Cairns — Sugar Industry — Kanakas — Rice Cultivation — Cairns and Herberton Railway — The Barron Falls

CAIRNS is simply a little tropical heaven, tucked into the Queensland coast line, I know of no other place at all like it. Situated in Trinity Bay, at I he entrance to Trinity Inlet, it was so named by Captain Cook, who, after a series of extraordinary hardships, put in here on Trinity Sunday 1770. Taken with the Inlet, Trinity Bay constitutes one of the most perfect harbours along the entire length of the East Australian coast.

The inlet, a splendid land-locked sheet of water seven miles in length, with an average width of two, was discovered by some police officers and cedar cutters in 1877, but for many years was put to no practical use. Now the entrance has been carefully dredged, and vessels, drawing even as much as twenty-four feet of water, can enter it with perfect ease and safety. With these advantages it would certainly seem destined to become the real harbour of Cairns at no very distant date.

Trinity Bay itself stretches from Cape Grafton to Cape Tribulation, and is protected from the violence of the open ocean by the Great Barrier Reef which lies about twelve miles out. Immediately opposite the bay, the reef has an opening called Trinity Channel, which is certified as of sufficient width to contain the largest man of war afloat.

The new comer, reviewing in his mind all these advantages, cannot help being impressed with the fact that Cairns would make an admirable naval depot, the inlet alone being capable of containing the entire Australian squadron at one and the same time. I recommend this idea to the Admiralty, for surely Nature must have had some thought of the use it might be put to when she constructed it.

The town itself, called after Sir William Wellington Cairns, once Governor of Queensland, was commenced in 1877, and cannot be said to be well situated. Its history, a strange and chequered one, illustrates the peculiar ups and downs of pioneering in new countries. Early in that year a few settlers were attracted to the district by the wonderful stories told them by mariners who had chanced to touch there. These adventurous ones pitched their tents where Cairns now stands, but before they had been there very long, news came to them of the discovery of a river running into the sea, about two miles north of Trinity Inlet. On going to ascertain the truth of this statement for themselves they found a river navigable for over ten miles, winding its way across a beautiful alluvial plain covered with dense tropical vegetation, such as tree-ferns, areca palms, fan palms, wild nutmegs, native indiarubber trees, red cedars, kauri pines, wild bananas, and a conglomeration of beautiful creepers and orchids too numerous for description. On this plain, so the discoverers said, stalked multitudes of huge cassowaries and kangaroo, while at night-fall millions of large bats and flying foxes flew overhead. Butterflies and beetles fluttered on every side, and snakes of terrible dimensions crawled through the undergrowth. Alligators were also numerous.

With this discovery, trade, traffic, and shipping were immediately diverted from the inlet to the mouth of the river, at a spot to be soon afterwards named Smithfield. This Smithfield, from ]877 to 1879 became the port for the Hodgekinson Gold Fields, and quite a thriving town, boasting no less than fourteen public-houses (a sure sign of a Queensland township’s prosperity), and a score of large business premises. In 1879, however, an easier track over the Ranges was discovered from another point twenty miles to the northward (now Port Douglas), and that discovery sounded the death knell of Smithfield. Trade moved to the new spot, the people naturally followed the trade, the township was deserted, not even a nigger remained to grace it, and now dense jungle covers the place where once it stood.

In 1880 a sugar boom set in and raged with exceeding violence. As a result the land round about Trinity Inlet, and where Cairns now stands, became highly valuable, and was immediately taken up for plantations. ‘The Hambledon,’ ‘The Pyramid,’ and the ‘Hap Wah’ Companies were the first to start in that neighbourhood; while the whole of the magnificent plain on the banks of the Barron River, stretching from the ranges to the sea for about ten miles, and from the town of Cairns northward for fifteen, was, at the same time, purchased for agricultural purposes by Mr. Thomatis, an enthusiastic agriculturist and a native of Northern Italy; by Messrs. Blair & Co., of Melbourne; and Mr. Brinsmead, of London, together with a few other enterprising colonists.

The fame of the land soon spread, and with this increased importance the baby town of Cairns began to assert itself. Town allotments were pegged out and boomed. Speculation in land followed, with the result that about four years ago the Government, at one of these land sales, pocketed no less than 40,000l.

With true Australian go-a-headness Cairns lost no time in improving her position, and her devoted mother, Nature, prodigal of gifts, helped her. The Northcote Antimony, the Herberton Tin, the Muldiva Silver mines, the Etheridge, Croydon, and Georgetown Gold Fields, all situated over the Ranges at the back of the town, lent their aid.

The next move was a claim on Government for a railway, whereby the vast wealth of these places might be brought to Cairns for shipment. After a while this claim was recognised, specifications were prepared, the contract let, and now a line is in course of construction which has but few equals, and is perhaps without its superior, in the whole railway-making world. Already it creeps over the Ranges towards Herberton. Eventually it will take in the various fields mentioned above, cross the base of the Peninsula, and penetrate even to the distant shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria. About fifty miles are at present completed. The second section of sixteen miles is said to be the most expensive known, costing no less than 1? million pounds sterling, or a good deal more than a pound an inch. Of the beauties of the line I shall speak presently. In the meantime, let me give some idea of one of the principal seats of the sugar industry in the neighbourhood of Cairns.

Hambledon Plantation, the property of Messrs. Swallow Brothers, is one of the many model plantations of the district, and may well be taken as typical. Situated at the foot of the Islay Hills, it is surrounded by an amphitheatre of jungle-clad eminences. Seen in the early morning, with the sun straggling in long shafts through the clouds which veil the highest peaks, or at twilight, when the weird gullies are filling with the shadows of approaching night, Hambledon is a sight to remember for ever. But these hills have another charm apart from their scenic beauty, they protect the young cane from biting winds, and condense into needful rain the clouds that linger on them. Perhaps as a result, two bewitching waterfalls exist near by, and I am assured that the whole water supply of the mill is drawn from ever — running rivulets whose birthplaces are in these ranges. Altogether the view is as charming as an artistic eye could wish, and it is no wonder that Hambledon, being one of the few properties that survived the depression in the sugar industry a few years back, is considered a show place of the district.

The business arrangements of the plantation are most complete, even to a tramway, 4? miles long, leading to a neat little wharf on Trinity Inlet, where vessels of the deepest draught can load in comfort. It must be remembered that, besides sugar, large quantities of fruit and timber are exported from Cairns annually.

From the fields of growing cane we pass to the mill itself, which is of the latest pattern, even to the Decauville railway for carrying the cane into the works. It is calculated that this mill can turn out ten tons of sugar per day, and, if one doesn’t try to understand the mechanism, the working is simplicity itself.

Hambledon, with its numerous buildings, overseer’s residence, mill, huts (both of white hands and Kanakas), lathe room, lamp room, laboratory, engineers’ stores, blacksmiths’, carpenters’, and fitters’ shops, etc., presents the appearance of a small township. The owner’s residence is situated on the top of a knoll, commanding a lovely view of Trinity Harbour and the town of Cairns, with the Inlet in the dim distance showing like a streak of silver. In the gardens, which are beautifully laid out, we recognise many tropical friends, such as cocoanuts, mangoes, and many varieties of bamboo.

The Kanakas on the plantation have roomy domiciles, and are in every way exceedingly well cared for; we have met whites who would have been thankful for half as much attention. They (the Kanakas) have three meals per diem, consisting of meat, bread, rice, potatoes, and tea, besides as much fruit as they have room or inclination for. When they are sick a doctor is paid to attend them. They are found in clothes, and have an excellent school, where a properly qualified teacher instructs them in the three E’s. Some of the boys make good progress, and can read and . write excellently. But where they come in really strong is in religion; they take to it like ducks to water, and hold prayer meetings and services whenever opportunity offers. A Kanaka service is a solemn business.

And this brings me to the principles of this much talked of, but little understood. Kanaka labour question. For some reasons I favour the retention of the Kanaka, for others I do not. But whether I do or do not, cannot alter the fact — and I assert it, knowing it to be true — that the majority of the boys themselves prefer plantation life in Queensland to life in their own proper island homes. This is evidenced by the number of time-expired boys who sign for a second or even a third term. And pray, how does this read against the absurd stories of ‘white slavery,’ ‘awful cruelty,’ ‘barbarous practices,’ etc., etc., published on the Kanaka labour question in England and elsewhere. It stands to reason that, if badly treated, they would be only too glad to get away. Then why do they reengage?

While on this subject, let me say that the boys when newly arrived are designated ‘new chums,’ while every girl is invariably called ‘Mary.’ No Kanaka man or woman is recruited at a less sum than 6l. a year; but when a boy has reengaged once or twice, and knows a little about his work, he can command a much higher wage, sometimes as much as 10l., and not unfrequently more. And out of that they manage to save, for they are, as a rule, a thrifty people. In one district alone, of 3,000 Kanakas, something like seven hundred of them have savings bank deposits, the whole totalling over 3,500l. At the beginning of the year there were 8,627 islanders in Queensland, and their savings bank credits reached the large sum of 19,246l. How does your average labouring white man compare with that?

By his agreement, the planter has also to pay something like 20l. a head to the recruiting boat, 5l. as return passage money, 3l. Government capitation fee, and 1l. hospital capitation fee. He is also compelled to supply his hands with rations and clothing as follows:
Clothing per Annum. Males (each).
Hats     2
Shirts (flannel)     4
Trousers, pairs (moleskin or serge)     4
Blankets, pairs     1
Females (each).
Chemises     4
Dresses (wincey)     4
Petticoats (flannel)     4
Hats     2
Blankets, pairs     1
Rations per Diem.     lb.     oz.
Bread or flour     2     0
Beef or mutton     1     8
Sugar     0     5
Tea     0     0?
Potatoes (or rice G oz.) .     3     0
Tobacco, per week     0     1?
Salt     0     2
Soap, per week     0     4

From these few remarks it will be seen that the lot of the Kanaka in Queensland is not quite the slavery that it has sometimes been depicted!

Hambledon usually employs 3–5 white men, 200 Kanakas, 20 Cinghalese, and 25 Chinese. In 1888 it produced 1,030 tons of sugar from 700 acres of cane. In 1891, 1,180 tons from 943? acres, and in 1892, 1,465 tons from 950 acres. 1889 and 1890 were bad seasons, when the cane was much infected with grubs, which destroyed the roots. 1892 was, however, a very good one, and this coming season promises equally favourable results.

The crushing season usually lasts six months, from the end of June to the end of December — a time of ceaseless activity for every soul on the plantation.

The varieties of cane grown are the Green Ribbon, Red Bamboo, and Cheriboa. The soil is a rich chocolate loam, and is easily ploughed by teams of two horses. Besides cane, a large area is planted with pineapples, mangoes, and oranges.

Leaving Hambledon, we pass on to another plantation, Caravonica Park, the property of Mr. David Thomatis, before mentioned. It is situated between the Barron River and Thomatis Creek, the Ranges, and the sea coast, and has the wonderful new railway running beside it. It is in every way an ideal spot for a plantation, possessing as it does natural drainage, natural irrigation, the railway, and a soil not to be surpassed in Queensland, over 10 feet deep of black alluvial loam, composed mostly of decayed vegetable matter, and for bottom a pure sea gravel. The plantation has a frontage of one mile and a half to the de............