The month of March brought another six China ships with a total of 3,079 Chinese disembarking at Port Robe. On Wednesday 18-March-1857 a British ship, the “William Miles’ arrived with 694 Chinese passengers on board. The crew on the William Miles were so callous and brutal towards the Chinese that Harry had to contact Sergeant Woodbine about the matter. Sergeant Woodbine took troopers Pickering and Adcock with him and was rowed out to the William Miles.
After conducting an investigation, four sailors were arrested and locked up in the cells at the Police Barracks. Two days later they were arraigned in court before Judge Gerald Fosdyke-Smith. After hearing Sergeant Woodbine’s case against the four sailors, he called for witnesses. The witnesses confirmed the callous acts of brutality against the Chinese; who had not provoked the sailors in any way.
Judge Fosdyke-Smith found the men guilty.
“I find the four of you guilty of brutal acts of violence against these poor, unoffending creatures. You will each pay a fine of £5. Failure to pay the fine before your ship leaves port will mean a prison sentence. Do you understand?”
Each man nodded in agreement. They left the court house in a subdued fashion. They now needed to part with £5 of their hard earned money. A hard lesson indeed; but the alternative was a prison sentence!
The numbers in the Chinese camps steadily increased. Larger groups of Chinese moved out to trek to the goldfields. The month of April brought a total of nine ships to Port Robe with 4,350 Chinese disembarking. At one stage there were about 3,000 Chinese camped on the outskirts of Robe. This amount of Chinese caused anxiety in Robe Town.
Harry had good reason to be concerned. On one occasion a large parcel of opium belonging to a group of Chinese was impounded because they refused to pay the 5% levy. The parcel of opium was taken to the Bond Store in Smillie Street; and locked away until the levy was paid. During the night the owners of the opium broke in and regained possession.
Harry brought the matter to Captain Blakely’s attention. After consultation with Sergeant Woodbine an urgent request was sent to Adelaide for soldiers to help keep order. A sudden uprising of 3,000 Chinese was a fearful prospect! Lieutenant Burrows and a detachment of 25 Red Coat soldiers from the 12th Regiment, with their horses, were despatched to Robe on a coastal steamer. The horses were stabled at the Police barracks. The soldiers took over guard duties at the Chinese camp and also patrolled the town. Sergeant Woodbine was grateful to Lieutenant Burrows. He could now concentrate his efforts on normal police work.
On another occasion Harry was on one of the jetties. A Chinaman refused to pay the 5% levy on his opium. When Harry insisted, the Chinaman pulled out a knife and threatened Harry.
Harry not relishing the thought of a knife between his ribs reacted instinctively. He swung a punch to the man’s head connecting just below his ear. The blow knocked the Chinaman off the jetty and into the water. A wet and very subdued Chinaman handed over the levy on his opium.
Harry and his men worked extremely long hours processing all these arrivals. Monday 27-April-1857 topped it all off. Three tall ships arrived that day with a total of 1,418 Chinese immigrants.
An American ship the ‘Queen of the Seas’ captained by Captain Cobb had 609 Chinese on board. Then a Dutch ship the ‘Almonde’ captained by Captain Surie arrived with 309 Chinese on board. The local boat men were kept very busy ferrying Chinese from the two ships.
The third ship was a different scenario. The Master of the ‘Sultana’ a British ship did not wait for the Pilot vessel, but recklessly took his ship over the reef at Cape Lannes on the approach to Port Robe. The vessel struck rocks heavily and sprang a leak. The Master feared the ship would go down in deep water. He deliberately ran her aground on rocks at the base of Cape Dombey.
Harry and his men had to leave what they were doing and mount an immediate rescue operation. The Sultana was under the command of the First Mate a man named Garrett. The Captain had apparently died at sea. On board were 400 Chinese, plus a crew of 18. The location of the Sultana made the rescue more hazardous. The area at the base of Cape Dombey was rocky with little in the way of sandy coves to land the people on. Fortunately the weather was fine and the sea normal. The Sea Spray, the Osprey and the Cormorant were immediately sent to the Sultana’s aid.
Harry gave the order. ”Save the people first; the ship might break up at any time.”
The rescue operation swung into action. Getting the Chinese off the Sultana was a long slow process. Boats normally did not come into this area; it was too hazardous. Care and precision was needed to steer the rescue craft around rocks on the way to the shore. Waves threatened to push the vessels on to these rocks.
Harry was angry and perplexed at the action of the Master of the Sultana. ‘What in heaven’s name possessed him to come in so close to shore; in an obviously dangerous area for shipping? Surely, he could see ‘Doorway Rock’ and the treacherous coastline around it?’ He shook his head at the man’s stupidity.
Upon landing, the Chinese and the crew of the Sultana had to scramble up the rocky shoreline to higher ground. The area lay away from the township in a westerly direction. There were no roads in this area. The rescued made their way through the coastal scrub to the track leading to the Obelisk on top of Cape Dombey. The Obelisk painted in red and white horizontal bands could be seen 20 miles out to sea on a fine day. The rescued folk followed the track into the township.
Harry was relieved when all the passengers and crew were safely ashore. Some had minor injuries sustained from the two impacts; either the initial running into rocks or the deliberate running aground. No attempts were made to salvage baggage or cargo at this stage. Harry was dubious about First Mate Garrett’s story. He was evasive and vague; particularly about the circumstances of the Captain’s death. Although Harry could not prove anything; he felt that Garrett was not telling the truth, or covering something up.
The next day another ship the ‘Jacob Cats’ under the command of Captain Vander Windt arrived with 440 Chinese on board. Harry had no time to follow up his suspicions about the Sultana running aground. He and his men were literally run off their feet.
There was no let up in May; as more China ships arrived at Port Robe. On Saturday, 2-May-1857 an American ship the ‘Eagle Wing’ captained by Captain Waters arrived with 576 Chinese passengers. On Monday, 4-May-1857 a British ship the ‘Kensington’ under the command of Captain King arrived in Port Robe with 449 Chinese passengers.
Harry and his men fitted this into their demanding schedules. Harry in his capacity as Receiver of Wrecks found time to organise the sale of salvaged items from the wrecked Sultana. The sale was held where the ship was wrecked; at the base of Cape Dombey.
Wreckage from the Phaeton could still be seen strewn along Long Beach. Port Robe was a dismal sight to onlookers. It did not give a good impression to the crews of arriving ships. Two shipwrecks within a couple of months of each other was not a good record to hold. Ships’ captains were eager to move on.
Some ships were bound for Melbourne to finish offloading passengers and cargo. Other ships’ captains were looking for export cargoes for their return journeys.
Harry wondered, ‘When is this going to end?’ So far 23 China ships had sailed into Port Robe to offload Chinese going to the Victorian goldfields. The demands on his time and resources were wearing him down. He hardly saw Amanda and the children.
Amanda Medcroft took it philosophically. It was Harry’s job and it had to be done. Her mother always used to say, “A man can’t argue with his bread and butter.” She wished she could see more of Harry at home. It was a stressful time for their family. Thankfully she had Annie to keep things on an even keel. There was a respite of two weeks before the next China ship arrived on Monday, 18-May-1857.
Harry was able to spend a bit of time with his family. Two British ships arrived on Thursday, 21-May-1857 with an aggregate total of 1,018 Chinese passengers. Another busy month!
News filtered through from the Victorian goldfields that th
e European miners had rioted. They had become increasingly angry at the amount of Chinese miners on the goldfields. The local constabulary had problems dispersing the angry mobs.
The Government of the Colony of Victoria expressed its disapproval to South Australia and New South Wales for letting the Chinese enter Victoria across their borders.
As the month of May progressed the weather turned colder. Showers of rain and wind squalls became more prevalent. The annual winter rains had started early this year. A lot of low lying ground around Robe Town was marshy in winter and the water did not drain away. Most of the low land in the Guichen Bay district was in a similar condition. Travel during winter meant staying wherever possible on higher ground. Local bullockies fitted their drays with floats above the axles; and had drain holes in the floor of the drays.
There were lots of creeks and causeways to cross on the way to the goldfields. In summer they were usually dry; but in winter they were full of water, fed by the constant showers of rain. These conditions could add another two weeks to travel itineraries.
Rumours abounded that the South Australian Parliament was considering a similar poll tax to the Victorian poll tax. The constant stream of China ships eased up during the month of June. This was also due in part to the start of the hurricane season in the Northern Hemisphere. It was a dangerous time to be sailing south to Australia.
Harry heard some interesting news that the 1st Mate of the Sultana was reportedly living the ‘high’ life in Melbourne. Where did his sudden fortune come from? Harry was suspicious that Garratt had been paid to deliberately run the Sultana aground and wreck her. The death of her Captain was also very suspicious. However there was no conclusive proof to be found.