New Gold Mountain

by Christopher Cheng

  Wednesday, September 19

  Already there are more people, Big-Noses and Chinamen, here in this goldfield than in our village in China. One of the Bosses says that there are seven or eight thousand, and almost every man is digging for the precious gold. Most men have come here to dig for the gold but some are selling clothes, mining tools and even food. They earn their gold in this way. It must be better to make gold from selling than from digging, I think. It probably is easier and very much cleaner too. The men selling never look dirty and they are always smiling, especially when they see the gold. In this, the seller is like the miner. Some of the miners who find the gold soon spend it, paying off their debts or wasting it on things that they do not need. Others drink or gamble it away so that they still have no gold. And even Uncle has his gold that he has earned from writing letters and advising the miners. He does not charge for his work, but the men still pay him—mostly in gold. Mr Fung pays Uncle in fresh food.

  Sunday, September 23

  Boss Chin Yee’s men are building dams and raceways. This will help in the washing of the dirt, he says. The Big-Noses are giving threatening looks at the men who are doing the digging. I don’t think they like what we are doing, but building dams and raceways was very good for Boss Chin Yee when he was mining down in Victoria and water levels were low.

  Monday, September 24

  Uncle and the Bosses were furious today. I have never seen them so annoyed but I can understand why. It is not right for a European to rob a Chinaman, but for one Chinaman to rob another is not even thinkable. The Bosses caught the man. He is not one of the miners that I know; he does not even come from our part of China. To steal, he did not wait till no-one was around. As soon as he saw the open tent and the pouch of gold he went in and grabbed it. But it was not all his fault. It was foolish of Chow Ching to leave his gold in his pouch on his bed in his tent for anyone who walked past to see. It is a temptation too hard to resist.

  The thief has been banished from these fields—after he was made to repay the stolen gold, and then some more as punishment. He is lucky. If there were troopers here, Uncle says that he would have been dragged before them and thrown into jail. The Chinaman protested that he could not be removed from the fields because he had a Miner’s Right just like the Bosses and Uncle, but that did not concern them. The Bosses escorted him from the fields and made sure he walked a long way away. The Bosses were right to act this way. The Miner’s Right is important, but so is respect. We Chinese should not be fighting and stealing from each other. The Big-Nose miners do that. There are too few of us. We Chinese must stay together.

  Tuesday, September 25

  The miners are not concerned with what happened. Everyone agrees that the thief got what he deserved; at least, they say so to the Bosses. Some of the miners are getting restless because they are still repaying their loans to the Bosses after mining here for many moons. By now, they think, the loans should have been repaid. They are not earning enough gold to keep for themselves. I, too, have no gold yet, but Uncle has promised that soon I will be able to earn some—but he would not tell me how or when. I do not wish to wait until I am old with a wispy beard like Uncle before I have earned enough gold to return home.

  Wednesday, September 26

  The rain has now stopped and the ground is drying. This is very good, the Bosses say. Now the men will be able to mine without getting uncomfortable, and they will do more digging and find more gold. Some of the Bosses even forced their men to mine in the rain—until the shafts were filled with water. The dams and raceways for washing the dirt are now being used. It is strange how the Big-Noses who I have seen mining are not building dams and raceways. They don’t work in teams like we do either.

  I will ask Uncle again to teach me to swim, so that I can work with the mining—maybe even washing the dirt.

  At last today we are able to open the tent flaps for longer than an hour to let the air dry out the tent. The floor is damp. The ornaments of the ancestors are damp. One miner who buried his gold in his tent is now gold-less: the pouch he hid his gold in was washed away and he was blaming other Chinese for taking it. Boss Chin Yee soon made him stop.

  Thursday, September 27

  Yesterday I wanted to learn to swim but today I was very scared of the water, even though I travelled in the boat from China to New Gold Mountain and not once thought of drowning.

  Uncle took me to the dam. I watched the dog swim, but it did not stay in the water very long. Then I tried to follow Uncle’s directions, but I could not keep my head above the water. Both times I tried to swim, I sank. As soon as the water came near my eyes I panicked, and Uncle had to pull me out of the water by the rope tied around my chest. Some Big-Noses were watching and laughed at my inability. Uncle yelled at them, challenging them to show me, and immediately they stopped and returned to their tasks, but all the time I could feel them watching me with sneering eyes. Until I can swim, Uncle will not let me near the water, so I won’t be able to do any of the washing of the mining dirt.

  I don’t know why the gods made me so afraid of water or let me travel here. Or let my Baba die. I must have offended them.

  I cannot mine for gold. I cannot swim. I cannot play with other boys. What good is it that I am here?

  Friday, September 28

  Again I could not swim. If I cannot swim, I cannot mine. I need to earn gold another way. I could write the letters as Uncle does, but I am not good enough at the writing. I must get better. I could run errands for some of the other miners and not just for Uncle, but they first would have to pay their debts to the Bosses.

  Tuesday, October 2

  I learnt to swim today! I learnt to swim. I can swim. I can float. I can stay in water. I am not very good but at least I won’t drown. Now Uncle has to let me go near the water.

  Last week I asked him to jump into the water and show me how to swim, but he told me that he can’t swim, that he’s too old, but that it is good to know how to swim. There are lots of rivers and creeks and waterholes here in New Gold Mountain and I could need to know. Today Uncle took me to a creek where the miners were no longer mining. No-one was watching me, but I was too scared. So again he told me to watch the dog. ‘Learn from the dog,’ he said.

  ‘Dogs aren’t people,’ I exclaimed. ‘I want to swim like people swim, not swim like a dog.’

  ‘First you crawl, then you walk, then you run,’ replied Uncle. ‘Now, see dog swimming,’ he said turning my head with his hands to watch the dog in the water.

  ‘I watch the dog,’ I mumbled.

  The dog was in the water swimming in circles. It scooped each leg in the water and that kept him moving. I tried to copy the dog, at first on the land. That did not work, because my feet needed to be not touching the ground. So I climbed and sat in the fork of a tree. Then—with balance—lying along the branch, I scooped out the air. It would have looked silly, so I am glad no-one saw me. Uncle was watching, but not watching. He was reading the Almanac that he brought all the way from China.

  (He consults the Almanac when men ask him for advice or when he needs remedies for illnesses. One man has requested Uncle to find the most auspicious date for marriage when he returns to China. He still owes much gold to his sponsor, so he will be waiting a long time to get married. I hope his wife-to-be does not grow old waiting.)

  Uncle may have glanced at me as I was lying in the tree scooping the air, but each time I looked at him he wasn’t looking at me.

  I came down from the tree and stood close to the creek edge. I watched the dog but as soon as it noticed me it stopped swimming and left the creek, shaking its body as it ran off into the bushes. I stood where I could see the bottom and was about to step in when Uncle yelled, ‘Not deep enough there. I am watching and so is Chin Yee. Move down further where you cannot see through the water. Now jump in like dog.’

  I did as Uncle said, and jumped. And sank. Water rushed around my face. I was sinking, like a rock falling in the water, with no way up. I s
lapped the water with my arms, trying to push myself up. I pushed my queue out of my face. I closed my eyes. My clothes billowed out as they trapped the air, my hands scooped water and … I swam like a dog! I made it to the far side of the creek where I could stand. I turned around and looked at Uncle. His head was buried in the Almanac. He did not even look up.

  ‘Good,’ he exclaimed. ‘Well done. You have learnt well. Always remember the dog and how the dog swims. Every time, that will save you.’ And as I started to climb the bank Uncle continued, ‘Just one thing there is now, Shu Cheong. Now you have to swim back.’ He giggled, ‘It is too long to walk. Good practice for you.’

  So back into the water I walked, and then paddled like a dog all the way across.

  I did it. I am so pleased with my new learning. This is something I would not have learnt in China, at least not yet. None of the other boys in the village can swim. I am the first to travel across the oceans, the first to see New Gold Mountain and the first to learn to swim.

  Wednesday, October 3

  Now that I can swim, Uncle permits me to walk near the creeks and dams. This is very pleasing. But he still will not let me mine for the gold. I am still to spend my time assisting him and doing the tasks that he requests me to do, so today I walked to collect the vegetables at Mr Fung’s—but first I had to help Mr Fung with digging the ground for the new vegetables that he will plant.

  Mr Fung’s garden grows the best vegetables in New Gold Mountain, I am sure. In his village back in China, he alone grew sufficient vegetables to feed his whole village throughout the year. He came here from a village near ours to be a miner, just like Baba and me, but now he prefers to grow the vegetables. He says it is easier work than mining for gold and he still ends up getting the gold. Everyone pays Mr Fung in gold. Today he was telling me about growing vegetables.

  ‘It takes patience and a lot of care to grow vegetables,’ he said, as he pulled a weed from between the spinach plants. ‘The ground must be prepared, and the plants need water and fertiliser. These European miners expect vegetables to grow without any work. The same way they mine for gold. If they don’t find any gold, they leave the mine and start a new one, not knowing that just below their mine, the gold lies waiting for them. Growing vegetables is like mining for gold. It takes a lot of patience and much hard work.’

  In payment for my duties he gave me extra leafy green vegetables from the garden. He has lettuces that he was given from another gardener and some spinach that he brought all the way as seed from China. So now Uncle and I both get paid in vegetables—which were very nice to eat—but I would like payment for my work in gold. On the way back to our tent I was watching the men doing the mining. They dig through the piles of dirt looking for anything that sparkles like gold, and some men even dig down into mines and haul buckets of dirt to the top. The gods must be watching them closely.

  Nearby, I saw something shining on a pile. Was it gold inviting me to start mining? I began to scrape through the dirt, happy that a miner had missed the smallest of nuggets and that I would find my first piece of gold. One of the Bosses yelled at me. He ordered me to return to Uncle instead of wasting my time just watching. He wouldn’t let me dig for gold either. I foolishly thought that if one of the Bosses asked Uncle for my help then he would let me mine for my own gold. That is not so. I prepared the last food for the day, I cleaned the tent, and now I write the words in this book.

  Monday, October 8

  I saw them arriving, the European miners. There must have been eighty or ninety of them today, all in one group. And they laugh at the Chinaman when we arrive. They look so silly! Some are walking, but some are sitting in carts pulled by horses (Uncle calls them ‘drays’). One man was even pushing a bicycle. He won’t be riding that around here, not with the roughness of the paths that we have. When the Chinaman arrives, he can be seen walking where another man has walked, but these people are not even stepping in the same steps. They spread out as they walk through the paddocks. That is silly. There could be holes in the ground that they walk over. Whole families have arrived—and I did see one family with boys. They looked my age, too. I wonder, will the boys be like the Big-Nose miners and be not liking us, or will I be able to spend time with them and get to know them? I mentioned the new arrivals to Uncle. He has forbidden me to meet the boys or the new miners. That is so unfair.

  Friday, October 12

  Uncle says that the miners appear like a banshee let loose from the Mongolian steppes. He is right. They are spread out everywhere on the ground around and they make so much noise. Sometimes they are even sleeping in makeshift tents, between the mining holes that they have been digging and the piles of dirt.

  A few weeks ago I went into the town to buy supplies with Uncle. There were a few simple tents on either side of the main creek in the Flat. On one side tents were selling supplies, and on the other side were more tents where the Big-Noses were mining, but now much has changed. As far as I could see from the crest of the hill, there were tents of all description in the town. Even along the path walking into town from our camp at Blackguard Gully, there were many more miners digging for the gold.

  In town some tents were anchored to the ground; others were strung over branches and flapping in the gentle breeze. If an angry wind arrived then they would surely disappear. Some of the Big-Noses had even stretched out their flysheets between fallen trees, which would not have been good for protection from the weather. Rain would run down the canvas and then pour straight into their mine … or the canvas would sag in the middle and make a very low tent. Now, some tents have rooms attached made of bark stripped from the trees. And many more stores have appeared opposite the mining tents: there are drinking tents, more shopping tents, and even tents to rest in. Some men who were mining are not mining anymore—they are selling the food and the equipment that the miners need. They must be like Mr Fung.

  I saw all these changes when Uncle and I and some men went walking into the Flat today. I did enjoy leaving our camp to come and visit the new stores; some tent stores now even have shingles with their names and what they do. There is even a bank where we can exchange gold for money, but Uncle says that it is better to change gold with the traders in the larger towns. I don’t think many Chinese men will use this bank. I think many Chinese men will keep their gold to take back with them to China, after they have paid the Bosses.

  Like all the Chinese, I am not allowed to come here alone, for one Chinaman is an easy target for these Big-Noses. They look boldly on the Chinese. They might spit and throw rocks and dirt at us and maybe even attack us. Uncle says that we would walk around the Big-Noses’ tents and mines if we could, but that is not possible. There is no path to get to the stores that would avoid the miners.

  I am glad that we came to town as a group. I would not want to come alone. It was strange; the miners gave the Chinamen cautious, wary looks as we approached. As we walked past their claims they quickly stood in front of their mines and tents, as if they were on guard to protect their property, making sure that we did not stray from the path. They are not happy with the Chinese walking though the area, are the miners, but it is our only way to get to the stores. The storekeepers though, especially Mr Greig, they are very happy when they see the group of Chinamen approaching, and they welcome us in. Chinese gold or Big-Nose gold, it is all the same.

  Saturday, October 13

  With more and more Chinese appearing, Uncle has been doing more and more writing for the ones who cannot write. He is making me spend more and more time with him helping to get his supplies. His inks and brushes and pencils must all be ready for him to work with. I am also watching Uncle write. For some of his letters he is using the brush. Other letters require the pencil. Uncle expects me to know which one.

  Friday, October 19

  Not all the Chinese are living in Blackguard Gully with us. There are more Chinese spread out on mining fields nearby. They come in and visit us sometimes or gather food supplies from Mr Fung or have
Uncle write for them, but they mine and sleep further away. But on fan-tan nights and mah-jong nights, our camp is the centre of the community and men come in, play the games, stay overnight and make their way back to their mines in the early morning.

  Uncle took me with some of the Bosses to check the other mining areas where the Chinese are located. They say that we need to know where the Chinese men are, for protection of us all. I know that some of the Big-Noses do not like us; I can tell by the angry stares that they give to us and the silence when we are around. I see them stand with hands firmly clasped to their shovels, which they would surely use as a weapon should we dare to threaten them, but I do think that we are safe. Boss Chin Yee said that that was not always the case. ‘In other mining places very bad things have happened to some Chinamen,’ he said.

  Some of the Chinamen are very foolish, trying to mine right next to the Big-Noses. They are not having much success. And I do not think they will last long there. Some days they might be digging and all they hear is the sound of the digging tool striking the ground and Big-Noses yelling strange words at them. Some days they leave to go for supplies and return to find their mine messed up or even destroyed. Any gold they discover they carry with them at all times. They cannot leave their finds in their tents, as they will surely be stolen. Uncle and the Bosses tell them that they are very foolish for mining there. They are free to mine where they like (because they are not mining to repay the money lent to come here), but they should at least mine with other Chinamen for their protection. Chinese miners need to stay as one. ‘Only when all contribute firewood can we build a strong fire,’ Uncle says. I know at least that I can go back to China as soon as I have the gold for my passage home. This is good. Any money or gold that I earn is mine to keep. This is very good. I wish that I was able to earn some gold. Maybe I should pray to the gods and attend the temple more. Boss Chin Yee makes his men attend the temple. They have to walk past all our sleeping tents every day to pray to the gods and offer thanks for their finds and their safety. Sometimes they bring offerings to the gods. Sometimes they burn incense. Maybe I should do so too, because Boss Chin Yee has been very, very successful. I think he has more gold than any other Chinaman here in the Flat.