Some of the Chinese miners too, they did not mine today. This, they say, was because they are adopting the Big-Nose ways. I think they have listened too hard to what Uncle has said about living peacefully with the Big-Noses, if now they are adopting their religion. When they came to the temple to pray, Ah Kee told them that the temple was for praying to Chinese gods, so they prayed to our gods instead. They must be confused.
Wednesday, December 26
They have horse races here. I have never seen horse races and Uncle would not let me go to watch them (no Chinese went to watch, I think), but the Big-Noses, in celebration of the yesterday, had races today. It is strange, racing horses to celebrate the birth of the son of a god. But we could hear the cheering and the shouting.
Thursday, December 27
Once again there is a peaceful calm on the goldfields. Maybe the celebration from their special day has changed their minds and the Big-Noses now realise what they were doing to the Chinese. The Big-Noses are mining the Big-Nose claims and the Chinese are mining the Chinese claims. Uncle is also writing letters for the Big-Noses. Many times over these past few days he has written ‘Christmas wishes’ for them to send to their families, which I think is strange, since they have already celebrated their ‘Christmas’ time.
One of the Big-Noses told Uncle about the races, but the big news was that the winning horse was stolen by the man called Gardiner. He was the one who was stealing cattle that was butchered for meat. I suppose that if you can steal cattle it is easy to steal a racehorse. I hope he didn’t then butcher the racehorse for eating. Argh!
Tuesday, January 1, 1861
Today there was much cheering and yelling coming from the places where the Big-Noses mine. Even though we have had no abuse or trouble for a while, I was forbidden to leave the camp. But Boss Chin Yee’s men saw what was happening. All the white miners had gathered together and were playing games with wood paddles and balls. There was lots of running around the field. Even the Commissioner and the troopers were there. I wonder—who was protecting the miners’ claims?
Thursday, January 3
Boss Chin Sum Kim came back today with his team, who I have not seen for many weeks (they did not even visit Mr Fung for food or Uncle for consultations while they were gone). They had set up a small camp in another gully and were successfully mining there. They even found gold at the bottom of the new shaft they had dug. Boss Chin Sum Kim would have been very excited, but now he is furious. They have been told by the Commissioner that they must leave their new claim and move here to our Gully to mine with other Chinese. Boss Chin is sure it was because his team have found lots of gold there. The Commissioner says that he is moving them for their own safety. Boss Chin says that now the Big-Noses will go and dig out the rest of the shaft for more gold—but he is sneaky. If they want to find any more gold there they will have to find it all themselves, for he had his men fill the shaft back up with all the dirt!
Friday, January 4
Boss Chin Sum Kim has been very, very successful. He told me that he has collected enough gold, should he so wish, to leave the goldfields altogether. He says that maybe he will go back to China but that the Sydney Town is also tempting to him. ‘Knowledgeable Chinese men can succeed very well in the town,’ he told me. After the last time we Chinamen were evicted, Boss Chin and his team kept walking further than we did. When they did finally stop for a rest, there on the ground, glinting like sunlight, was a piece of gold the size of a small clenched fist! Immediately, they started digging and the gold kept coming, although they found no other pieces that size. But enough, Boss Chin says, to satisfy his gold need.
But I think that Boss Chin Sum Kim is stretching the truth. Even the Big-Noses have not found gold that size, and he has been known to exaggerate many times before.
Sunday, January 6
More Chinamen are here who I have never seen before. They also have the same story as Boss Chin Sum Kim: they have been told to leave their mines and move to our Gully to be with the other Chinamen. I think that this is like a farmer herding all the sheep into one paddock, so he can keep them under control and protect them from predators. I hope we will be protected.
Tuesday, January 8
We had a visitor today. The Commissioner came riding into camp accompanied by troopers on horses. It was like an inspection the village head in China would do when we were to be presented to important people. The Commissioner told Uncle and the Bosses that for our own safety all Chinamen are to be ‘restricted’ to Blackguard Gully.
Restricted? I do not like this word. ‘Restricted’ means that we Chinese are being punished for doing something wrong. For what? We were not the ones who invaded other communities and destroyed their tents and equipment, yet we are the ones being restricted. Why does the Commissioner not restrict the white miners to a gully and let the Chinese mine where ever they like? That would be much better and that would be correct punishment. No, it is the Chinese miner who is restricted. This is to be our area to mine. He says that this is ‘for our own good’—so that the attacks on the Chinese will stop. All the other miners can mine anywhere on the Flat, but we Chinamen have just one place.
Sunday, January 13
Yap Chong was so silly. He could not keep his mouth closed. He had to go into the town and tell everyone that the team he was working in had discovered gold. The Bosses are very annoyed. Now the Big-Noses know that there is a lot of gold here. Now other miners are coming onto the area that the Commissioner has said is to be Chinese territory and they are starting the mining. There will be a fight for sure, the Bosses are saying, if the Big-Noses stay here very long.
Uncle says that hopefully another find of gold will send the European miners rushing away. ‘They need instant gratification,’ he says, ‘otherwise they go somewhere else. They are not patient like the Chinese miner, carefully checking the dirt, washing and rewashing to extract all particles of gold that are there. Even the small specks of gold are worth finding, for when they are added to other specks of gold, they can become small pieces, and small pieces can become nuggets.’ This, I think, might be one of the problems. The Big-Noses see Chinamen working in teams being so successful extracting gold from abandoned mines and from the dirt piles, which were supposed to be worthless. Maybe if the Big-Noses worked in teams they could be more successful. They also waste much of their find, too—they spend it instead of giving it to a Boss or even saving it themselves to take back to their homes.
Thursday, January 17
I am very pleased that Uncle has taught me a few more English words, because there is another boy like me on the goldfield. Hooray! His name is Jeremy. His father is a miner, like most men here. It is very good to find someone my age. He is a European boy and he wears the Big-Nose clothes and a floppy cap.
I was supposed to be collecting some cloth from Chin Yee, but I heard a noise that I had not heard since I was in China—the noise of children playing. I crouched behind a bush, and I watched a group of boys play the game with the wooden paddle and the ball. Jeremy ran to collect the ball that another boy had paddled towards the tree where I was hiding, perched on my haunches. I wasn’t sure what he would do if he saw me. He looked all around for the ball but it was right there in front of him, less than two arms’ lengths away. It wasn’t even hidden in the grass. He was looking in the bushes nearby and all around, except where it was—right there in front of him. Because he didn’t see the ball, I leant down to pick it up.
‘I knew there was someone here watching us,’ he said as I picked up the ball. The other boys yelled out to him to remember what their fathers said. ‘You know we ain’t to talk to the moon-faces,’ I heard them shout, and then, ‘You’ll get a floggin’ for sure, you will.’ But Jeremy still spoke to me.
‘I’m Jeremy,’ he said. ‘What do they call you? Your name?’
I wondered whether I should talk to him. I know what Ah Goh and some of the others say about keeping away from the Big-Noses, but they didn’t say anything a
bout boys, only miners.
‘Shu Cheong,’ I said quietly.
‘Shoe what?’
‘Shu Cheong,’ I replied.
‘Hmm,’ he said as he turned away, and he walked back to the other boys.
I continued watching them play their game. Jeremy kept looking towards me, as if he was checking to see that I was there. He missed catching the ball when he was looking my way, and the other boys were not very happy. They yelled at him and their faces went red. One boy threw his hat onto the ground and started jumping on it as if he was trying to squash it. I tried to learn their game just from the watching (Uncle says that I am good at learning from watching), but I could not understand it. The paddling and the chasing and the ball hitting the wooden box were all very confusing.
I must have watched for a long time because the sun was nearly at the treetops when they finished, and as they walked away I saw Jeremy look one last time at me. He raised the paddle and then saluted, like the military do. Maybe he was waving it at me? I lifted my arm to wave back—it was the right thing to do. Uncle says we must be courteous and kind and try to use the ways of the people that live here, as long as we never forget our heritage. But Jeremy was already running to catch up with his friends. I hope I get to see him again. I must think of what to say next time. Should I tell him about where we live? I might ask him how to play with the paddle and the ball.
Friday, January 18
I waited by the bushes again today, but the boys never came. I have many questions to ask Jeremy. I will write them down so that I remember what to ask.
What is the game with the paddle and ball?
What is ‘moon-faces’? (I think that it could be one of the words the miners call us Chinese.)
What does he do everyday?
Does he work for his father like I work with Uncle?
Does he work with a man like Mr Fung?
Where is his real home?
What is his strange hat?
Some of the men say that the Big-Noses are different to us and that I am to stay away, but Jeremy looks just like me except his skin is very white, his eyes are very round, and he has a big nose.
Saturday, January 19
I offered to run errands to Boss Chin Yee or Mr Fung for Uncle today. I never offer to do errands—I wait to be instructed—and so it was foolish of me. I must be careful not to make Uncle or any of the men suspicious of my actions. I did go on the errand but I did not see the boys. For my foolishness I was rewarded with returning to Uncle hugging (because they were so large and heavy) double bags of vegetables from Mr Fung, who I passed on the way back to our camp.
Mr Fung has learnt to be careful when he is gardening. Just before I arrived he was nearly bitten by a snake that he was grabbing because he thought it was a branch. When I saw him, he was as white as the clouds, his clothes were soaked in perspiration—but not from gardening—and he was rapidly fanning himself to cool down. It took him a long time to tell me what happened. He was moaning so much that I thought he had been bitten. I have to be careful too. Snakes can kill you. If not kill you, they can make you very sick. But Mr Fung said that snakes had just as much right to be slithering over the ground as humans have for walking the ground. We need to have respect for them and not kill them. I think that I will watch my feet very, very carefully.
Sunday, January 20
If I do get caught visiting Jeremy, I could explain to Uncle that I am trying to follow his instructions about getting on with the white miners and their families. Spending time with a white boy is building good relations with the Big-Noses, just like Uncle does with writing the letters and talking to the Big-Noses. But to do this action would be betraying Uncle’s trust in me and it is not demonstrating the respect that is expected of me. And it would bring great shame and insult to Baba and my family, and to Uncle as well. But I do want to find out more from the boys. I could ask Uncle for permission and await his response, but I think that I know what it will be.
Monday, January 21
There was a robbery at one of the stores. Uncle has forbidden me to go anywhere near the town without him—not even with other Chinamen—until the thief has been caught and people forget. He said that once again the Big-Noses will blame the Chinese for this even though no person was able to describe the robber.
Tuesday, January 22
Today I learnt a new game that Jeremy plays called jacks.
Again I went out to the trees. I was about to leave, as Uncle would be suspicious with me taking so long to collect the vegetables from Mr Fung, but then Jeremy came. He was alone. I was very excited to see him. I asked him many questions and he gave me many answers. I know that his father is a miner. He lives in the Sydney Town. They are returning there when his father has mined enough gold. Then they will be able to buy a big house and the children can go to school and he can find a job that he enjoys. When I asked Jeremy about what ‘moon-faces’ is, he did not look at me or answer straightaway. He dropped his head and took some jacks out of his pocket.
‘Don’t know,’ he mumbled, but I think that he does. He does not want to talk about it, I think. ‘Do you know jacks?’ he said, squatting like a Chinaman beneath the tree. That’s when I learnt how to play knucklebones (the game has this name also). Jeremy is very good at jacks. He tosses them in the air and catches two on the back of his hand. Then he scrapes the remaining three from the ground while tossing the two on his hand in the air. That’s called Threes. But I can’t do Ones. The first time that I tossed the jacks not one of them landed on the back of my hand.
‘Stupid,’ Jeremy said. ‘You should toss them low and keep them together. That way when they hit the back of your hand they don’t bounce off’. I tried again and again. Eventually one landed on the back of my hand—and stayed there! I was so excited. ‘I can do it,’ I yelled.
‘That’s the easy part,’ replied Jeremy with a smile. ‘Now try and scrape up the jacks from the dirt, one at a time.’ Eventually, after many attempts and very sore fingers from scraping the dirt and not grabbing the jacks, I scraped up one and was happy with that.
I looked at Jeremy and told him that he squatted like a Chinaman. I should not have said that (even though he did). He stood up immediately, grabbed all his bones, and said, ‘Don’t be stupid. My eyes aren’t anything like yours, and I don’t wear those dumb clothes and I sure as heck don’t have your hair.’ And then he left.
I think that he is upset—but he shouldn’t be. I can’t ask Uncle or any of the Bosses why he would be upset. I am not supposed to meet with a white boy. Maybe I can ask Mr Fung, if he promises not to tell Uncle. He knows much. I hope that Jeremy will come back.
Wednesday, January 23
The European miners have been drinking bad water—that will be another occurrence they will blame on us Chinese. Today Uncle spent the whole day treating them for the illness (they cannot stop rushing to the toilet). All day long they kept coming and coming to Uncle, and he kept mixing potions for them to drink. He writes their letters and makes well their sickness and still the miners do not treat the Chinese as equals. Uncle says that the people he helps are not those who are hating the Chinese. ‘The hands have ten fingers, Shu Cheong, all of different lengths,’ he says.
I didn’t see Jeremy today.
Thursday, January 24
Helped Mr Fung.
Tried to meet Jeremy, but he wasn’t there and I couldn’t wait around because I will get into trouble.
Wrote two letters for Chinese miners. They will post them at a store in the next big town.
Watched Leung Ah Chow at his mine. He is very thorough, sifting and resifting every fill of the wash dirt—he does not want to miss a flake of the gold.
We had our evening meal with Chew Ah Ching, who is moving to a new goldfield. He did not tell us much about the move, except that he is not finding enough gold and he does not want to get caught in another fight with Big-Noses. He is hoping to find a goldfield where there are even more Chinese miners.
> Writing these words.
Going to sleep.
Friday, January 25
Uncle and the Bosses are warning all Chinese to be careful. A notice has been posted onto the trees, calling for a public meeting to discuss whether the Flats are ‘a European diggings or Mongolian territory’. I said to Uncle that a public meeting means that we should go there just like we do in China when the village head posts notices on trees, but he said no. ‘This is a meeting for the European miners only’. I wanted to ask about Mongolian territory but Uncle was not answering. Back home in our village, notices posted on trees are for everyone in the village.
But this warning was not sufficient to make me stay in camp. I met Jeremy again at our meeting place. We both have to be very careful that we are not caught. I will be in much trouble if I am discovered and Jeremy says that he will be too. His father does not want him to mix with those of our kind.
‘What? Humankind?’ I joked, but I know from listening to the men that he means Chinese people.
‘I can only stay for a short while,’ he said. ‘Wanna quick game?’ He took his jacks from their pouch. ‘Now watch how I do it.’ And straight away we were squatting and he was tossing jacks in the air while I observed very carefully. I knew what to do, but not how. On my first toss, not one jack stayed on the back of my hand. I wanted to curse the gods, but I know that it was not their fault. I just wanted to be able to do this simple game so that Jeremy would not be ashamed of meeting a Chinese boy, or think that we are an inferior people like other Big-Noses do. As soon as the first toss of the jacks hit the dirt, Jeremy swept them all up straightaway and told me to try again. ‘We are not leaving this tree until you catch at least one.’
New Gold Mountain Page 5