TOGETHER AGAIN IN THE NEVER-NEVER

New Zealand Listener, Volume 14, Issue 364, 14 June 1946, Page 32

TOGETHER AGAIN IN THE NEVER-NEVER

(By Courtesy of the High Commissioner for Australia)

| 2 Written by

JENNIFER

CAIRNS

"§ E of the Never-Never" have come home. After long years of sleep, out under the stars of the great North country they pioneered, the men whose daily life made the story of one of Australia’s best-known books; whose names are better known than those of any other Australian fictional characters, have come home to rest together. It was in February, 1902, that Aeneas Gunn, the new manager of the Elsey cattle station on the Roper River in the Northern Territory’s far North, arrived to take over his job. He had with him his young wife of a few weeks, and by bringing her to the bush he was breaking new ground; taking a_ step hardly ever before contemplated by territory cattle men, For the Territory, wiid and scarcely tamed even to-day, was then hardly touched by man. The railway south from Darwin stretched only as far as Pine Creek; and was but a thin ribbon of civilisation lying in a dense tropical jungle. Horses and bullocks were the only form of transport, There were no cars in the Territory in those days, or road for them to travel over, for that matter. Apart from its difficulties, the bringing of his wife to the cattle country was unpopular with his fellows. His foreman, furious at the idea that a woman should bring "women’s ways" to the outback, did everything that he possibly could to prevent her coming. But the new manager kept to his purpose. The "wet" was approaching and the party was forced to swim swollen rivers and cross water-logged plains, but finally the woman and her luggage-the "Woman's Gear" that had been looked on with dis-dain-arrived at the station. One Year of Happiness There followed a year of happiness for the new master of the Elsey and his young wife. They went everywhere together; to musterings and waterhole inspections; on horse-breaking expeditions and visits to the nearest neighbour, over a hundred miles away. And the deli-cately-nurtured town girl, accustomed to all the niceties of town life, thought of it all as a great picnic, where hardships were to be laughed at, and comfort not to be expected. Because of her courage and determination that they should like her, she overcame the natural prejudices of the rough cattlemen, and very soon she had won her place and was ad- mitted into the great comradeship of the Australian bush. And then, in March of 1903, the blow fell. Aeneas Gunn died of a sudden illness, and his young wife was left alone. It was a terrible tragedy for her, but as time moved on, there came to her gradually but persistently a great longing to give that year to the outside world in ali its quiet day-to-day routine, so that perhaps she might make it live longer for herself and her bushmen. So she wrote to everyone who had taken part in her

year of happiness, and told him of what was in her mind, asking that she might tell everything without reserve. * From Life to Print She had inherited from her grandfather a gift for writing, and from her mother-to the great delight of her bush-folk-a strangely exact power of observation and deduction, so that when she took store of pens and papers, the book just wrote itself, even though she had no previous literary experience. When it was finished, she called it We of the Never-Never. é But as it grew under her pen, a fear grew with it that maybe the world would reject it as merely written by a foolish

woman, so that when it was done, not able to bear the thought that the precious year might bring only scorn, she put it aside and, taking her pen again, began another which she*sent out to the world as a scout. It was called Little Black Princess, the story of Bet-Bet, niece of Ebimel or Goggle-eye, king of the Roper River natives whom Jeannie Gunn had befriended when she was an eight-year-old piccaninny. It was an immediate success. To date it has sold 150,000 copies, and it is still a favourite with children all over the English-speaking world. When this book had drawn the enemy fire, so to speak, and had shown that people wanted to read what Jeannie Gunn had to say, the first book, the story of the beautiful year, was launched, The Rest is History The rest is Australian literary history. We of the Never-Never has been to Australians for over forty years what Tom Sawyer is to Americans or A Christmas Carol is to English people. Its characters, all of them the real people who shared Jeannie Gunn’s year of happiness in theebush, have become part of Australian folklore, and have been better known to many Australians than anybody in history or politics, There are very few Australians of any age who do not know the "Maluka," as the natives called Aeneas Gunn, or "The Fizzer," the happy-go-lucky mailman who. travelled alone across the waterless plains, and who was expected, merely because he was due, "half past eleven four weeks." It is the same with the others. "The Little Missus," Jeannie Gunn herself; the "Sanguine Scot," whose dislike of women in the outbuck had made him do everything he could to prevent her coming, and who became one of her staunchest friends; "Mine Host," the keeper of the "pub" at Katherine River, one of her earliest admirers, whose gift of a flat iron won her heart from the beginning, and who always came to the rescue when circumstances put her in need of things for her house. (continued on next page)

(continued from previous page) There are dozens of these characters, and their names are household words to Australians-even if they haven’t read the book. But as the years have passed, Jeannie Gunn has learned with deep sorrow of their passing one by one, until now only two of them are left: Tom Pearce, "Mine Host," whose life story is itself a long chronicle of adventure, and who now, lives in quiet retirement in a South Australian town, and "The Quiet Stockman." The others have died as thev lived: "The Fizzer," swept away by a flood on his first trip over a new mail route; "Tam O’Shanter," dead of thirst. trving to bring a sick traveller to water; Dan, the Head Stockman, quietly under a tree, as he watched his mob grazing: "Little Johnny," as he forded his pack-team across the swollen stream. Bringing Them Back Time has taken them far apart, so that their graves were scattered far across the great North country, where they lived, but all through the years Jeannie Gunn has cherished in her heart the hope that one dav they might be brought back. to sleep their long sleep in the quiet of Elsey station-vard with the Maluka they all loved so well. Recently her dream was réalised. In 1943, Michael Barry, well-known writer, suggested to the Administrator of the Northern Territory, that a fence should be erected round the graves cf Aeneas Gunn, Lee Ken, and William Neaves, all three of whom had been buried at the Elsev. This was done, and at the same time Mrs. Gunn was asked if she knew of the resting place of any others of her immortal band, for there were others who felt, as she did, that it would be fitting if they could all lie together. Jeannie Gunn knew every grave, and the Northern Territory Army Command energetically set about making plans for bringing them together.

They made application to the Deputy Crown Solicitor for official permission to proceed, and it was given immediately in the case of all except those who weve buried. in the Katherine cemetery. It was felt that remains should only be removed from an established cemetery for a very good reason. There was a good deal of discussion, but after H. V. Evatt, the Federal Attorney-General, and other Ministers had interested themselves in the matter, permission was given, and the work proceeded. In recent months, the 11th Australian War Graves Unit have finished the task. Quiet Sanctuary Reverently the tough Australian diggers have gone out east and west, to Ivanhoe and Victoria River, to all those widespread places where they lay, and brought back the bodies of the men who were their childhood heroes, so that travellers passing along the great NorthSouth Road may now see a signpost which says, simply, "To the Maluka’‘s Grave" and, should they follow the Way it leads, they will come to a quiet sanctuary, beautiful with trees and lovingly kept, where lie all the characters so well known to Australians. Its gateway is in the form of a pagoda arch, which bears the inscription, Elsey Cemetery and National Reserve, and in its centre is an obelisk, erected by the natives themselves as a monument to the "Maluka" they loved. The obelisk’s base is made from the kitchen stones from the old Elsey homestead and its centre is reinforced with the axle of the homestead’s old. horsedrawn vehicle. In the centre portion there is a recess in which are relics of the old Elsey station, with a perspexcovered Roll. And a plaque reads: "Erected by Northern Territory Army natives to the memory of the MalukaAugust, 1945." "We of the Never-Never" | have come home,