had learnedfrom them

how to recogniseauriferous country and the type of rocklikely to containgold. 135 NancyWithnell Taylor recorded: 'Bush telegraphbroadcast the news of thefind and caused asensation throughout the colony aswell asin the easterncolonies'. In Roebournebusinesses closed and 'men, womenand childrenstreamed to the fmd. It was like mushrooming,bits of gold wereeverywhere, lumps of purealluvial gold'. (Taylor, 1980, p. 226).

Thosewho could not leave forthe Mattina field'formed syndicates to financea trusted envoy' wroteW.L. LambdenOwen. He also recordedthat the only tangible resultof his own speculationin such a venturewas the loss of his money. {Owen, 1933, p. 69).Gold at this period, notedOwen, 'wasat four sovereignsthe ounce troy'.{Owen, 1933 p. 71).

Jenny Hardie, in Nor'Westersof the Pilbara breed {1981), recordedthat the 'Mallina reefwas never a prolificproducer'. {Hardie, 1981, p. 72). But the discoveryof the Mattina reefresulted in the rushto the region and the discoveryof alluvial and reefgold near the PilbarraCreek. The Pilbarra {now speltwith one 'r') was officiallydeclared a goldfieldon 1 October1888. The Pilbarrafield, together with the nearbyEgina, Hong Kong, Toweranna, and Station Peak fields, produced11 170 oz in 1889 and 16 055 oz in 1890.{Hardie, 1981, p. 73). De La Rue recorded that:

By 1902,194 590 crudeounces of gold had beendeposited in Perthfrom the Pilbarrafield, and, at the very least, over 500OOO ounces weretaken fromthe fieldduring the 50 years after its proclamation.{De La Rue, 1979, pp. 91-92).

W.L. LambdenOwen, who becamethe secondWarden of the Pilbarragoldfield, recordedthe luck and the bad luck of theprospectors in the Pilbarra.Owen stated that the Pilbarrafield produced more 50 oz nuggets than any other WesternAustralian goldfieldand that the largest nugget found on the Pilbarrawas discovered accidentally by Bobby Nortonwho waswalking barefootto thePilbarra and stubbedhis toeagainst a

136 nuggetwhich 'weighedone hundred and five ounces worth ( about £400)'. (Owen, 1933, pp.77- 78).

Owen gives detailsof anotherexcited rush in theRoebourne area which beganwhen an Aboriginalstation workerfollowing a drayand laying out fence-postsfound a twenty­ sevenounce gold nugget which hadbeen churned up by thesteel tyre of thedray. (Owen, 1933, p. 71). Once again anefficient bush telegraph announced the newsand all business in Roebournecame to a standstill whilst the entirepopulation turned out to fossickthe area. Owen stated 'It waslike mushrooming.The bits wereeverywhere. In a few days the surfacewas picked bare,the Roebournitesreturning to their homes'. (Owen, 1933, pp. 71-72).

Owen recallsthe misfortuneof Ben Christie,who was, possibly,the original discoverer of gold in the Pilbarraand who, but forthe accidental shootingof his horse,would have almost certainlybecome a millionaire.Christie attempted to keep his workingsa secret, an almost impossibletask, stated Owen, because'skilled diggersand prospectorssuch as Christie arealways keenlywatched by othersof their kind. It was partof the excitement of this exciting game'. (Owen, 1933, p. 76). For some time Christie managed to keephis patch secret.But one moonlitnight whilst he was kangaroohunting, he shot his mousey­ colouredhorse mistaking it for a kangaroo. As a resulthe was forcedto leave his cache and returnto Mattina on foot. On the returnjourney to his workings Christie was stalked by such a large numberof prospectorsthat he wasunable to dodgethem all. Owen writes: 'In no timehundreds of menwere on the field,which lastedfor some years'. (Owen, 1933, p. 77).

Excitement, asOwen records,was in the air of the North-Westas anecdotes, myths, and rumoursspread through the region,but nothing of this appearsin Prichard'stext. Bob tirelesslyengages in his gold explorationsand appearsto bequite unawareof thelarge numbersof hopefulprospectors passing through the region. Hardierecorded: 137 Prospectors,experienced and inexperienced, travelling with packhorse, camel,bicycle or on footwere tracing their way fromthe coastup the shadybanks of the GreyDe and Coongan Rivers to theBamboo Creek, MarbleBar and Nullagine fields. People left their jobs in the shanty towns of Roebourne,Cossack and Condon to swarminto harsh,unknown territoryand join thebushmen and otherprospectors in searchof their fortunes,to forma motleycollection of stragglingdusty men in battered felt hatsand flannels, carrying their waterbags and swags, picks andlong handledshovels or pushingtheir barrows of dry-blowingshakers. (Hardie,1981, p. 72).

Bob's failureto take account of either the disappointedminers returning to the portsor the hopefulprospectors crossing the land fromone rushto another is all the more surprisingas one of Bob's functionsin the plot is that of a bearerof information. He turnsup at P.:ugh's mustering camp,and the text states:

Cock-Eyewas glad of an invitation to eat and camp with Hugh forthe night. Sprawled beforethe fire,he gave moreof the gossip of the countryside,although he had beenin the ranges fornearly three months, than Hugh had heardin years. (Prichard,1929, p. 155).

A hiatus in the 'realistic' presentationof historical background in the text concernsthe economic significanceof the gold discoveries forthe pastoraleconomy. A briefallusion is contained in the statement: 'If a drover or prospectorstrayed into Wytaliba therewas no whisky'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 27). But this is too unsubstantial to indicate the passage of hundreds of men through the regionall of whom weredependent on the local pastoralists for provisions.Turee Station, the prototypeWytaliba. is in fact.quite strategically placedfor miners moving betweenthe goldfields in the Pilbaraand at Peak Hill. De LaRue noted that the influxof minersinto the North-Westincreased the trade in the area. She stated:

138 1bepastoralists mayhave, andoften did, view this invasionof their domains withdismay, but it did provide them with a meansof making someready money, if only by sellingtheir beef to theminers. Many of the more enterprising pastoralists,whose stations were conveniently located, hoppedon the bandwagon by openingstores and sellingflour, tea. tobacco and other commoditiesto the miners. (DeLa Rue, 1979, p. 92).

At the end of the19th century, Bob in the continuing role of gold prospector still hopefullyexplores the Tomorrow Ranges. 1be year is about I 898 when Hugh returns fromschool and is told by Bessie:

'Sam and Bob's been out prospectin', Hugh. Beenout a couple of months...

'The gold's there all right,'Bob said, in his thin, nervously sharpened voice. 'We got one good lump, Youie, and scratched aboutall around. But Sam got the wind up about there being no water and the camels clearin' out. So I reckoned best thing we could do was to come in for stores.' (Prichard,1929, p. 33).

By this periodgold mining had spread throughoutthe region.The rush to the Pilbarra had died down fairly quickly and the miners moved southwards. J.M. Hooper's text,

Youanmi: a storyof Murchison gold( 1987), recorded:

the rivers of the north-western region south of the Pilbara region, the Ashburton River, the Gascoyne River and the Murchison River, were being criss-crossed by prospectorsseeking gold.The Ashburton Goldfield was proclaimed in 1890and the Murchison goldfield in 1891. (Hooper, 1987, p. 10).

The sudden inrushof white miners into areas such as the East MurchisonGoldfields, which had previously been unoccupied by white settlers, had devastating consequences ' for the Aborigines of the district. 1be Aboriginal situation is summarized by Geoffrey

Bolton in 'Black and White after 1897' (1981 ), which states:

139 thesparse Aboriginal population was swamped within a few yearsin the 1890sat theonset of thegold rushes.The miners quickly established themselvesby sheerweight of numbers,so that Aboriginalresistance was usually shortlived andineffective. Venerealand other diseases, liquor, and the disruptionof their traditionallife broughtabout the breakdownof their society withina few years. (Bolton, 1981, p. 125).

SomeAboriginal resistanceto white encroachmentdid occurand this must have been well-known to the settlersof the region. F.W. P. Cammilleri in 'Experienceson the North-WestGoldfields: 1888-92'( 1966),recalled that in aboutMarch 1892 he had travelled to the Ashburtongoldfield. He stated: 'At this time the Ashburtonand HamersleyRange blacks, who hada goodget-away in the roughcountry, caused a lot of troubleby spearingtwo prospectors and also cattle'. (Cammilleri, 1966,p. 61).

But is Bob reallyunaware of the 'rushes'to the various goldfieldsthat aretaking place all around him? At one pointthe text suggests that he is not. In the early days of Hugh's returnto Wytaliba from Perth, aboutthe year 1898, the text makes a statement about Bob to the effect that:

He had ... learnta gooddeal, prospectingwith old minersround about Nullagine and the Bar. After a while the will-o'-the-wisp gleam of dull metal in drycreek beds,and on the shingly ridges, drewhim away from the road and the cattle camps. Bob was haunted by dreams of the gold he would findone day in rich deposits, the fortunehe would make. (Prichard, 1929, p. 40).

Thereis something of a discrepancy betweenthis passage and an earlierreference in the text as well aswith the historical situation. The passage states that Bob's gold fever developed followingthe discoveriesof gold in the Nullagine and at Marble Bar, but these fields werenot discovered until1888 and earlier in the text Bob is shown to be possessedby gold fever in 1885. (Prichard,1929, p. 6). Thereis no textual evidence of Bob prospectinganywhere but in the To-Morrowranges during the years after1885 whenthe fi:st gold rusheswere taking place; although the possibility is not specifically 140 excluded. On the otherhand, Bob is famedfor his swaggeringlies, in fact,he is known as'Bob-the-Liar', so that his failureto indulge in far-fetchedyarns about either his own or others'spectacular gold findsis a crucialsilence in thetext.

In termsof thewider historical context, the passagequoted would have morerelevance to the eraof Prichard'sown visit to the North-Westregion. Owen noted that on the

Nullagine fieldgold appearedfor the most part in small leadersand reefslike 'plums in a pudding' but:

When the richest plums hadbeen picked it becamea 'tucker-field'to which the diggersreturned to feedon the duff.Though the glamourhad gone they could always relyon an ounce or morea week. (Owen, 1933, p. 92).

In the firstdecades of the 20thcentury Bob's gold explorationscontinue unabated. In the time span of the novel, the year is about 1913 when Mollie abandons husband and cattle station and goesto live in Perth,taking her five young daughters with her. Hugh is left alone on Wytaliba with the station Aborigines.Three years pass and the text states:

Hugh saw few peoplebut his own blacks .... Cock-EyedBob was the only other man to talk to. Bob had beenout prospectingin the To-Morrow with two camels and came in to get water and storesnow and then. (Prichard.1929. p. 136).

At one pointin the storyBob seems to have had a 'strike': Gearyturns up at Wytaliba with a 'tall thin man. a miner. who had beenout to inspectCock-Eyed Bob's claim on the ridge'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 177). But nothing more is heardof the claim.

Bob is still at the fossicking stage whenthe Banksforeclose on Wytaliba and Hugh is forcedto leave the cattle station. Hugh tells Winni:

141 'fm broke... done in...

'fm going out with Cock-EyedBob, prospectin' in theTo-Morrow.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 201).

The presenceof gold mining in the plot, whilst it servesto build up theeconomic background of the region, bas no significantpart in carryingforward the action of the story. Thisis an issue which is takenup by HarryHeseltine in Acquaintedwith the night: studiesin classicAustralian fiction ( 1979). Heseltine suggests that gold prospecting bas been included merelyto provide an acceptable exit fromthe text for

Hugh. Heseltinenotes that inevitably Hugh has to losethe land because 'with

Coonardoo lost to him, Wytaliba is also symbolically beyond his power to own'.

Heseltine asks:

But what is the fictional proprietyof sending him offprospecting? - merely to provide, at last, a justification for Cock-EyeBob's sporadic essays in fossickingwhich have beenwritten into the tale forno other purpose save that of giving Hughie a way out at the end? (Heseltine, 1979, p. 37).

This would seem a reasonable explanation and account for the limited textual details of

Bob's gold prospecting excursions. But Heseltinealso notes that gold-mining hasa symbolic value in Australian texts; that Henry Handel Richardson, in TheFortunes of Richard Mahony, 'establishes a symbolic equation between the search for gold and the rape of the harsh mother earth'. (Heseltine, 1979, p. 37). Referring to the tensions in

Hugh which can betraced to his relationship with Bessie Watt, Heseltine states that

'Hugbie's end' is perhapsmore appropriate than Prichard intended in that it brings the

'oedipal experience'into a specialrelationship with 'a destructivegreed for wealth and a rape of the mother earth'. (Heseltine, 1979, p. 38).

142 Still with his dreamunshattered Bob makes his departurefrom the text to searchfor gold in thedistant ranges, but no optimistic fu� lies ahead of Coomrdoo.When she returnsto the story sheis alreadyin thefinal stages of a fatalinfection and bas returned to Wytalibato die.

Thenarration in the finalchapter of thenovel like that of theopening chapter follows thethoughts of Coonardooas she contemplatesthe world beyondthe boundaries of Wytaliba cattle station. Theopening scene presents the child Coonardoo,fearfully, reflectingon the unknown world beyond thecattle station. In thefinal scene, the aged and tremulousCoonardoo, no wiseras aresult of her encounterw�th theexternal world. pondersits malevolent forceswhich have causedher devastation but which remain beyondher comprehension.

Coonardoo'sprimitive conceptual system is a significantfeature of her characterisation: a corollaryof her creator'sDarwinian belief in the inferior evolutionarydevelopment of Aborigines.Hodge and Mishra noted that Coonardoo is 'without powersof thought or conceptualization... intellectually she is not farabove a faithfulhorse or dog'. (Hodge& Mish� 1990,p. 54). Coonardooneither understands her experiences in the world beyondthe cattle station nor the circumstanceswhich took her there. Shecan only interpretHugh's aggressivewords to her in their literal sense. When he exiles her from Wytaliba she remainsfor ever in purdah; obeyingto theletter 'his demand that never again should he seeher face'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 205). And so she had gone, an automaton, driven by the forceof his will: 'Her feet, her legs, her armsand hands had beenobedient to him; taken her away'. The text states that no other reasonwould have separatedher from her land and her people,except 'Y ouie hadsent her away'. (Prichard. 1929, p. 205).

So completely docsCoonardoo remain beyond the rangeof Hugh's vision that neither he nor thestation Aborigines ever secher again. OccasionallyHugh becomesaware of ... 3 rumourshas thatshe been seen. He learnsthat Monty Blood,'one of thehardest doers in theNor'-West, but tender-hearted, by God.. .' (Prichard,1929, p. 193), hastaken in a badlyburned Aboriginal woman and tended her fly-blownwounds, but she disappears whilst Montyis on a spreein Roebourne.Years pass but nothing furtheris heardof Coonardoountil oneday Hugh is in a Roebournesaloon and learns of herwhereabouts fromthe drunken Geary:

'Say, Youie!' he bawled, 'who do you think I saw in the portthe other day? Coonardoo!... 'Theboys tell meshe's beenhanging aroundthe port this couple of months. Comein on a pearlinglugger.' (Prichard,1929, p. 197).

Thetheme of the finalchapter of the novel, and the resolutionof the story. is the devastationof Coonardoo during her encounter with the North-West pearling fleet. In a seriesof vignettes the text details, retrospectively,Coonardoo's experiences in the pearlingindustry. Experienceswhich left nothing of the once 'clean straight aboriginal woman, nothing of her pride and dignity and grace'. (Prichard,1929, p. 204).The text reflectsthe historic situation in relationto the treatmentof Aborigines,particularly Aboriginalwomen, in the pearl-shell industry.

The pearl-shellfishing industry in the North-Westhad a distinctive character and practices whichneed to beunderstood in order to fully appreciatethe industry'scapacity to performits role as the ultimate destroyer of Prichard's Aboriginalheroine.

At the outsetit is importantto note that the North-Westpearling industry developedout of localconditions, aswas noted by Brian Shepherdin his thesis, A historyof tM pearlingindustry off the North-West coastof Australia from its origins until 1916 (1975). Shepherdstated that the North-Westernpearling industry'is not to beseen as an extension of or anaspect of an Australian-wide industry... in its early yearsin Western Australia pearlingdeveloped out of localconditions and its practices owedlittle to trendsin theindustry elsewhere'. (Shepherd,1975, p. 21).

Thepearl-shell fishing industry commenced almost immediately uponthe returnof F.T. Gregory's North-West exploration expeditionwhich arrivedback in Fremantle on 9 November1861. On boardthe expedition'ssurvey vessel, Dolphin, wasa cargoof severaltons of pearl shelland a numberof pearls. In his reportto the Governoron 6 February1862. Gregorymentioned:

Amongst the naturalproductions I would firstbriefly refer to thebeds of the pearloysters, as they are likely to becomeof immediatecommercial importance,considerable numbers having beengathered by the crewof the Dolphin at theirleisure time, the aggregatevalue of which, I am told, is between£500 and £600; besides pearls, one of which has beenvalued by competentpersons at £25. The limits of the bedare yetas undefined, but thereis goodreason to believe,from the positionof it, that with properapparatus ships could soonbe loaded with them. (Gregory& Gregory,1884, p. 96).

It had beenknown for decades that pearloyster bedsexisted on the North-Westcoast but only a few small pearlshad beendiscovered and pearling,or shelling, hadnever beenconsidered a commerciallyworthwhile venture. The size and quality of the Dolphin's haul, created immediate interest.To quote W.B. Kimberly: 'a new excitement entered colonial life, and wealth, romance, and inexorable fatalitiesfound fresh adventurous fieldsof enterprise'. (Kimberly,1897, p. 214).

Kimberlyrecorded that the first pearling venture into the Nichol Bay areawas made by the firmof Messrs Bateman who had participatedin the whaling industryalmost from its commencementand who wereactive in the south-western whaling industry. The Batemans managed to securethe services of JamesTurner, who had been Gregory's Assistant andChief of storeson the1861 expedition. Turnerled a partyto Nichol Bay with the intention of searching for pearlspearl-shell. and

145 Theparty leftFremantle aboard the Flying Foam on 15 December1861 and returned on 9 February 1862. Theventure was considered far from successful. Only 91 O shellsand 150 pearlshad been collected and then only withgreat difficulty. James Turner reported that althoughnumerous beds existed they were widely scattered that so weeks of work hadresulted in a meagreharvest. TheBlue Book gave the value of shellsfor 1862 as £250. Interestin the pearlingindustry temporarily abated and no further entry is found in the W.A. BlueBooks until 1866when the value of pearl-shellexported was recorded at£7.

When interestin pearl-shellingrevived it was centredon thecoastal margin and the beachesof the North-West.The foundation of thepearling industry is associatedwith a legendary figurenamed Taye, or possibly Toye' or Tays'. L.C. Burges claimedthat he was Taye's employer and that Taye had been in the process of erectinga shed when he observeda group of Aborigineswearing pearl-shell ornaments. Having ascertained from them that pearlbanks wereto befound at the Nichol River, Taye suggesteda partnership to Burges in which the latter supplied the equipment andTaye harvestedthe shells. Within fourdays Taye had collected abouttwo tons of dead shell by 'Beach Combing'. After aboutten days he had discovered a bank of live shell and requested Burges to purchasea boat. Burges stated:

As luck would have it I was able to purchasea boatfrom a whaler, to which I was supplying beef, so that Ta yes wassoon afloat, (Burges, 1913, p. 4).

Taye's shell, valued at over£1 OOO, arrived in Fremantle,and interestwas immediately reawakened among the local merchantswho sawquick profitsto bemade; either by visiting the grounds,financing pearling boats, or from makingavailable creditfor stores and equipment. In the meantime,Taye, along with over forty otherpassengers and crew, had methis death on the Emma which had sailedfrom Nichol Bay for Fremandeon 3 March1867. Burges stated: '47 souls werelost in theEmma'. (Burges.1913, p. 4).

146 News ofTaye's richharvest also spread throughout the North-West coastal area. The possibilityof quick profitsfrom pearling caused many station workers to abandontheir putoralduties in favourof 'shelling'.They were joined by thealmost destitute members of failed pastoralventures who werecamped in theRoebourne district and deserting crewmenfrom ships in the vicinity of Nichol Bay. Pearlingbecame the major occupationof even theprosperous station ownersof the district. John Withnell wasone settlerwho sawthe value of pearlingas asupplement to his income. Nancy Withnell Taylor wrote:

John saw possibilities.He quickly got together Aboriginesfrom the station, riggedout his lighter, and tookthem to dive in deeperwater. Like childrenthey weredelighted with the experienceand provedexpert diversin aroundseven fathoms. With their quick eyesight and movement they gatheredquantities of shell fromthe bottomof the ocean,stacked it on the beach,bagged it and when a vesselarrived, John dispatched it to Fremantlefor shipment overseas.(Taylor, 1980, p. 114).

De La Rue noted that the pastoralists who succeeded in the North-Westengaged in a numberof differententerprises, notably working forthe government, managing additional propertiesor by investing their money and energy in pearling.This latter was a 'reasonably safe cash crop and pastoralists who could not dependon their woolclip to provide essential finance,could make a tidy sum each year by sellingboth mother-of­ pearlshell, and the pearlsthemselves'. (DeLa Rue, 1979, p. 25).

The pearlingseason in the North-Westwas from Novemberto March.During the laying off season, March to September,many pearlerswho had prosperedreturned to Fremantleand Perth. J.E. Hammond in his memoirs, Westernpioneers: the battle well fought ( 1936), recordsthe importanceof the North-Westernindustries forthe populationof Fremantleand Perthin the 1860sand 1870s. Large sums werespent on re-equippingfor the followir.g pearling season, storeswere ordered, ships wererepaired. Hammond stated: 'Storekeepers,boat-builders, saw-millers, blacksmiths, ships'

147 carpenters,sail makers,painters, tailors, butchers, bakers ... usedto look forward to the corningof theNor'-Westers'. (Hammond, 1936, p. 58).

TheNor'-Westers also spent 'large sums of moneyentertaining their friends, enjoying themselvesat balls and parties,travelling about the country'.(Hammond, 1936, p. 58). Something of this situation ·is reflectedin Prichard'stext in relationto Bessie Watt'svisit to Perthwhere she meetsHugh at the completion of his schooldaysand his engineering apprenticeship:

She [Bessie] had taken roomsat the Savoy Hotel while she wasin Perth, and entertainedall the peoplewho had beenkind to Hugh, with eager high-handedness, by way of reactionfrom the long yearsof parsimony she had enduredfor his sake. (Prichard, 1929, p. 54).

This is not, of course,an exact parallel becauseBessie Watt's wealth derives solely from her cattle station which has not beensubsidised by pearling. But in her presentation of Bessie's encounter with Perthsociety, Prichard does capturesomething of the social situation; the dichotomy betweenthe austereexistence of the pioneeringNorth-West and the luxurious life of the southerncapital. The text depicts the former as honest and vigorous the latter as artificialand effete.

Everything aboutBessie bespeaksthe long years of strugglefor wealth in a harshand exacting environment. Her clothes areoutmoded but practical; she wears an 'old­ fashioned black dresswith a neat tucker of white net, flatblack hat and low-heeled shoes'. A sharpcontrast betweenherself and fashionable Perth women which even she can observe as she talks with 'Hugh's smartfriends'. Hugh's fiance,Jessica Haywood, contemptuously describesBessie as 'priceless'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 54).

The Bush matron, Bessie Watt, with her down-to-earth speech,she ('sworeabsent­ mindedly'), contrastswith the societymatron, Mrs Haywood,whose 'purred' declaration

1'48 that Hugh is: 'Quitelike one of my own sons!'(Prichard, 1929, p. 55), disguisesher insidious manipulationsof the marriagemarket. Unknown to Bessie, MrsHaywood has, in fact.al�y engaged herdaughter to Hugh. MrsHaywood's machinations are later disclosedby herdaughter, Jessica. when she tells Bessie:

'Mother thought, of course,you werewealthy. All station peoplehave potsof money'. (Prichard,192�. pp. 52-53).

Jessica expressesan attitude which appearsto have beenprevalent at the tum of the century.It is an attitude with which A.R.Richardsontakes issue, stating:

But the dwellersof cities will say, lookat theseNor'-Westers that migrate down annually to spenda few months' holiday in the city of Perth,prosperity and flourishing circumstances written all over them .... but let it not beforgotten also that many of them have bornethe burden and heat of the tropicalday for periodsvarying from 15 to 30 yearsor even longer. (Richardson, 1909,p. 24).

Returningto the historical situation in the North-West,by the mid-1870s the pearling groundsstretched to eighty miles on either side of Nichol Bay. The inshorereefs had becomedepleted and pearl shellwas increasinglyonly to befound in deeperwaters. At this periodthe close connection betweenpearling and pastoralism lessened.The pearlers came close to panic in 1876 when it was reportedshell prices as low as £100per ton werebeing offered on the London market; but simultaneously prices for woolincreased. Thereafter,the pastoralists in the Cossack Bay and Roebournedistricts becamemore interestedin the profits to beobtained from their land holdings than in pearling. (Shepherd, 1975, p. 27).

The presencein the North-Westof the pearlingindustry, like that of the pastoral industry,had serious consequencesfor the Aborigines.For the firstfour years, wrote MaryBain, in .Fullfathomfive(1982), therewas reasonable harmonybetween the pearlersand their Aboriginal divers.In the early yearsthey werethe major part of the labourforce and their welfarewas protected to a certainextent by competitionfor this

149 scarceamongst resource employers. Edwin W. Streeterin Pearlsand pearlinglife ( 1886) recordedthat the Aborigines were quick to learnto dive andswim andthat 'after two seasonsan Australianbecomes a first-classdiver' andthat for 'finding shell they cannotbe beaten, whilstfor powers of endurancean Australiannative is unequalledin the world'. (Streeter,1886, pp.156-157). Bartlettnoted that: 'By theearly 'seventies therewere 350 natives, excluding womenand children,working for75 masterpearlers along the north-westcoast'. (Bartlett,1954, p. 84).

In the earlyyears, Bain reported,the Aboriginaldivers were joined by their wives and childrenwho travelled along the coast; the womencleaning the shells, seekingthe pearls and hunting forfood. Bain wrote:'Shifting camp often, the Aboriginesremained healthy as they lived on clean ground and ate a wide variety of food'. (Bain, 1982, p. 18). Reportsof these early days describedthe Aborigineson boardpearling vessels as 'happy' and 'contented' but, Bain noted, they quickly becamesullen and moroseand developed various complaints possiblyas a result of the 'white man's diet' or becausethey were absentfrom land. (Bain, 1982, pp. 18-19).

Typically, the diving operationconsisted of a numberof smallish broad-beamed dinghies, about14 feet in length, which were centredon a 15 to 18 ton schooner.The dinghies each with aboutseven or eight Aboriginal divers aboardwere under the supervisionof a white boss who sculled over the pearlingbeds whilst the Aborigines dived for shell. NormanBartlett describes the Aborigines'method of gathering shells:

Their only preparationwas to sit on the edge of the boatfor several seconds,breathing deeply, before jumping feetfirst. Below the surface they turnedand swam to the bottom,where they seizedas many shells as they could beforereturning to the surface.

ln this manner the average skin diver could reachthirty or even fiftyfeet and stay down anythingfrom half a minute to a fullminute. Successful diversthrew their shells into the boat,hung on to the gunwale for a short rest andthen dived again. Unsuccessfuldivers were required to bring up a handfulof sand or weedto show that they hadnot beenmalingering.

150 Under exceptionally goodconditions the diversbest - who wereoften gins - obtainedfrom sixly to a hundredshells a day. Normally, a boat averagedtwenty shellsa day. (Bartlett. 1954,pp. 84-85).

A.C.V. Bligh, in his memoirs Thegolden qwst: the roaringdays of West Australian goldrushes and life in thepearling industry ( 1938), recalled that in the earlydays the coastalAborigines were both willing and expertdivers but they weresoon used up. He noted: '1be menwere very keenon anythingcompetitive ... they vied with each otheras to the depththey could dive and the amount of shell they could bring up .... Thedeeper diving tookits toll of them, and this generation of young men soon died out'. (Bligh,

1938, p. 35).

No legislation regulated the employment of Aboriginal divers and the profit motive inevitably lead to their exploitation. So great was the impetus to gain wealth from shelling, that the overseerson the boatsfrequently dispensed with the restperiods.

Shepherdnoted: 'Sometimes even resortingto hitting the natives' fingers with heavy objects as they clung to the gunwale of the boatsregaining their breath in order to speed them into the next dive'. (Shepherd, 1975, p. 34).

A correspondent to the Inquirer, of 28 April, 1875 noted in relation to both Malays and

Aborigines:

Thethirst for shells, forpearls, for success, in fact, brutalises and unchristianizes the pearling speculator or 'driver'. Excitement in the occupation is ever at the stretch from Sunday morn to Sunday morn. No day is respected. No darkman's life is valued in the economising of that life, but the utmost amount of diving must besucked out of the man, kill him or not; forwho knows who will be his owner next season! (Inquirer, 28 April 1875).

Thesupply of efficient and healthy Aboriginal divers fromthe coastal areas waslimited and Bligh recalled that:

151 To replacethem, young men from country further back had to be enlisted. As thecountry was unsettled and aboriginalsthe wild, theonly methodto get themwas by meansof expeditions.Until theywere trained to dive they werekept on the boatand on theislands. (Bligh, 1938, p. 35).

Bligh alsonoted that the 'methodof obtainingthis labouris better imagined than described.It is sufficientto say it wascrude'. Neville Greenrecorded that the GovernmentResident of Roebourne,Lieut-Col. E.F. Angelo allegedthat amongstthose implicatedin 'black-birding'was a localmagistrate who was 'associatedwith two notoriouskidnappers who wereopenly offeringto kidnap Aboriginesfor the pearlersat £5 a head'. (Green, 1981,p. 106).

Theactivities of the 'black-birders'resulted in a dangeroussituation forwhites as well as Aborigines. This aspectof 'black-birding' appearsin the novel. Hugh asksSaul Hardy:

'You never went unarmedwhen you wereworking along the creeksthe pearlersput into, Saul?' (Prichard,1929, p. 105).

Saul shakes his head. He also recalls,

'One crewof Swan Point boys, a pearler I knew black-birded,was so dangerous he had to drive 'em overboard when he got to sea. He and his mate, with loaded guns behind the nigs.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 105).

DeLa Rue recordedthat in the early days of pearling many pearlerswere killed by their Aboriginaldivers and that 'no traveller was entirelysafe from reprisalsby Aborigines fromthe more war-like inland tribes'.(De La Rue, 1979. p. 98).

Bain also noted that therewere a number of reprisals made by the Aboriginesbut mostly they werethe sufferers,'particularly when unsavourytypes of employersarrived from distant ports - gaol escapees,ex-whalers, convict expireesand sordidadventurers'. (Bain, 1982, p. 20).

152 Aboriginal women were alsothe victims of the'black-birders'. Protectivelegislation

wasnecessary to prevent Aboriginalwomen beingfon:cd into 'brothels'. Reports of

'barracoons'. �?ave markets,were frequently madeduring the 1870s. Barracoons were

establishedon Enderby.de Lambre and Barrow Islands. Susan Hunt m:ordcd: 'In one

instance at EnderbyIsland, for example, there were reportsthat womenwere being

detailedand "sold to the highest bidder"'. (Hunt,1986, p. 109).

Thetwo notorious pcarlerswho wereresponsible for the barracoonon Enderby Island

weretried and convicted by the GovernmentResident of Roebournc, RobertF. Sholl,

who reportedthe case to the Colonial Secretary in August 1875. Sholl wrote:

Reports wererife that native women were detained on that Islandhaving beenconveyed there in boats owned by S. Sustenance, E. Chapman and others...

Deciding that some enquiry was necessary I told Police Sergeant Vincent to hire a boat and go to Enderby Island. He chartered the Cygneton 20th ultimo at £5 per diem, a very high price but he could not make better terms.

He left Cossack the morning of 22nd July, taking with him native prisoner, Bobby, and arrived at Flying Foam passage on the 23rd. Here he found the native women who had been conveyed by boat to Enderby Island.

... Vincent with eight native witnesses then returned to Roebourneon the evening of the 24th. (PROWA. CSR. ACC.36 vol. 809/113 and 114, 25 August 1875).

Samuel Sustenance was sentenced for threeseparate offences (carryingnative women in

boats) and he was finedrespectively £10 for the first offence and £5 each uponthe other

charges with 44/- costs. Edward Chapman was fined £5 and 10/6 costs. Sholl stated

that Sustenance had long been an offender but had previously managed to avoid

conviction. In a postscriptSholl noted: 'I may as well add that all the women declared

they went voluntarily'. (PROWA. CSR. ACC.36. vol. 809/113 and 114, 25 August

1875). 153 Theexperiences of theeight Aboriginal women arc reflected in the fate of Coonardoo. Oneof her memoriesrelates to her seizureby the 'black-birders'for enslavement on a pearlingvessel:

She shriekedcursing ... wasbeing dragged to a little boaton the river... the searocked underher, rockedand rocked

'Wiah!Wiah!' Coonardoo wailed. She wasscreaming again, struggling against the greatcruel hands which draggedher and nailed boots that kickedher in the belly.(Prichard, 1929, p. 203).

It wasin relationto the abuseof Aboriginal womendivers aboard pearling vessels that legislation regulatingthe employment of Aboriginesin the pearlingindustry was instigated. Pearlers preferredto employ Aboriginalwomen who wereconsidered to be betterdivers than Aboriginalmen. It wasbelieved that the womenhad better eyesight and could remainunder water longer than the men.

Mary Durack recordsthat Bishop Gibney had witnessed 'women forcedto dive even in the later stages of pregnancy,and some whosehands had beencrushed with heavy tools for having clung toolong betweendives to the lugger sides'. (Durack, 1969, p. 16).

The Pearl Shell FisheryAct, I 87 I (WA) specificallydealt with labouragreements and the presence of Aboriginalwomen aboardpearling vessels.

The Act stated that labour agreementshad to besigned in the presence of a Justice of the Peace,or Police Constable. The agreement had to specifythe nature,duration and hours of work, the amount of wages or remuneration,and the employer was requiredto give an undertakingthat the Aboriginaldiver would bereturned to the place at which he was firstengaged. (Pearl Shell FisheryAct, 1871 (WA), s. 2).

154 Section5 dealt�ifacally with thepresence of Aboriginalwomen on boardpearling vessels. It statedthat:

If any such master,owner, or otherperson shall carry or allow to embark on boardhis vesselany female AboriginalNative ... such master,owner, or other person shall for everysuch offen� incur a penaltynot exceeding Fiftypounds. (Pearl Shell FisheryAct, 1871 (WA), s. 5).

The novel states that Coonardoohas been 'on a pearling lugger'(Prichard, 1929, p. 197) and that she has beenprostituted as 'Pearl, the "blackpearl" of a pearler'screw'.

(Prichard, 1929, p. 204),These incidents do not accord with the historical situation. In the chronology of the novel Coonardooreaches Wytaliba in aboutthe year1928 and she recalls that 'shehad crawled ashore fromthe pearlinglugger two or threeyears ago'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 204).This gives a date forher associationwith the pearlerssometime between1922 and 1926. By this period Aboriginalwomen had beenbanned from pearlingvessels for more than 50 years.

It is possiblethat laws prohibiting Aboriginalwomen frompearling vessels, werebeing broken as was revealed in a case reported by Government Resident, E.H. Laurencein

May 1884: 'Police v Forrest - carrying a native woman to sea'. TheDefendant claimed he wastaking the woman as a servant to his brother. The case was to have been adjourned to enable evidence to beproduced but the Defendantasked for the case to be dealt with immediately and, as information alleged the woman had been on boardfor many days, he was fined £5 and costs. (PROW A. CSO. ACC. 388. File 2815/84).

The Pearl Shell FisheryAct, 1871 (WA) did not immediately improveconditions in the pearling fleet and rumours were heard of divers being shot whilst tryingto escape from luggers. Shepherd recordedthat on one pearling vessel, 'eight Malays... had died early in 1872' from a 'scurvy' like illness and that three Aboriginaldivers on boardwere also discoveredto besuffering from scurvy. (Shepherd, 1975,p. 40).

155 ThePearl Shell FishingAct, 1871 (WA) wasrepealed in 1873 when furtherlegislation wasenacted which gave morespecific fonn to the regulationsof the earlierAct The new Act requiredJustices of the Peaceand Police Inspectorswho witnessedlabour contractsto ensurethat theAboriginal employee understoodthe termsof the agreement and was not beingemployed under duress;it wasalso stipulated that the agreement should not exceed12 months. Furtherprovisions permitted pearlingvessels to be boardedby Justices of the Peace,Police or Customs Officers'for the purposeof observinghow the personsemployed on or in connection with such ship boator other vesselare treated'. The Act also requiredthe employer to provide'a good and sufficient supply of fooddrink and articlesof protection against cold and heat'. (ThePearl Shell

FisheryRegulation Act, I 873 (WA), s. 12).

With referenceto the 'goodand sufficient rationsand clothing' that pearlerswere requiredto supply to their Aboriginal divers,W.E. Taunton in Australind: wanderings in Westem Australia and the Malay East ( 1903),recalls that in the early 'eighties:

If I rememberrightly, the fonn of agreement,which had to bemade beforea Justice of the Peace, stipulated that each diver was to befound in food,tobacco and the followingarticles of clothing at the beginning and the tennination of the engagement, namely.one cotton shirt,one pair of trousers, one belt, andone handkerchief. Therewas no remuneration whatever, unless it werea freesupply of tobaccoduring the shelling season.(Taunton, 1903,p. 210).

Breaches of all the regulationsoccurred and when detectedthe offenderswere prosecutedby the Police or the Inspectorof Fisheries on behalfof the Aboriginal Plaintiffs.Numbers of cases were prosecutedduring the pearlingseasons 1883 and 1884. Thesewere reported to the Colonial Secretaryby the Government Resident at Roeboume, E.H. Laurence, in May 1884.

Laurencerecorded that a numberof assaultcharges were made against pearlerswho had 156 usedrope totheir beat Aboriginaldivers. Laurence's report stated that theAborigines madea distinction betweenemployers who 'beatthem little' andthose who 'beatthem much'. In the caseof Policev Hadley, theAborigines claimed that 'Hadleybeat them little', andhe was fined £ 1 in eachof threecases. Hadley'semployee, Clifford, was chargedwith beatingthree Aborigines and he wasfined £2.10.0. in eachcase because it was claimedhe 'beatthem much'.

In the caseInspector v Wilson - not supplying rationsto his natives accordingto agreement,four cases were taken as a sample. In all therewere 33 Aboriginaldivers on boardand they alleged that they had not beensupplied with meat,tea or sugarduring the diving seasr,n. Wilson assertedthat meathad beenavailable in a cask on the deck and the Aborigineswere told to 'help themselves and that they werealso told to ask fortea and sugar when they wanted it'. The Aboriginesdenied this. Wilson was fined '£ I O each in regardto the 4 casesbrought forward'. Laurence also reported:The deaths on board this vesselhave beenrather numerous.I regarded this as a bad - and I hopeexceptional - case'.

In furthercases Wilson was convicted of employing in diving 4 natives under the age of pubertyand wasfined £2. I 0. 0. on each charge. He also admitted using a ropein assaults on fourAborigines and was cautioned but not fined. The leniency of the sentence, Laurence explained, was occasionedby the factthat the Aboriginesclaimed he 'beatthem little' and also becausehe had alreadybeen heavily fined on the earlier charges.

No leniency was shown in the caseof Inspectorv Spencer- employing a native in diving without the requiredagreement, and the defendant was fined£10 and costs.

157 ResidentMagistrate Laurence summarised the cases with thewords:

His Excellency wdl observewith satisfactionthat the number of casesas comparedwith thewhole numberof natives employedis not large,that theassaults were not veryserious - no marksbeing visible on the blacks ...It is necessaryto show that physical correctionis only allowable in extremecases of insubordinationor misconduct,but I am gladto reportthat I believeit is sparingly used.As to scarcityof foodI feel assuredit is most exceptional. TheInspector has done goodservice in detectingthese breaches of the law. (PROWA CSO. ACC. 388. File 2815/84,16 May 1884).

In fact, His Excellency, Sir FrederickNapier Broome,was far fromsatisfied. In relation to Laurenc�·sassertion that physical correctionwas neces� in casesof insubordinationor misconduct, the Governorstated:

I cannot admit that it is allowable at all, or that in this matter a native stands in any positiondifferent from that of a white man. I hopethis will bemade clear to all employers by the Resident and the Inspectorof Fisheries.

Napier Broomeregarded the deaths on boardthe pearlingvessel as a very grave state of affairswhich demanded the strictest supervision. He stated: 'In conclusion, I am most strongly of opinion that severe notice shouldbe taken of assaults uponnatives engaged in diving, and of deprivation of proper rations,or other ill-treatment'. (PROWA. CSO. ACC. 388. File 2815/84).

Employment statistics compiled by Lois P. Andersonand presentedin her thesis, The role ofAboriginal and Asian labour in the origin and development of the pearling industryBroome, Western Australian 1862-/940(1978), show that in the yearsof the mid-l 880s the numberof Aborigines engagedin the pearlingindustry were: 1884, 556; 1885, 549; and 1886, 528. (Anderson,1978, pp.62-63). After this periodand up to 1970 the numberof Aboriginesemployed in the pearlingindustry each year wasless than I 00 except forthe year1900 when it reached I t 9. Fromthe beginningof the20th century the industrywas dominated by largenumbers of Malay and Japanesedivers. 158 Thetum aroundin theindustry was occasioned by themove to deepseadress diving. In the 1890smost of thediving along thewestern coast was carried out in 15 to 25 fathoms about25 miles offthe westerncoast in the regionof the Eighty Mile Beach.Kimberly stated: 'Thepearl fisheries extended further and further into thedeep waters. The natives hada superstitiousawe of a diver's dressand were not greatlyused in deepdiving'. (Kimberly,1897, p. 310).

The text conveys something of the Aborigines'fear of the seain relationto Coonardoo's encounter with the pearlerswhich hasleft her with a dreadof the sea. Coonardoohates 'the seawhich wasmore cruel than anything human'. It is the seawhich separatesher from 'the earth which still held in its distance her own country and the ulooof her people'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 204). In a 'panic, a frenzy offear, she had turnedher back on the town and the sea'. But evenin this intensely moving scene, Prichard cannot forgether evolutionary bias. Rather than showing Coonardoo's actionsas rational in that she returnsto the only secureplace she has ever known, Prichard describes Coonardoo'sjourney to Wytaliba as beingmade: 'unconsciously, with the instinct of an animal making for her old feeding grounds,the haunt of her tribe,place of her birthand breeding'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 204).

Lois P. Andersonnoted that most of the Aboriginaldivers who werereleased from the pearlingindustry 'attempted to returnto their formerway of life but foundit an impossiblechoice'. (Anderson, 1978, p. 22). For thesepeople the alternativehad becomefringe dwelling in Europeansettlements or in the pearling campsalong the coast.

Pearling camps werelocated in creeksalong the northerncoast. They werealmost desertedduring the pearlingseason but duringthe laying up periodlarge numbersof pearlerscongregated in thesesettlements to engage in heavy drinking and general 159 dissipation. A description of onesuch camp, Broome,which wasthe centre of the

pearlingindustry at theend of the19th century, is given by AlexanderMacdonald in his

published memoirs,In the landof pearl and gold: a pioneer'swanderings in the bac/c blocksand pearling grounds of Australia and New Guinea( 1907). Macdonald stated:

Broomeis thegreat centre for all pearlers. It is a blisteringlittle settlement, situatedon the edge of Roebuck Inlet - a mangrove-lined, salt-watercreek ... the populationis approximatelymade up of fifty whites and fivehundred of mixedPolynesian race.

Such a proportion,as may beimagined, is a somewhat dangerousone, and it appearsall the more so when it is known that thepearlers 'hotels' arebut villainous drinking-saloons, run, alas! by one or two unscrupulous white men. (Macdonald, 1907,pp. 290-291).

Frequent violent disputes arose between the racesparticularly in relation to the

abduction of Aboriginalwomen. The Inquirer dated 31 March 1896 recorded that:

Complaints are continually made of the abduction of native women by some of the pearlers, a practice which, if not checked, will lead to hostilities on the part of the black. There is some difficulty,it appears,in obtaining the necessary evidence, but the offenders areknown and sooner or later will be punished. (Inquirer, 31 March 1896).

The prostitution of Aboriginal women in the pearling camps became a matter of concern during the first years of the 20thcentury and legislation was enacted to exclude

Aboriginal women from the camps. The diseasesthat were first contracted in the pearlingcamps became endemicin the North-West during the 20thcentury.

When Coonardooreturns to the text she is in the final stages of a contagious disease.

She has been discovered by Geary who attempts to annoy Hugh with the information:

'And you never sawsuch an old break-up. Never'd have known her... All in now ... rotten with disease, and booked for theisland.' (Prichard, 1929, p. 197).

160 The question is: What is the natureof the diseaseCoonardoo has contracted;and to which islandis she beingtransported? Thereare two possibilities. If the diseaseis that derivedfrom the nameof the goddessVenus, then Coonardoomight bebooked for Dorre Island offthe coastof Carnarvonbut if it is the sickness associatedwith the Biblical Lazarus,then she is beingtransferred to Bezout Island offCossack. Either condition is a possibility:both venereal disease and leprosywere present in the Aboriginalpopulation in the North-West and Kimberleys regions. Both wereassociated with the pearling crewsand with indentured Asian labourand Coonardoocomes off a

'pearling lugger' and she hasbeen 'hanging round the Chinesequarters'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 197).

The diseasemost closely associatedwith the prostitution of Aboriginal women to pearling crews, both Europeanand Asian, was venerealdisease. This was a major concern of Commissioner Roth on his tour of the North-West. Roth's findingson the subject were included in the Royal Commission on the Condition of the Natives, 1905,

Reportand Recommendations, Section (3) 'Employment of AboriginalNatives !:l the Pearl-Shell Fishery and otherwiseon Boats'. Roth reported:

Along the whole coast-line extending froma fewmiles South of La Grange Bay to the Eastern shores of King Sound, drunkennessand prostitution, the formerbeing the preludeto the latter. with consequent loathsome disease, is rifeamongst the aborigines. (WesternAustralia Votes and Proceedings of Parliament, 1905,vol. I. Paper No. 5. p. 11 ).

It was his contention that the disease was contracted from 'Asiatics'. He stated:

The boats call in at certain creeks, ostensib:y forwood and water, and the natives flockto these creeks, the men beingpe rfectly willing to barter their women for gin, tobacco, flour, or rice; the colouredcrews to whom they are barteredare mostly Malays, Manillamen, and Japanese; they frequentlytake the women offto the luggers. (WesternAustralia Votes and Proceedings of Parliament, 1905, vol. I. PaperNo. 5. p. 11 ).

161 Commissioner Roth had witnessedthese events at La GrangeBay andBeagle Bay where he statedhe had seen'native women at daybreakreturning on shorefrom the boatswith presents of rice, etc'.

The Reportnoted that from the pointof view of the pearlersthis situation had disastrous economic consequences because:

As the resultof their intercoursewith aboriginal women, the boats'crews suffera good deal fromvenereal disease, and the loss of their labouris severely feltby the pearlers. (WesternAustralia Votes and Proceedings of Parliament, 1905, vol. I. PaperNo. 5. p. 11 ).

Coonardoois, in fact,di1;eased when she comes ashore froma pearlingboat. Thetext states: 'When she had cmwled ashore fromthe pearling lugger two or three years ago she had feltfouled and doomed'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 204).

Roth recommended that areas of the coast beset aside 'where boats only should be allowed to land, but no aboriginesto enter, and vice versa'. Roth also recommended the chartering of a patrol boat to supervise the areas. (Western Australia Votes and

Proceeding of Parliament, 1905, vol. I, No. 5. p. 11 ).

The subsequent legislation, the Aborigines Act, /905 (WA), made specific provision for the exclusion of Aboriginal women from pearling camps. Section 40stated:

Any female aboriginal who, between sunset and sunrise, is found within two miles of any creek or inlet used by the boats of pearlers or other sea boats shallbe guilty of an offence against this Act. (Aborigines Act, /905, (WA), s.40).

Despite Roth's graphic account of the diseased condition of the Aboriginal population, the Act made meagre provision forAboriginal health. The responsibilitiesof the

Governmentthrough the auspices of the AboriginesDepartment were given in Section 6

162 ( 4) and stated to be:

To provide,as far aspracticable, for thesupply of medicalattendance, medicines, rations, and shelter to sick, aged, and infirmaborigines. (AboriginesAct, 1905(WA), s. 6(4)).

The responsibilityof the employer wasstated in Section 22 (e) which:

Stipulates forthe supply by the employer to the aboriginalor half-caste of substantial, good,and sufficientrations, clothing, and blankets, and also medicinesand medical attendance when practicable and necessary. (Aborigines Act, 1905(WA), s. 22(e)).

Deletedfrom the 1905 Act was the provision which absolved the employer from providing medical treatmentif the 'illness of the Aboriginalbe caused by his own improperact or default',as wasstated in the 1886 regulations. This is significant becausevenereal disease was held to becaused by the faultof the Aborigine. On the other hand, in boththe case of the Governmentand the employer, treatmentis dependenton 'practicability'. This provision presentedthose responsible for Aboriginal medical treatmentwith a convenient way of escaping their liabilities.

The Act also allowed for the setting up of reserves of up to 2,000acres on Crownland (Section I 0) to beadministered by superintendents(Section 11) to which they could remove'any aboriginal' (Section12). (Aborigines Act, I 905 (WA), ss. I 0, 11, 12).

TheseSections provided the legal framework for setting up isolation hospitals and for the rounding up and collection of Aboriginessuffering from venerealdiseases.

Furtherlegislation in 1911 gave the Aborigines Departmentpower to grant reservesover 2,000acres in size. (Western AustralianParliamentary Debates, vol. 39, 1910-11, p, 1326).

Mary Anne Jebb's article,The lockhospitals experiment:Europeans, Aborigines and venerealdisease' ( 1984), deals with the detection, isolation and treatmentof venereal

163 diseasein WesternAustralia in the firstquarter of the 20thcentury.

Jebb noted that Aboriginalhealth had a low priority and wasconsidered to be moreof a

nuisance than a problemto be solved. Constant disputes aroseover the payment of

medical accounts betweenthe Aborigines Department, the Medical Department, station

owners and doctors. In the meantime, Jebb stated, Aborigines, someas young as a fourteen-year-oldgirl discovered on HardeyJunction Station, were rottingand dying fromvenereal disease. (Jebb, 1984, pp. 73-74).

Jebb recordedthat in 1906segregation and isolation of venereallydiseased Aborigines

was suggested by Dr ArthurAdams of Derbyin order to safeguard the public health.

Jebb noted that: 'Venerealdisease had increased rapidly in the Aboriginal populations east of Camarvon, Marble Bar and at Laverton'.(Jebb, 1984, p. 74). In 1907 Aborigines in the Onslow district were said to be in a 'deplorable state'. Biskup recorded that in

1907 'the incidence of the disease reachedalarming proportions - up to 15 percent in certaindistricts'. (Biskup, 1973, p. 112).

From 1906various medical officers had requested the Aborigines Department to set aside a reserve to separate and isolate diseased Aborigines. The subject was debated in

Parliament in 1907when it was recorded that the Government Inspector, Mr. Isdell, had inspected the whole of the North-Westand that:

Venereal diseases amongstthe aboriginesgave great trouble to the Government: and Bernier and BarrowIsland had been temporarily reserved for lock hospitals .... The islands, if found suitable, would be converted into hospitals, and the Medical Department would take over the administration ... The lock hospital ought to do good. Venereal diseases could bestbe prevented by not permitting Asiatics to have access to the natives. The diseases werenot confined to the natives of the North-West.... Apparentlythe condition of the natives was worse than before, and measures should be taken to make the declining yearsof the natives better. (Western Australia Parliamentary Debates, 24 October, 1907, pp. 366-367).

In 1908 two islands west of Camarvon,Bernier and Dorrewere selected as the sites for

164 Aboriginallock hospitals; the formerwas set aside for male andthe latter for female patients. Thefirst group of inmates arrivedin October I 908'. (Biskup, 1973, p. 112).

Peter L. Brown,in Coastof coral andpearl ( 1972), describedthe methodof collecting diseasedAborigines in thearea of the Murchison, Gascoyneand Ashburton Rivers. In these districts examination took placeat the pointof the gun and those showing signs of diseasewere chained by the neckand force-marchedto the coast. Thesejourneys often tookseveral weeks and many deaths occurred alongthe way. Brown recorded that:'Flies incessantly buu.edround suppurating sores... men womenand childrenwere mingled and inevitably all werethoroughly cross-infected' by a variety of diseases beforethe

'miserablesurvivors' arrived at Camarvon. (Brown, 1972, pp. 108-109). At Camarvon they awaited shipment to the isolation islands.

Aboriginal fear of the isolation islands is conveyed in the novel in relation to Coonardoo who regards the island she is being sent to as 'a place of horror beyond the sea'.

(Prichard, 1929, p. 204). Geary attempts to rescue her and asks 'Trooper Andrews if there wasany chance of getting her away. But he said they were shovin' her offnext week'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 197). The extent and natureof the isolation, the powerto exclude, is demonstrated by the fact that not even the powerful Geary can succeed against the forces of authority. Noticeably, it is Geary who assumes the responsibility forrescuing Coonardoo. Hugh makes no effort to intervene on her behalf or even to seek her out once he knows she is in the vicinity. The essential weakness of Hugh's character is substantiated in his response to Geary's infonnation aboutCoonardoo; Hugh literally falls on his face. 'Winni found him lying on his faceat the back of the hotel in the early hours of the morning'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 197). Hugh does not tell Winni that

Coonardoohas been discovered and Winni continues to searchfor her, exiting the text with the words: 'I got to findCoonardoo'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 201).

In the historical context, medicalofficers were instructed to send only chronically ill 165 syphilitic patients to the isolationislands. It wasbelieved that this condition requireda courseof treatmentover a two-yearperiod and isolation on the islandswas necessary to preventthe patients 'absconding'before treatment was complete. On the otherhand it washeld that gonorrhoeacould betreated locally. In practicea varietyof diseased patients weresent to the islands asnot all doctorscould, or attemptedto, distinguish betweenthe two conditions.

A descriptionof conditions at the lockhospitals is providedby Daisy Bates, who, late in 1910, had joined the expeditionheaded by anthropologist,Radcliffe-Brown, to the North-West. Differences developed betweenBates and Radcliffe-Brownand they made their separateways to the lockhospitals. Daisy Bates arrivedat Carnarvonon 11 December1910 and crossedto DorreIsland. In Thepassing of theAborigines ( 1938), in a chapter titled 'Isles of the Dead',Bates recalled:

Dorreand Bernier Islands: thereis not in all my sad sojournamongst the last sad peopleof the primitive Australianrace, a memoryone-half so tragir or so harrowing,or a namethat conjuresup such a deplorable pictureof misery and horror unalleviated asthese two grim andbarren Islands of the West Australian coast that fora period,mercifully brief, were the tombs of the living dead. (Bates, 1938, p. 96-97).

There were seventy-sevenwomen on DorreIsland, many of them bed­ ridden. I dared not count the graves there. (Bates, 1938, p. 99).

An account of the conditions at the men's lockhospital on Bernier Island is given by Radcliff-Brown'sassistant, E.L.Grant Watson in his novel Wherebonds are loosed ( 1918). Watson states that Bernier Island consists of a strip of land about18 miles long by one mile in width. He goeson to say:

Thehospital was a verysimple building. It consisted of three walls made of tarredcanvas and a corrugatediron roof. In it wereten beds.In the bedswere sick natives, brokenand hopeless piecesof humanitywho lay still all day and lookedout acrossthe bleak expanseof sanddunes, under which they weredestined to beburied, and thought regretfullyof their belovedand far-away bush. Somefifteen, who wereconsidered well

166 enoughfor hard work, hung aboutand did oddjobs andwaited on those who lay in bed.(Watson, 1918, pp.31-32).

Whilst at the lockhospitals, Aboriginalpatients weretreated with 'Salvarsan'which was beingsuccessfully used in the white populationfor the treatmentof venerealdisease. But Aboriginalpatients at the lockhospitals did not respondto 'Salvarsan'treatment and this leadto the recognitionof their symptoms asindicative of 'ulcerative granuloma' found only in 'natives of the north'.From 1913, when granulomawas alluded to as a specificallyAboriginal disease, admissions to the island lockhospitals decreased sharplyuntil 1918, when the hospitals were transferredto PortHedland.

In all probabilitythe island for which Coonardoois 'booked'is DorreIsland and the diseasefrom which she is sufferingis granuloma. It is rather less likely, but not impossible,that the disease whichis destroying Coonardoois leprosy. Biskup noted that in 1911 followingthe discoveryof abouteight casesof leprosy in the Roeboume district, a 'temporaryleprosarium was opened on Bezout Island'. (Biskup, 1973, p. 114).

W.S. Davidson, in Havens of Refuge: ahistory of leprosyin WesternAustralia (1978), gives the following description of Bezout island:

Bezout is a barrenisland offPoint Samson, aboutone mile long and a hundredand two hundred yardswide. The only vegetation is scattered spinifex - no water and no firewood. There was however a plentiful supply of turtles,turtle eggs, oysters and fish on which the patients, if they weresufficiently agile, could growfat. (Davidson, 1978, p. 15).

It was the duty of the localpoliceman to take fuel, water and storesto the island, which proveddifficult in the cyclone season. A total of aboutseven leprosycases were sentto Bezout between1909 and 1912 but after that it lost popularityand a lazaretwas setup on a piece of land offCossack which is an island only at high tide. At low tide it is surroundedby mangrove swamps, which can in places becrossed by wading. The lazaretremained at Cossackuntil 1931. (Davidson, 1978, p. 13).

167 In 1924, DrCecil Cook, an Australiangraduate who held theWansworth scholarship of the LondonSchool of TropicalMedicine, wasdespatched to the North-West and

Kimberley regionsto study and reporton the incidents of leprosyin thesedistricts. Dr

Cook tookthe opportunity to study both leprosyand granuloma in the Aboriginal population.

Dr Cecil Cookwas concerned to note that the whites believedthey were immune to granuloma. He reported:

Whites are commonly believedin Kimberley[sic] to be forsome obscure reason immune to 'DogSyphilis'. 'Nigger Pox', 'SoftChancre', as Granuloma is variously termed there. This is a dangerousand erroneous impressionas Granuloma has long beenknown amongst sailors and other whites on the China Station and is common amongst the mixed White races of Latin America. (PROWA. PHO. ACC. 1003.File 888/23).

The areavisited by Dr Cook stretched from Camarvon to Broome and included the

Nullagine, Shark Bay, the Tableland, Marble Bar, and Halls Creek. The estimated

Aboriginalpopulation of the region was listed as:

I O 172, Full-blood; 425, Half-caste deemed to be Aboriginal; 182, Half-caste not deemed Aboriginal; JO OOO (estimated) Aborigines outside the influence of civilisation. A total populationestimated at 20,779.

Of these Dr Cook examined some 2 306Aborigines and discoveredfour new casesof leprosy and a suspected two others. He found 84 cases of Granuloma ( 46 males and 38 females) or 3.64% of those examined. (PROW A. PHO. ACC. I 003. File 888/23).

Cookstated that the four casesof leprosy all seemedto be relatedand wereconfined to the coastalarea. He expressedthe opinion that there wereno casesof leprosy among

168 the 'wild natives in the interior'.(PROW A. PHD.ACC.1003. File 888/23).

Thecoastal area is the site of Coonardoo'swandering after she leaves Monty Blood. Gearyinfonns Hugh that: Theysay she's beenup and down the coastfor years.' He also states. Theboys tell me,she's beenhanging aroundthe portthis couple of months.' (Prichard,1929, p. 197). In either case she could have beenin contact with leprosy sufferers.

Dr CecilCook prefaced his reporton Leprosywith the words: 'Leprosyis one of the most terrible diseasesto which the Human Race is susceptible ... to the advanced case death would often be amercy'. (PROWA. PHD.ACC. 1003.File 888/23).

Although the methodof transmission of leprosy is not clear,it is usually, but not invariably, contracted afterprolonged physical contact with an infected person.Dr Cook observedthat conditions in North Western Australia weresuitable to the spreadof leprosy. He noted that: 'Amongst the whites the squalor of the Far NorthCamp will give ample opportunityfor the requisite intimacy of contact betweenLeper and susceptible'. Coonardoocould have acquired the disease in the pearlingcamp with its 'stench of pearlersand the close horrible places they live in'. Hereshe has beenin close contact with 'men whose faceswere like corned meat, skin white beneaththeir filthy shirtsand trousers;yellow men with small slant eyes'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 203).

Coonardoo's symptoms so far as they are given arenot consistent with leprosy,which in its final stages is characterised by the destructionof the peripheral nerveswhich can result in the extremities becomingdeformed and falling off. Davidson recordsthe case of the Aboriginewho was reportedto have neural leprosy. 'He was reputedto be abit of a wandererand appearsto have roamedaround for years afterdiagnosis sufferingfrom anaesthesiaof his feet and gradual loss of his toes'.(Davidson, 1978, p. 8). Coonardoo still hasher 'scrawny hands'and although her 'feetwere broken with festeringsores' this

169 wascaused by her 'long roughjourney' back to Wytaliba fromthe coastrather than the progressionof her disease. (Prichard, 1929, pp. 202-203). Ofcourse, in the final paragraphthere is a possibilitythat she hasphysically disintegrated.The text states: 'Her annsand legs, falling apart,looked like thoseblackened and broken sticks besidethe fire'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 206). But it is not probable that Prichardis describinga scenein which her heroine'slimbs have actuallybecome detached from her body;this would be grotesquerather than tragic.

As noted above, it is morelikely that Coonardoois sufferingfrom venereal disease, in all probability granuloma. In the later stages of the disease death oftenoccurs due to extensive destructionof tissue (Jebb, 1984, p. 76). In the finalstages of Coonardoo's illness the text states: 'Her body wasweakening and rotting away fromher'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 204),and her armsare said to be 'showingthe bonethrough'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 203).

Although the natureof Coonardoo'sdisease remainsa matter of speculation,perhaps thereis significance in the factthat Prichard's text is nonspecificin relationto it. This could indicate that it was such t.hat its identification would offend the sensibilitiesof the Bulletin'sreadership. If this werethe case,then a referenceto a venereally communicable diseasewas morelikely to cause affront to readers of the serial thanan allusion to leprosy.

The incorporationof goldmining and pearl-shell fishing into the background of the novel completes Prichard's representationof Europeaneconomic activity in the North­ West region.These two industries function in the text to bring into view the world beyondthe closed community of Wytaliba cattle station. In the text, as in the historical situation, the external world operatesdifferentially in the caseof the white settler and the Aboriginalpeople. For Hugh, when his pastoral enterprisefails, the unlimited resources of the land arestill available forexploitation and he setsout on a gold 170 prospectingexpedition. For the Aboriginesthere is no alternativelifestyle; pastoralisationhas destroyed their traditional economyand when the cattle station fails they must enter a world in which they have no future.In the finalchapter of the novel they have simply vanished fromthe landscape.

Emblematic of the Aborigines'fate in the externalworld is the exploitation and devastation of Coonardooin the pearl-shell fishing industry. In the finalscene of the novel, alone and diseased,she returnsto the desertedcattle station to fadeinto the landscape:'She crooneda moment,and lay back. Her armsand legs falling apart,looked like thoseblackened and brokensticks besidethe fire'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 206).

171 CIIAPl'ER6

CONCLUSION

It would, perhaps,be relevant here to referto Stephen Greenblatt'sstatement in regardto the value of new historicism in the recoveryand representation of the past.Greenblatt noted:

It is paradoxical, of course,to seekthe living will of the deadin fictions, in places wherethere wasno live bodilybeing to beginwith. But those who love literaturetend to find moreintensity in simulations - in the formal,self-conscious miming of life - than in any of the other textual traces left by the dead. (Greenblatt,1988, p. 1).

Coonardoo, whilst not devoid of ahistoricisms, has performed thistask; it represents adequately the physical geography andthe socio-culturaland economic elements of the era and regionof its setting. Thus it provides bothan experienceof, and an entrance to, the historical situation in the North-Westduring the first 60years of white settlement.

Although, in the present work, it has been suggested that Prichard's sketches of natural surroundingsare not entirely authentic in relation to the North-West region, it is conceded that Prichard's intention is literary rather than factualin this particular dimension of the novel. It is acknowledged that descriptions of geographical and environmental featuresin the text provide the appropriate background forthe presentation of the primary industries which developed in the region; which is a central dimension of the text.

Of these primary industries, the most significant and extensivelyrepresented in the novel, is the pastoral industry. The history and development of the region'spastoral industry during the period mid-1860s to late 1920s has beenreconstructed in the thesis in relationto the situations and experiencesof the ownersof the fictional cattle station, Wytaliba. the site of almost all the action of the story.The links betweenWytaliba and

172 the historical Turee Station areexplored in some detail. Th� thesis discussed the

twofoldaspect of the pastoralisationprocess: the foundation,development and

maintenanceof pastoral enterprisesby the white settlers;and the colonisation process

which disruptedAboriginal traditional economic.social and cultural practices. These

aspects of white settlementare discussed in relationto their representationin the novel and historical informationcontained in journals,memoirs and newspapers.

An aspectof the colonisation process which is featuredin Coonardoo, is the sexual exploitation of Aboriginalwomen in the pastoral industry and this has been dealt with in some depth in the thesis: bothin relation to its representation in the novel and as it occurredin the wider historical context. Prichard claimed that: 'Themotive of the book was to draw attention to the abuseof Aboriginalwomen by white men - a subject that demanded immediate attention' (Irwin, 1956,p. 31 ), which could imply that Coonardoo was instrumental in instigating legal protection for Aboriginal women, but such a claim is contravened by evidence taken from the historical situation. From early in the settlement period, legislative measures had sought to address aspects of this particular problem and it was specifically dealt with in the 1905 Aborigines Act. Although, of course, it is acknowledged that legislation was not always effective or upheld. On the other hand, this thesis has shown that social pressures in the white community exercised a certain degree of control in regardto this situation.

Although, in the 'Introduction' to the novel, Prichard made a specific claim to first-hand knowledge of the Aboriginaltraditional forms she describes in Coonardoo, these patterns had disappearedbefore she carried out her fieldwork in the North-West. The

Aboriginal socio-linguistic groups encountered by Prichard in 1926 had long been displaced from their traditional homelands. Neither Prichard nor her white contemporarieswere awareof the significanceof specificstretches of territory to the ritual activity of the Aborigines,the performance of which was essential for maintaining

their links to the Dreamtime. Prichardhad beenprivileged to witness an Aboriginal

173 corroboreebut, possibly, thiswas the extent of her contactwith Aboriginalartistic and ceremonialactivity. ThusAboriginal socio-cultural and religious fonns in thenovel are representedat a fairly superficiallevel. Additionally, thesepractices are onbased the work of the ethnologist-anthropologist,Herbert Basedow, and refer to the customs of Aboriginalsocio-linguistic groups of Central Australia whichare not necessarily relevantto groups associatedwith North-West,Western Australia.

The thesis demonstrated that every intrusionof Europeansinto the North-Westhad a deleterious effect on the Aboriginesof the region. 11teinflux of prospectors and goldminers into the areaplaced a strain on the environmentand on the Aboriginal hunting-gathering economy with consequentdislocation of the indigenous groups. The pearl-shellfishing industry had its own perniciouseffect on the Aborigines.particularly Aboriginal women,when they wereprostituted to the pearlingcrews and a� a result sufferedfrom a numberof contagious diseases. notably, venerealdisease and leprosy.

In the novel, the failureof the Watt pastoral enterprise is doubly disastrousfor the Aboriginesof Wytaliba: they are no longer maintained by the cattle station and they cannot revertto their traditional economic formsas the land has beendestroyed by the pastoralisation process. In symbolicterms, the failuredemonstrates the fateof the Aboriginalpeople in the 'real life'situation: at the end of the story t:1e Aborigineshave vanished from the land.

Greenblatt's premisethat fictionalsimulations provide a greater intensity 'than any other textual traces left by the dead' (Greenblatt, I 988, p. I). has particularsignificance in relation to Coonardooand her circumstances. Her ill-treatmentand rejection by Hugh. her sexual abuse by the pearlersand her lonely death. reachthe emotionsof the reader and have the powerto excite pity for the 'real life' Aboriginalwomen who were exploited by white men. But this is an emotional reaction whichis not unambiguously valuable, as Lyndall Hadow noted:

174 The pictureof Coonardoois flawed. It leads the reader notto an identification with a fellow victim but to pity. This is an emo!ion in us that the Aboriginalwoman needsas little asshe needspatronage, sentimentality, or do-gooding.(Hadow, Tribune, 4 March, 1975).

Perhaps the most startlingrevelation of the present investigation has beenthe dichotomy it revealedbetween the author's stated socialconscience, her supportof the oppressed peopleof her own society,and her failure to offerany solution to the problemof

Aboriginal oppressionand extinction. Aileen Palmer noted in relation to Coonardoo: 'In the tendernessand sympathy of its telling ... the author herself drawsno moral, makes no accusation'. (Palmer, 1958, p. 28). Far from condemning the oppressivesystem in the pastoral industry, which is reflectedin the novel, Prichard's 'Introduction'appears to accept the status quo in relation to the white and Aboriginalrelationships. She stated that 'on isolated stations of the Nor'-West ... they are treatedwith consideration and kindness'. (Prichard, 1929, p.v).

A significant featureof Prichard's text is that it captures the moment of collision between two historical movements: the linear-progressivismof Europeancivilisation and the cyclical-stasism of Aboriginalculture. Europeanculture which valorizes continuous economic development is portrayedin the operationsof the pastoral, goldmining, and pearl-shellfishing industries. Aboriginal socio-culturalpractices which maintain universal forces intact in an eternallyrecurring unalterable system of birth-life-death-rebirthare also represented,although inadequately, in the text. The novel shows quite distinctly that the encounter between these two opposedontologies leads inevitably to the extinction of the system which makes no provision forchange; Aboriginal culture falls to the forcesof Europeanprogressivism. The demise of the Aborigines and their society is conveyed figuratively when in death

175 Coonardoodisappears into the landscape: 'Her annsand legs, falling apart, looked like those blackened and broken sticks beside the fire'. (Prichard, 1929, p. 206).

Finally, referringto the value of Katharine Susannah Prichard'sCoonardoo as a social and a cultural artifact,I should like to make referenceto the view of Prichard's son, Ric

Throssell. In a letter dated 15 October 1996, to the presentwriter, Ric Throssellstated that Coonardoo:

will have in the futurea veryconsiderable effect on Australian social history. Katharine's work is almost always based uponfactual origins, personally researched by K.S.P. herself. She said it was due to her early training as a journalist. (Appendix 3).

Indeed, a number of issues raised in the text of Coonardoo are deservingof further investigation. Of particular interest, is the theme of miscegenation and the inheritance rights of part-Aborigines. The novel provides a useful focus fora specific exploration of sexual relationships betweenwhite men and Aboriginal women in the pastoral and other industries in the text.

An area deserving further investigation by historians is the economic development of pastoral stations in the North-West: from alienation of the land to viable enterprise.

The history of pastoral expansion in the region as well as the history of other industries mentioned in the text, would make useful themes for more specific examination.

176 BIBLIOGRAP HY

1.PRIMARY MATERIA L.

WORKS OF KATHARINE SUSANNAH PRICHARD

(a)Books

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. ( 1926). Working Bullocks. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. (1927a). 'The Cooboo'.In Tribute: selected stories of Katharine Susannah Prichard. (Ric Throssell, Ed.). (1988 edition). (pp. 96- 101). St. Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland Press.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah ( 1927b). 'Happiness'. In Tribute: selected short stories of Katharine Susannah Prichard. (Ric Throssell, Ed.). (1988 edition). (pp. 102- 119). St. Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland Press.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. ( 1929). Coonardoo. ( 1975, A and R Classics edition). NorthRyde. N.S.W.: Angus and Robertson.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. ( 1930). Haxby's Circus. ( 1973, A and R Classics edition). Sydney: Angus and Robertson.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. ( 1940). Brumby Innes. In Katharine Susannah Prichard. Brumby Innes and Bid me to Love. (Katharine Brisbane, Ed.). (1974 edition). (pp. 51-107). Sydney: Currency Press.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. (1963). Child of the Hurricane: an autobiography. ( 1974, A and R Classics edition). Sydney: Angus and Robertson.

(b) Journaland Magazine articles

Pritchard [sic], Kathleen [sic]. (1906,May 6). A city girl in Central Australia.Her adventures and experiencesat 'Back o' Beyond'. New Idea, 1082-1085.

Prichard, Kathleen [sic]. (1906, June 6). A city girl in Central Australia. Her ups and downs at the 'Backo' Beyond'. New Idea. 1182-1185.

Prichard, Kathleen [sic]. (1906,July 6). A city girl in Central Australia. Her ups and downs at the 'Back o' Beyond'. New Idea. 45-48.

177 Prici,ard,Kathleen [sic]. (1906,August 6). A city girl in Central Australia. Her ups and downs at the 'Back o' Beyond. New Idea. 140-143.

Prichard, Kathleen[sic]. (1906,September 6). A city girl in CentralAustralia. Her ups and downs at the 'Backo' Beyond'. New Idea. 251-254.

Prichard,Kathleen [sic]. (1906,October 6). A city girl in CentralAustralia. Her ups and downs at the 'Back o' Beyond. New Idea.355-357.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. ( 1928, September 5). Coonardoo. Bulletin. 53, SS, 57, 61.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. (1928, September12). Coonardoo.Bulletin. 51, 53, SS

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. (1928, September19). Coonardoo.Bulletin. SI, 53, 58.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. (1928, September26). Coonardoo. Bulletin. S l, 53, 58.

Prichard, KatharineSusannah. ( 1928, October 3). Coonardoo.Bulletin. 51, 53, 58.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. (1928, October10). Coonardoo. Bulletin. 51, 53, 58.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. ( 1928, October 17). Coonardoo. Bulletin. 51, 53, 58.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. (1928, October 24). Coonardoo.Bulletin. 39, 45, 50.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. ( 1928, October31. Coonardoo.Bulletin. 51, 53, 58.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. ( 1928, November 7). Coonardoo. Bulletin. 34, 57. 58.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. (1928, November 14). Coonardoo.Bulletin. 34, 57. 58.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. (1928, November 21). Coonardoo. Bulletin. 30, 49. 50.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. (1928, November 28). Coonardoo. Bulletin. 34, 57, 58.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. ( 1928, December 5). Coonardoo. Bulletin. 51, 53.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. ( 1928, December 12). Coonardoo. Bulletin. 51, 53.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. (1936). The land I love. Overland, June, 1958, 12, 26-27. First published in The Home Annual, I October1936.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. (1950). Lawrencein Australia. Meanjin, 11 (4), 252-259.

Prichard, Katharine Susannah. (1968). Some perceptionsand aspirations. Southerly, 28 ( 4), 235-244

178 2. WORKS CONTAININGCOMMENT ABOUT, AND CRITICISM OF, KATHARINE SUSANNAH PRICHARD AND HER WRITING.

(a) Books

Arthur, Kateryna.(1984). Katharine SusannahPrichard and the negative text. In John Hay and BrendaWalker (Eds.). KatharineSusannah Prichard Centenary Essays. (pp. 35-47). Nedlands, W.A.: Universityof WesternAustralia Press.

Beasley,Jack. ( 1993).A gallop offire: Katharine SusannahPrichard: on guard for humanity. Earlwood,N.S.W.: Wedgetail Press.

Bums, D.R. (1975). Thedirections of Australianfiction 1920-1974. North Melbourne: CassellAustralia Limited.

Drake-Brockman, Henrietta (1967). Katharine Susannah Prichard. Melbourne: Oxford UniversityPress.

Green, H.M. (1961). Historyof Australian Literature: /923-/950. Vol 2. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.

Healy, J.J. (1978). Literature and the Aborigine in Australia. (1989 edition). St Lucia, Queensland: Queensland University Press.

Heseltine, Harry. ( 1979). Acquainted with the night: studies in classic Australianfiction. Monograph 4. Townsville, Queensland: The Townsville Foundation for Australian LiteraryStudies.

Hodge, Bob and Mishra, Vijay. (1990).Dark side of the dream: Australian literature and the postcolonial mind. NorthSydney: Allen and Unwin.

Hope,A.D. ( 1974). Native companions: essays and comments on Australian literature /936-/966. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.

Hosking, Sue. ( 1992). Two corroborees: Katharine Susannah Prichard's 'Brumby Innes' and Mudrooroo's'Master of the Ghost Dreaming'.In Myths, heroes and anti­ heroes: essays on the literature and culture of the Asia Pacificregion. (pp. 11- 19). Nedlands, W.A.: The Centre forStudies in Australian Literature,University of Western Australia Press.

Mitchell, Adrian. ( 1981 ). Fiction. In Leonie Kramer (Ed.). The Oxfordhistory of Australian literature. (pp. 116-121). Melbourne: OxfordUniversity Press.

Modjeska, Drusilla.( 1990).Introduction. In Katharine Susannah Prichard. Coonardoo. (1990,Imprint Classics edition). (pp. v-xii). NorthRyde, N.S.W. Collins/Angus and Robertson.

Palmer, Nettie. (1988). Nettie Palmer: her privatejournal 'Fourteen Years', poems, reviews and literaryessays. (Vivian Smith, Ed.). St Lucia, Queensland:

179 QueenslandUniversity Press.

Palmer, Vance.(1948). Louis Esson u.ndthe Australiantheatre. Melbourne: Georgian House.

Throssell,Ric. (1974). Preface.In KatharineSusannah Prichard. BrumbyInnes and Bid me to love. (Katharine Brisbane, Ed.). ( 1974 edition). pp. ix-xviii. Sydney: CurrencyPress.

Throssell,Ric. (1975). Wildweeds and windflowers: the lifeand letters of Katharine Susannah Prichard. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.

Throssell, Ric. (1984b ). Katharine Susannah Prichard: a standard of value. In John Hay and BrendaWalker (Eds.). Katharine Susannah Prichard CentenaryEssays. (pp. 7-12). Nedlands, W.A.: Universityof WesternAustralia Press.

Throssell, Ric.( 1989). My father's son. Richmond, Victoria: Heinemann Australia.

Von Brandenstein, Carl G. (1974). Notes on the Aboriginesin 'BrumbyInnes'. In Katharine Susannah Prichard. Brumby Innes and Bidme to Love. (Katharine Brisbane, Ed.). (1974 edition). (pp. 101-104).Sydney: CurrencyPress.

(b) Articles

Drake-Brockman, Henrietta. (1953). Katharine Susannah Prichard: the colour in her work. Southerly, 4, 214-219.

Hadow, Lyndall, (1975, March, 4). Flawed portraitsof Aboriginalwomen. Tribune.

Hewett, Dorothy. ( 1969-1970, Summer). Excess of love: the irreconcilable in Katharine Susannah Prichard. Overland. 43, 27-31.

Holbom,Muir. (1951, Spring). Katharine Susannah Prichard. Meanjin. 3, 233-240.

Irwin, E.W. (1956, Summer). Australia's Katharine Susannah. New Frontiers, S (2), 29- 32.

Lindsay, Jack. (1961, December).The novels of Katharine Susannah Prichard. Meanjin, 366-387.

Malos, Ellen. ( 1963). Jack Lindsay's essay on Katharine Susannah Prichard's novels. Meanjin Quarterly, 20 (4), 413-416.

Palmer, Aileen. (1958, June). The changing faceof Australia: notes on the creative writing of Katharine Susannah Prichard. Overland, 12, 25-29.

Palmer, Vance. (1959, March14). Katharine Susannah Prichard: her novel on the Aboriginesgreatly shocked Australians. TheAge, 18.

180 Sadleir,Richard. ( 1961). Thewritings of KatharineSusannah Prichard - a critical evaluation. Westerly, (3), 31-35.

Thomas,Tony. ( 1967,December 22). KatharineSusannah Prichard interviewed. The Critic. 55-56.

Throssell,(1984a). Delosof a sun god'srace or Mammon's demesne: Katharine SusannahPrichard's Australia. Kunapipi. 6 (2), 98-104.

Wells, Julie. (1985). Katharine SusannahPrichard: the writer ascommunist activist. MelbourneHistorical Journal. 17, 69-75.

Williams, Joan. ( 1963, September-December).Katharine SusannahPrichard. Our Women, 26-27.

3. OTHER SOURCES

(a) Books

Bain, Mary Albertus.(1982). Full fathomfive. Perth, W.A.: ArtlookBooks.

Bartlett,Nonnan. (1954). The pearl seekers. London: AndrewMelrose.

Basedow, Herbert.(1925). The Australian Aboriginal. Adelaide: F.W. Preeceand Sons.

Bates, Daisy M. (1938). The passing of the Aborigines: a lifetime spent among the natives of Australia. (1952, Australian edition). London: John Murray.

Battye, J.S. ( 1924). WesternAustralia: a historyfrom its discoveryto the inauguration ofthe Commonwealth. (1978, facsimile edition). Nedlands,W.A.: University of Western Australia Press.

Bell, Diane. (1981). Women's business is hard work: Central Australian Aboriginal women's love rituals. In Max Charlesworth,Howard Morphy,Diane Bell, Kenneth Maddock(Eds.). Religion in Aboriginal Australia: an anthology. ( 1984 edition). (pp. 345-369). St Lucia, Queensland: Universityof Queensland Press.

Berndt,Catherine. ( 1979). Aboriginalwomen and the notion of 'the marginal man'. In R.M. Berndt andC.H. Berndt(Eds.). Aborigines of the West: their past andtheir present. (pp. 28-38). Nedlands, W.A.: University of WesternAustralia Pressfor the Education Committee of the 150th AnniversaryCelebrations 1979.

Berndt,R.M. (1979). TraditionalAboriginal life in Western Australia:as it wasand is. In R.M. Berndtand C.H. Berndt(Eds.). Aboriginesof the West: their past and their present. (pp.3-25). Nedlands, W.A.: Universityof WesternAustralia Press forthe Education Committeeof the 150thAnniversary Celebrations 1979.

181 Berndt,R.M. andBerndt, C.H. (1988). Thespeaking land: myth andstory in Aboriginal Australia. Ringwood,Victoria: Penguin BooksAustralia Ltd.

Biskup, Peter.( 1973). Not slavesnot citizens: theAboriginal probkm in Western Australia I 898-1954. St Lucia, Queensland:University of QueenslandPress.

Bligh, A.C.V. (1938). Thegolden quest: the roaringdays of WesternAustralian gold rushesand life in the pearlingindustry. ( 1984, facsimileedition. Victoria Park, W.A.: HesperianPress). Sydney:n.p.

Bolton, GeoffreyC. (1972). A.finecountry to starvein. (1994 edition). Nedlands: University of WesternAustralia Pressin as�ociationwith Edith Cowan University, Churchlands, WesternAustralia.

Bolton. GeoffreyC. (1981). Black and white after 1897. In C.T. Stannage (Ed.). A.new history of WesternAustralia. (pp. 124-178). Nedlands,W.A.: Universityof WesternAustralia Press.

Brown, Peter L. (1972). Coast of coral and pearl. London: RobertHale.

Burges, LockierClere (Snr). ( 1913). Thepioneers of the Nor'-West Australia. Geraldton, W.A.: Constantine and Gardner.

Carly, David. (1886). How native witnesses are treated. In Rev. J.B. Gribble. (1886). Dark deeds in a sunny land, or, blacks and whites in North-WestAustralia. (Republished 1987) (pp. 47-50). Nedlands, W.A.: University of Western Australia Press with WesternAustraJian College of Advanced Education).

Clark, Bryan. (1992). Yammatji:Aboriginal memories of the Gascoyne. Carlisle, W.A.: HesperianPress.

Davidson, W.S. (1978). Havens of Refuge: a historyof leprosyin WesternAustralia. Nedlands, W.A.: University of WesternAustraJia Press.

De La Rue, Kathy. (1979). Pearl shell and pastures: the story of Cossack and Roebourne, and their place in the history of the North West fromthe earliest explorations to 1910. Cossack, W.A.: Cossack Project Committee(Inc.).

Drake-Brockman,Henrietta. (1953). Aboutthese stories. [Introduction].In K. Langloh Parker, Australian legendarytales.(pp. v-ix). Sydney: Angus and Robertson.

Durack, Mary.( t 969). The rock and the sand. London: Constable.

Green,Neville. (1981). Aboriginesand white settlers in the nineteenth century.In. C.T. Stannage. (Ed.). A new historyof WesternAustralia. (pp. 72-123). Nedlands, W.A.: Universityof Western AustraliaPress.

Greenblatt, Stephen.( 1988). Shakespearian negotiations: the circulationof social energyin RenaissanceEngland. Berkeley: Universityof CaliforniaPress.

182 Greenblatt.Stephen. (1989). Towardsa poeticsof culture.In H. Aram Veeser(Ed.). TM New Historicism. (pp.1-14). New York: Routledge.

Gregory,A.C. andGregory, F.T. (1884). Journalsof AustralianExplorations. (1981, facsimileedition. Victoria Park, W.A.: HesperianPress). Brisbane: James C. Beal, GovernmentPrinter.

Gribble, Rev. J.B. (1886). Darkdeeds in a sunny land, or, blacksand whites inNorth­ West Australia. (Republished 1987). Nedlands, W.A.: Universityof Western Australia Presswith WesternAustralian College of AdvancedEducation).

Gunning, F.W. (1952). Lure of the north: seventyyears' memoirs of George Joseph Gooch andhis pioneer friendsof WesternAustralia. Perth,W.A.: West Australian Newspapers.

Hamilton, Annette. ( 1981). A complex strategicalsituation: gender and powerin AboriginalAustralia. In NormaGrieve and Patricia Grimshaw (Eds.). Australian women: feminist perspectives. (pp. 69-83). Melbourne: OxfordUniversity Press.

Hammond, J.E. (1936). Western pioneers: the battle wellfought. (1980, facsimile edition. Victoria Park, W.A.: HesperianPress). Perth, W.A.: ImperialPrinting Company, Limited.

Hardie, Jenny. ( 1981). Nor' Westers of the Pilbara breed. PortHedland, W .A.: Shire of PortHedland.

Hasluck, P.M.C. (1942). Black Australians: a survey of native policyin Western Australia, 1829-1897. (1970, second edition). Carlton, Victoria: Melbourne University Press.

Hooper,Jean. (1987). Youanmi: a storyof Murchison gold. Carlisle, W.A.: Hesperian Press.

Hunt, Susan. (1986). Spinifexand hessian: women's lives in North-WesternAustralia /860-1900. Nedlands, W.A.: University of WesternAustralia Press.

Jacobs, Pat. (1990).Mister Neville: a biography. Fremantle,W.A.: FremantleArts CentrePress.

Jakobson, Roman. (1987). Language in literature. (KrystynaPomorska and Stephen Rudy, Eds.). Cambridge, Mass: The Belknap Pressof HarvardUniversity Press.

Jarvis, Neil. ( 1979). (Ed.). WesternAustralia: an atlasof human endeavour. Perth, W.A.: Education Committee,WAY '79. Producedby Education Departmentand Lands and SurveysDepartment of WesternAustralia.

Kimberly, W.B. (1897). Historyof West Australia: a narrative of her past; together with biographiesof her leadingmen. Melbourneand Ballarat, Victoria: F. W. 183 Niven&Co.

Lambert.Johanna. (1993). (Ed.). Wisewomen of the Dreamtime:Aboriginal tales of the ancestralpowers/collected by K. LanglohParker. Rochester, Vennont: Inner Traditions International.

Lester,J. Yami. (1981). Pages froman Aboriginalbook: history and land. In Aborigines and schooling: essays inhonour of MaxHart. (pp. 21-30). Adelaide: Adelaide College of Artsand Education.

Loney, Jack. (1986). Australia'sshipwreck coast and other stories. n.p.

Macdonald, Alexander.( 1907). Jn the land of pearl and gold: a pioneer's wanderingsin the back-blocksand pearling grounds ofAustralia and New Guinea. London: T. Fisher Unwin.

McGrath, Ann. ( 1980). 'Spinifex fairies': Aboriginalworkers in the NorthernTerritory, 1911-39. In ElizabethWindschuttle (Ed.). Women, class andhistory. (pp. 237- 267). Auckland, N.Z.: Fontana.

Mason, H.G.B. ( 1909).Darkest West Australia: a treatise bearingon the habits and customs of the Aborigines and solution of 'the native question': a guide to outback settlers. (1980, facsimileedition, Victoria Park, W.A.: HesperianPress). Kalgoorlie,W.A.: Hockingand Company.

Montrose,Louis A. (1989). Professingthe Renaissance: the poeticsand politicsof culture.In H. Aram Veeser (Ed.). TheNew Historicism. (pp. 15-36). New York: Routledge.

Morrow,E. ( 1937). The law provides. London: HerbertJenkins.

Owen, W.L. Lambden.(1933). Cossack gold: the chronicles of an early Gold.fields Warden. (1984, facsimileedition. Victoria Park, W.A.: HesperianPress). Sydney: Angus and Robertson.

Parker, K. Langloh. ( 1953). Australian legendarytales. (Henrietta Drake-Brockman, Ed.). Sydney: Angus and Robertson.

Porteus,Stanley D. (1931 ). The psychology of a primitive people: a study of the Australian Aborigine. Freeport,New York: Booksfor Libraries Press.

Richrdson, A.R. ( 1909;1914). Early memories of the great Nor-West and a chapter in the history of WesternAustralia. Perth,W.A.: E.S. Wigg and Son Ltd.

Reilly, J.T. (1903).Reminiscences of.fiftyyears residencein WesternAustralia. Perth, W.A.: Sands and McDougall.

Rowley, C.D. ( 1970). Thedestruction of Aboriginal society:Aboriginal policyand practice. vol 1. Canberra:Australian National University Press.

184 Salter, Elizabeth. 1971( ). DaisyBates: the great white queenof the Never Never. London: Angus and Robertson.

Schaffer,Kay. ( 1988). Women and the bush: forces of desire in the Australiancultural tradition. Melbourne:Cambridge UniversityPress.

Sheridan,Susan. (1988). Women writers.In LaurieHergenhan (Ed.). ThePenguin new literaryhistory of Australia. (pp. 319-336). Ringwood,Victoria: Penguin Books.

Stannage, C.T. (1979). Thepeople of Perth: a socialhistory of WesternAustralia's capital city. Perth,W.A.: PerthCity Council.

Streeter,Edwin W. (1886). Pearlsand pearling life. London: George Bell and Sons.

Taunton, Henry.( 1903).Australind: wanderings in WesternAustralia and the Malay East. London: Arnold.

Taylor, Nancy E. Withnell. (1980). Yeera-Muk-A-Doo: a social historyof the settlement of North-West Australia toldthrough the Withnell and Hancock families /86/ to /890. Fremantle, W.A.: Fremantle ArtsCentre Press.

Tindale, NonnanB. (1974). Aboriginal tribes of Australia: their terrain, environmental controls, distribution, limits and proper names. Berkeley: University of CaliforniaPress.

Tonkinson, R. ( 1974). Aboriginal victors of the desert crusade. Menlo Park, Californ�a: The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company.

Tonkinson, Bob. (1987). Introduction.In Rev J.B. Gribble Dark deedsin a sunny land, or, blacks and whites in North-West Australia. (Republished 1987). (pp. xi-xvii). Nedlands, W.A.: University of WesternAustralia Presswith WesternAustralian College of Advanced Education.

Veeser, H. Aram. (1989) Introduction. InH. Aram Veeser (Ed.). New Historicism. (pp. ix-xvi). New York: Routledge.

Watson, E.L. Grant. ( 1918). Where bonds are loosed. New York: AlfredA. Knopf.

Withnell, John G. ( 190I). Thecustoms and traditions of the Aboriginal natives of North WesternAustralia. (1965, Australian facsimileeditions). Adelaide: Libraries Board of South Australia.

185 (b) Articles

Angelo, A.C. (1948).Kimberleys and NorthWest goldfields.Early Days, 3 (10). 38-45

Bates, Daisy. (1905). The marriagelaws and some customs of the WesternAustralian Aborigines.Royal Geographical Societyof Australasia, Victoria Branch, Journal. 23. 36-60.

Cammilleri, Cara.( 1971 ). Walter Padbury (1820-1907): Pioneer pastoralist,merchant and philanthropist. Early Days, 1 (3). 51-64.

Cammilleri, F.W.P. (1966).Experiences on the North-Westgoldfields: 1888-92. Early Days, 6 (5), 53-64.

Forrest,John. ( 1891). The marriagelaws of the Aboriginesof North-WesternAustralia. Reportof Meeting of the AustralasianAssociation for Advancement of Science. vol 2. 653-654.

Honniball, J.H.M. (1975). E.H. Laurence,Stipendiary Magistrate. EarlyDays, 1 (7), 7-24.

Jebb, Mary Anne. (1984). The lockhospitals experiment:Europeans, Aborigines and venerealdisease. European-Aboriginal Relations in WesternAustralian History. 8, 68-87.

Miller, J. Hillis. (1987). The triumph of theory,the resistance to reading, and the question of the material base. PresidentialAddress 1986.Proceedings of the Modem LanguageAssociation 1987. 102, 281-291.

Smoje, Neven. (1978). Shipwrecked on the North-West coast: the ordeal of the survivors of the Stefano. Early Days, 8 (2) 35-47.

Tonkinson, Myrna. (1988). Sisterhoodor Aboriginalservitude? Black women and white women on the Australian frontier. Aboriginal History, 12 (I) 27-39.

Von Brandenstein, Carl G. (1969). Tabi songs of the Aborigines. Hemisphere, 13 (11), 28-31.

(c) Thesesand unpublishedconference papers

Anderson, Lois P. (1978). Therole of Aboriginal and Asian labour in the origin and development of the pearling industryBroome, WesternAustralia 1862-1940. Unpublished B.A. Hons. dissertation,Murdoch University, Perth. W.A.

Jones, Gail. (1994). Mimesis and alterity:postcolonialism, e!hnography andthe representation of racial 'otherness'.Unpublished doctoraldissertation, Universityof WesternAustralia. Perth,W.A.

186 Shepherd, BrianW. (1975). A historyof the pearlingindustry of/the North-West coast ofAustralia from its originsuntil 1916. Unpublished M.A. dissertation, Universityof Western Australia,Perth, W.A.

Sturkey, R.D. (1957). Growthof the pastoral industryin the North West 1862-1901. Unpublished B.A. Hons. dissertation,University of WesternAustralia, Perth, W.A.

Iseman,Kay. ( 1980). Katharine Susannah Prichard: Coonardoo and the Aboriginal presence in Australian.fiction. Paperpresented at the Second Women and LabourConference, Department of History,La TrobeUniversity, Bundoora, Victoria.

(d) Encyclopaediasand Dictionaries

Australian dictionaryof biography: /891-1939. (1979). (Bede Nairnand Geoffrey Serie, Eds.). vol. 7. pp. 202-203. Carlton, Victoria: MelbourneUniversity Press.

Berndt, R.M. (1975). Australian Aboriginalcultures. Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. 2. pp. 424-430.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, (1975). vol. ill.

Bicentennial Dictionaryof WesternAustralians pre-1823-/888. (1988). Nedlands, W.A. University of Western Australia Press.

(e) OfficialPublications

ForrestCommission Report1884. Reportof a commission appointedby His Excellency the Governorto inquire into the treatment of Aboriginalnative prisonersof the Crown in this colony: and also into certain other mattersrelative to Aboriginal natives. WesternAustralia Votes and Proceedings of Parliament, 1884, No. 32. Also Supplement to GovernmentGazette of WesternAustralia, 2 October1884, (pp. 519-34).

Royal Commission on the condition of natives: Reportand Recommendations. W.E. Roth. WesternAustralia Votes and Proceedings of Parliament, 1905, vol. I . PaperNo. 5. (pp. 521-639).

WesternAustralian Statistical Register 1923-24.

WesternAustralian Blue Books. 1862, 1863, 1864,1865, 1866.

187 (f) Newspapen.

Inquirerand Commercial News, Perth,W.A.

Times, London.

(g) Maps.

Departmentof LandAdministration, WesternAustralia.

188- APPENDIXI

TELEPHONEINTERVIEW WITH DR RICHARD JAMESMAGUIRE

June 1996

Telephone conversation with Dr. Richard JamesMaguire , son of JosephJames Maguire of TureeStation.

DrMaguire confinnsthat he was about7 yearsold and had beenon Turee Station during Katharine Susannah Prichard's visit there.

Was Mrs Doris Maguire the friendwho toldPrichard the storyof the c,bandoned Aboriginal baby?

'I know nothing aboutthat. It wasn·� Topsy because she kept all her children.

The childrenof Topsy and Duck were: daughters. Coobooand Coomby; and sons. Jerry andMoonga.'

DidPrichard and Mrs Maguire kt1ep in touch afterPrichard's visit to Turee Station?

'Yes, they kept in touch for many years. I stayed at Greenmountthree or fourtimes. I spent many weeks at Greenmount when I was 14 or 15 years old.

'I remember Hugo Throssell. He was larger than life - a real man. Or so it seemedto me: I was only 8, 9, or I O at the tim :. He showed me all sorts of guns, militaryguns and medals. I remember being sho vn pistols that he had brought home fromthe war. He taught me to play billiards.'

Can you tell me anything of the historyofTuree Station?

'My fathercame fromQ ueensland, fromthe Toowoomba area, I think. He went to the Kalgoorliearea. Like all the young men of the time, he was seekinga fortune in gold; but he gave up after a couple of weeks.

Then he moved north to the 'backend'. He worked aroundMeekathara, and the Gascoyne,finishing up in the Rocklea area. He had a very small block, aftera couple of years he met up with a young chap, Piesse,who had a patch next to him and they made an agreementto join forces. This was about 1905/�.They never ever had a fonnal agreementand they never ever had an argument. Piesse went to World WarI l ut my father decidedto stay in the areaof thepresent Turee Creekstation.

'AfterWorld War I. Piessedecided not go backto the areabut stayed in the Guildford region and had a flowerfarm.

189 'But they remainedin partnership for manyyears, although there was never a fonnal agreement.'

How didthey acquire their initialstoc/cfor the station?

'Well, they boughta few, they workedfor a few, and somewere given them, andothers they foundwandering about.

'There wereno formal agreementsuntil 1913-14. Thefirst lot of figuresshow there wereabout 1300-1400 head of cattle by 1913.

'My father and Piessestarted atthe bottom end of the runin the Rockleaarea and they gradually worked theirway along the Ashburton and TureeCreek. They had a groupof nati·,es working forthem and in their transmission fromthe west end of the station they brought the various groups with them who werecamped in the area. Eventually they all becamepart of the station; living on the banks of the C!'CP.k.There were about40 or fifty of them and, ultimately, 60 including pensioners.'

Were there any traditional lnawongga or Ngarlawongga living on the station land when the Leaseswere first takenup?

'I doubt very much that natives were living there at all.

There were no natives who had been born and bred on the station. There may have been Aborigines in their early teens or children of the early arrivals who might cJaim such a relationship.'

Didyou knowthe names 'lnawongga', or 'Ngarlawongga' the traditional groups of the Turee area. Were there any lnawonggas or Ngarlawonggas on the station in 1926?

'I don't recall the names. But it was a long time ago.

The natives did not constitute a 'tribe'but for about fifty miles they were of the same general pattern.

'On the station there were about 40 or 50 Aborigines and ultimately about 60 including pensioners, etc. Just after the war, in about the 1960s, something dramatic happened which cleared the Aboriginesoff the land. I can't recall what it was - someone blew a whistle and they went on strike or were sacked and everything changed. Not all at once but gradually they went on down - to drink, etc.'

[There were no natives on Turee since about 1960s].

DidPrichard witness any traditional Aboriginal customs while she wason the station?

'My father asked the official boss,Duck and the High lady, Top!,}', to tum on a corroborreeon oneevening for Mrs Throssell. 1be mencame up and trampedup and down. Showed her how the kangaroos jumpedaround. She would have been shown some of therituals.

190 'Partof thetime the Aboriginesheld 'Pink-eye'at a campon the riverabout 30 to 40 miles away wherethey earnedout their tribal arrangements; to which theyinvite their neighbours.But notinitiations anymore: not that I knew about.'

With regard to the prototypeof Coonardoo: couldshe have been Topsy, whose tribal name was 'Kundri' andwho was the wifeof Duck?

'I always thought Topsy wasthe heroine. I've no proof.I just assumedso asshe is like Topsy. Notof course, in the lastpart.

Topsy wasvery kind. She lookedafter me. She was the High Lady of the tribe. Duck was boss of the place. He tookover when the old fellows gave up traditional work.'

Was she the same Topsywho went with her husband and baby on holidayto Queensland with .J. Brown the Manager in 1923? Was this an indicationof the family's affection for the Aboriginal couple? Was it a holidayor had the Aborigines been takenalong to do the cooking?

'It was a holiday. They werecivilised and at home with whites - within reason.

'I went on the holiday. We went by train.

'I doubt if she did any cookingon the homestead. She cookedon camp on fires - she could brew salt meat - but the white women did most of the cooking at the homestead.'

Coonardoo is portrayed as excessively shy and almost inartir:ulate. Wouldthis have been the case with Topsy?

No: novelist's licence.

'I was 3 or 4 when we went across to Brisbane- Topsy had two children. She was in her late 20s or early 30s.' ls it possible Duck was the model/or Coonardoo's husband, Warieda?

'I don't know.'

Were there any white stockmenon Turee Station?

There was Paul O'Brien who was a half-caste.There was always one or two white men. Father was boss of the camp. Whites were put in charge of camps. They werenot the best workers but had the authority of being white.'

Was it usual :o usethe term'gin'for Aboriginal women at that time?Did it cause any resentmentfrom the Aborigines?

'Gin wasthe usual term.I don'tthink theywould be insultedor anythingof that fashion. Therewas nothing insulting aboutit: theterms for Aboriginal malewas 'man' -Gin and

191 Man.

TheAborigines at thattime wanted to do theirjobs about the station. Ifany of the younger mendidn't wantto workthey would besent off. Not immediately.they tended to besent to Duck firstand he would have a wordwith them- no-onegot thrashed.

Theywere established on the station: Tumbler, wandereddown andround the Murchisonand backup to Turee. He marriedKubu, Topsy's daughter.'

DidPrichard go on a ten-daymustt;- with the men of the stationas she claimedshe would?

'I doubt a ten-day trip. Might be acouple of days but not morethan aboutten miles.'

Couldyou tell me something about BrumbyLeake?

'BrumbyLeake was a professional'borrower'. He was verygood-hearted and if someone fell down, he'd tell them they werea 'bloodyfool' and pull them up without saying anything more aboutit. He lived with the natives. He might have had native blood himself.BrJmby waspart of the folklore.He was an old villain - illiterate. He brought his mail over to fatherfor him to read and tell him what to do. Brumbywas in the area and surviveda long time after Prichard was there.'

Does the Maguire family still own Turee Creek Station?

'We own about640 acres. We still lease about900,000 acres. It is managed by my younger son.'

Did Peter Bondini of Prairie Downs take over Turee Station?

'No just one block.It was about50-60,000 acres. It was not developedin any way and therewas no pointin paying the annual rent. It shareda boundarywith Prairie Downs and when Peter Bondini asked if he could have it, I said "Yes".'

What was your opinion of 'Coonardoo' when you read it?

'I am surea lot of it was invention. It was more what the situation hopefullyshould be than what it was.

The situation on TureeStation was the ordinary patternof peopleat that particular time.'

192 APPENDIX2

DEPARTMENTOF ABORIGINALAFFAIRS

EXTRACTFROM LE'ITER

DATED 23May 1995

Ref: 91002

I enclosea copy of 2 maps, one producedby Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centreand the other by NormanTindale. It must be notedthat manyof the boundariesand names on this latter map may beunreliable.

As faras Iknow, the Yinhawangka (lnawongga) and Ngarla (Ngarlawongga) i;ocio­ linguistic groups traditionallyoccupied the TureeCreek area. However, as you can see, there is a very large areanorth and west of TureeCreekwhich also fits your description of "betweenthe Fortescueand AshburtonRivers". The mention of ranges implies an inland area.

Groups which occupied the area immediately south of the Fortescueinclude the Marduthunira(Mardudunera), whose name refersto the Fortescue'slower reaches. The Marduthunira occupiedmuch of the RobeRiver and were probably 'lowland' people,the Western edge of the Hamersley Ranges being the territoryof the Kurrama(Gurama), whosecountry also falls into your area. On Tindale's map the group'Jadira' may referto a sub-group of the Marduthunira.

Further upstream the Fortescue falls into Yindjibamdi (lndjibandi) territory, generally defined as the tablelands of the Chichester Ranges. The northeastern part of the Hamersley Range is spokenfor by the Banjima (Pandjima) group.

North of and along the Ashburton, groups include the Nhuwala (Noala), Thalanyji (Talandj:), Pinikura (Binigura), Thiinpa (Tenma) and Jurrurru (Tjururu) groups,with the Yinhawangka & Ngarlaat the river's upperreaches. Apartfrom the Thalanyji, Yinhawangka and Ngarla, there are now fewif any speakersof these languages, and details are verydifficult to obtain.

Members of the groups mentionednow live mainly in Roebourneand Onslow, although thereare somecommunities in the homelands.

Signed: Diana MacCallum Assistant Heritage Officer NorthernSub Regional Office

193 APPENDIX3 RICTBR�ELL EXTRACTFROM LE'ITER

DATED15Cl'OBER1996

It is true that Katharine had extensive personalknowledge of the regionand that she may well have drawn on the notes abouther earlier experiencerecorded in her notebooksand that veryearly series of stories abouther days as aGoverness in the outback. Her notebookswere very often the sourceof material usedvery much later. You will findreferences to Working Bu�'ocks'in 'Black Opal' forexample.

'Topsy'was indeed the modelfor much of the characterisationof Coonardoo. Thereare photographs of her in the redalbums annotated in Katharine's writing 'A girl like Coonardoo'.And she says in the introductionthat Coonardoowas a woman she knew - 'except in the end' which was someone else'sstory. Most fictionalcharacters, hersand mine, are based upona numberof real people, with a bit of imagined invention. It is a writer's devisethat is very oftenmisunderstood by those who finda point of identificationin a novel and take it that the whole fictionalcharacter is basedupon one live model.

'Haxby's Circus'(Fays Circus, she called it) was postponed, not 'abandoned' for 'Coonardoo',of course. It is still in print and wasadapted as a stage play by the South Australian theatre company at the end of last year. The firstact triumphantly, the second rather less successful.

I agree with your analysis of 'Coonardoo' as a work of fiction- but it had, and will have in the futurea very considerable effecton Australian socialhistory, Katharine's work is almost always based uponfactual origins, personallyresearched by K.S.P. herself.She said it was due to her early training as ajournalist.

Signed: Ric Throssell.

194