Thursday, March 26, 2015

STRANGE STORY FROM A FORGOTTEN WRITER OF THE OUTBACK

 
Wormed ,faded, bumped, foxed , gored by a bull? , this unusual 1925  novel  Murty Brown ,  written   by  Edward Sylvester  Sorenson ,  illustrated  by  Percy Lindsay , was  unearthed  at  a North  Queensland  book  fair  and is an example  of  the kind of offbeat  items  this  blog  likes...rudely  described  by  an  antique dealer  as “ poop.”

Despite that unkind assessment , researching  purchases  such  as  this  keeps  you  off  the streets . Often it reveals  quaint , informative  and  reprehensible attitudes in  early Australia...in  this case giving opium  to Aborigines  as payment  for  a scheme to get rich killing and skinning   wallabies   in  Queensland . 

Author  Sorenson ( 1869-1939 ), was  born  in the  small town of Dryaaba, near Casino , in the northern  rivers  region of   NSW.   He   left school  aged  14, prospected for gold in Queensland and worked on sheep stations ; after numerous jobs  in South Australia , Victoria and  NSW, he settled in Sydney and took up a course to become a writer, drawing on his  wide experiences in the bush , resulting in  several books , ballads , poems  and  other  works , likened to   Henry Lawson and Steele Rudd  . His urge to write was  encouraged by one of the  founders of  The Bulletin , J. F. Archibald , and he became one of  the  most  prolific  writers about the Australian  bush . 
 
Sorenson's   wife , Alice ,  a widow when he married her , was the daughter of a bush worker on big pastoral runs  and was  said to be  welcoming to  any visitor  from  North Queensland .

Seemingly showing  elements of  Mark Twain’s adventures of  Tom Sawyer and  Huckleberry Finn, the rollicking  novel opens  with an account of  a  man  who transports   cedar logs  on  a raft down the Richmond River  ;  Murty Brown and  knock about mates enter  the scene , he , it is revealed ,  has  a  map for   a mysterious  island  in a  lake on which some documents of importance are buried , location unsure ,that could make Murty  rich. 

In  the travels, a ragtag  army of men  is encountered  , armed with an array of weapons-breech loaders, muzzle loaders , pistols, revolvers , pea rifles , muskets , blunderbusses and  tomahawks , spears and  boomerangs - led  by  an Aborigine , Saucepan , in  top hat and  frock coat ,  under the command of  Dick Daghorn.
 
Called the  Flying  Fox  Extermination Society,  the "regiment"  included a  barefooted  bugle boy  armed  with a  catapult, his musical instrument made  from  a  polished  cow horn.
   
The intention  is  to slaughter  as  many unsuspecting   flying  foxes  as possible in a colony of some 40,000 .The actual killing of the bats is described in gleefull  detail, there being talk of wounded and flapping foxes  being  clubbed with waddy and  gun . In the “battle”, some of the  army were  injured.

In a later  chapter  headed: "THE QUEENSLAND MARSUPIAL COMPANY”, it tells how Murty and others get  involved in the   get rich scheme involving  paying Aborigines with  opium bought from a Chinaman  to hunt and skin wallabies. The person who puts forward the scheme  to Murty turns out to be a conman and stated that “blacks” will do anything   for opium.

Wandering about the outback , Murty eventually  receives information  which seems to indicate the place he is searching for  is Koponey’s Island, where a  valuable cargo was  reputedly  hidden by  Koponey (a play on American gangster  Al Capone ?)  when he was dodging police.   

On the island  the search for the cache proceeds but Murty and  a mate are  chased  by a scrub bull they nicknamed Pugnacity, see mutilated illustration  below, eventually  killed with a hatchet. Needless to say, no hidden  trove  is found . 

However there is a subsequent twist involving a Chinaman with much gold ,  becoming sick,  floating down the river on a raft of logs, his gold and bones buried  on...Koponey's  Island .  Murty, 47 ,  and  others   retrieve the gold and the  bones of  the Chinaman, troopers step in  and  there is  a court  case in Toowoomba , Queensland , which collapses.   Murty, as sentimental as an axe handle ,  somehow  ends  up with a reward  and   the  wherewithal  to  have his  own   homestead.  
 
In  several  places throughout the book appears the name D.J.Cracknell of “Monzone”, 97 Willison  Road, Carlton, Sydney,  a builder , awarded NSW government  contracts in the l930s for a new pathology building at the Coast Hospital and alterations  and renovations to Primrose House, the St. George  District Hospital convalescent  home . His wife , nee Minnie Munds, gave birth to a daughter  at their residence on March 4,1914.  It may be an extreme  flight of fantasy  to suggest  that  mention of  the Muddle family ,with two daughters , on the Richmond  River , in  the book  in some way  could be  linked with  Minnie Munds . Murty  Brown  was  Sorenson's last  novel  and is available  online  on the  Project Gutenberg  Australia home page .