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Moondyne: A Story of Convict Life in Australia
Excerpt from Moondyne: A Story of Convict Life in Australia
Western Australia is a vast and unknown country, almost mysterious in its solitude and unlikeness to any other part of the earth. It is the greatest of the Australias in extent, and in many features the richest and loveliest.
But the sister colonies of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland are famous for their treasure of gold. Men from all lands have flocked thither to gather riches. They care not for the slow labour of the farmer or grazier. Let the weak and the old, the coward and the dreamer, prune the vine and dry the figs, and wait for the wheat to ripen. Strong men must go to the trial - must set muscle against muscle, and brain against brain in the mine and the market.
Men's lives are short; and unless they gather gold in the mass, how shall they wipe out the primal curse of poverty before the hand loses its skill and the heart its strong desire?
Western Australia is the Cinderella of the South. She has no gold like her sisters. To her was given the servile and unhappy portion. The dregs of British society were poured upon her soil. The robber and the manslayer were sent thither. Her territory was marked off with a Red Line. She has no markets for honest men, and no ports for honest ships. Her laws are not the laws of other countries, but the terrible rules of the menagerie. Her citizens have no rights: they toil their lives out at heavy tasks, but earn no wages, nor own a vestige of right in the soil they till. It is a land of slaves and bondmen - the great Penal Colony of Great Britain.
"There is no gold in the Western Colony," said the miners contemptuously; "let the convicts keep the land - but let them observe our Red Line."
So the convicts took the defamed country, and lived and died there, and others were transported there from England to replace those who died, and every year the seething ships gave up their addition to the terrible population.
In time the Western Colony came to be regarded as a plague-spot, where no man thought of going, and no man did go unless sent in irons.
If the miners from Victoria and New South Wales, however, had visited the penal land some years after its establishment, they would have heard whispers of strange import - rumours and questions of a great golden secret possessed by the Western Colony. No one could tell where the rumour began or on what it was based, except, perhaps, the certainty that gold was not uncommon among the natives of the colony, who had little or no intercourse with the aborigines of the gold-yielding countries of the South and East.
The belief seemed to hover in the air; and it settled with dazzling conviction on the crude and abnormal minds of the criminal population. At their daily toil in the quarries or on the road parties, no rock was blasted nor tree uprooted that eager eyes did not hungrily scan the upturned earth. At night, when the tired wretches gathered round the camp-fire, outside their prison hut, the dense mahogany forest closing weirdly round the white-clad group, still the undiscovered gold was the topic earnestly discussed.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Western Australia is a vast and unknown country, almost mysterious in its solitude and unlikeness to any other part of the earth. It is the greatest of the Australias in extent, and in many features the richest and loveliest.
But the sister colonies of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland are famous for their treasure of gold. Men from all lands have flocked thither to gather riches. They care not for the slow labour of the farmer or grazier. Let the weak and the old, the coward and the dreamer, prune the vine and dry the figs, and wait for the wheat to ripen. Strong men must go to the trial - must set muscle against muscle, and brain against brain in the mine and the market.
Men's lives are short; and unless they gather gold in the mass, how shall they wipe out the primal curse of poverty before the hand loses its skill and the heart its strong desire?
Western Australia is the Cinderella of the South. She has no gold like her sisters. To her was given the servile and unhappy portion. The dregs of British society were poured upon her soil. The robber and the manslayer were sent thither. Her territory was marked off with a Red Line. She has no markets for honest men, and no ports for honest ships. Her laws are not the laws of other countries, but the terrible rules of the menagerie. Her citizens have no rights: they toil their lives out at heavy tasks, but earn no wages, nor own a vestige of right in the soil they till. It is a land of slaves and bondmen - the great Penal Colony of Great Britain.
"There is no gold in the Western Colony," said the miners contemptuously; "let the convicts keep the land - but let them observe our Red Line."
So the convicts took the defamed country, and lived and died there, and others were transported there from England to replace those who died, and every year the seething ships gave up their addition to the terrible population.
In time the Western Colony came to be regarded as a plague-spot, where no man thought of going, and no man did go unless sent in irons.
If the miners from Victoria and New South Wales, however, had visited the penal land some years after its establishment, they would have heard whispers of strange import - rumours and questions of a great golden secret possessed by the Western Colony. No one could tell where the rumour began or on what it was based, except, perhaps, the certainty that gold was not uncommon among the natives of the colony, who had little or no intercourse with the aborigines of the gold-yielding countries of the South and East.
The belief seemed to hover in the air; and it settled with dazzling conviction on the crude and abnormal minds of the criminal population. At their daily toil in the quarries or on the road parties, no rock was blasted nor tree uprooted that eager eyes did not hungrily scan the upturned earth. At night, when the tired wretches gathered round the camp-fire, outside their prison hut, the dense mahogany forest closing weirdly round the white-clad group, still the undiscovered gold was the topic earnestly discussed.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
- GenresPolitics
133 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1879
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 6, 2014
A novel based on his experiences as a convict in Western Australia
opening: THE GOLD MINE OF THE VASSE.
THE LAND OF THE RED LINE
WESTERN AUSTRALIA is a vast and unknown country, almost mysterious in its solitude and unlikeness to any other part of the earth. It is the greatest of the Australias in extent, and in many features the richest and loveliest.
But the sister colonies of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland are famous for their treasure of gold. Men from all lands have flocked
thither to gather riches. They care not for the slow labour of the farmer or grazier. Let the weak and the old, the coward and the dreamer, prune the vine and dry the figs, and wait for the wheat to ripen. Strong men must go to the trial--must set muscle against muscle, and brain against brain, in the mine and the market.
Men's lives are short; and unless they gather gold in the mass, how shall they wipe out the primal curse of poverty before the hand loses its skill and the heart its strong desire?
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0602...
Somewhat over-rendered but that's what is alluring about Victorian writings. This is a fictional account of his escape from Australia and I couldn't recommend it. A better book is Keanally's The Great Shame.
opening: THE GOLD MINE OF THE VASSE.
THE LAND OF THE RED LINE
WESTERN AUSTRALIA is a vast and unknown country, almost mysterious in its solitude and unlikeness to any other part of the earth. It is the greatest of the Australias in extent, and in many features the richest and loveliest.
But the sister colonies of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland are famous for their treasure of gold. Men from all lands have flocked
thither to gather riches. They care not for the slow labour of the farmer or grazier. Let the weak and the old, the coward and the dreamer, prune the vine and dry the figs, and wait for the wheat to ripen. Strong men must go to the trial--must set muscle against muscle, and brain against brain, in the mine and the market.
Men's lives are short; and unless they gather gold in the mass, how shall they wipe out the primal curse of poverty before the hand loses its skill and the heart its strong desire?
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0602...
Somewhat over-rendered but that's what is alluring about Victorian writings. This is a fictional account of his escape from Australia and I couldn't recommend it. A better book is Keanally's The Great Shame.
September 30, 2023
What, you've never heard of John Boyle O'Reilly before? Yeah, I hadn't either. (Well, actually I had, since the U2 song "Van Diemen's Land" is about him, but I didn't remember that when I started reading this book.) Anyway, he's an interesting guy, having escaped from prison in Australia and lived the remainder of his life in the United States as a prominent journalist and civil rights activist.
He was also a novelist, in the sense that he wrote this novel. While the plot is inventive and the characters are cool, the structure does not bear the mark of a practiced writer of fiction. The plot leads one to expect an epic climax but then peters out as the end approaches. Nevertheless, this is a good novel in the sense that Uncle Tom's Cabin is a good novel. It's entertaining, for the most part, and makes valid, serious points in advocating for reform of the penal system and for human liberty and dignity in general. It's also got several great scenes and interesting settings. It's worth your time both as a historical artifact and a work of entertainment.
He was also a novelist, in the sense that he wrote this novel. While the plot is inventive and the characters are cool, the structure does not bear the mark of a practiced writer of fiction. The plot leads one to expect an epic climax but then peters out as the end approaches. Nevertheless, this is a good novel in the sense that Uncle Tom's Cabin is a good novel. It's entertaining, for the most part, and makes valid, serious points in advocating for reform of the penal system and for human liberty and dignity in general. It's also got several great scenes and interesting settings. It's worth your time both as a historical artifact and a work of entertainment.
December 28, 2017
I was looking for a novel from 1879 to read (don’t ask me why) and I was having terrible trouble. I had a go at George Meredith’s The Egoist, but that was too much for me, so I continued sifting through book sites on the web until I came across Moondyne by John Boyle O’Reilly. I was taken with the title and when I found out That O’Reilly had been a convict transported to a penal colony in Western Australia… how could I resist.
The novel was OK, but never reached astounding heights. It was just a little over-melodramatic, even for a 19C novel. It is semi-autobiographical and has much to say about the evils of transportation and the whole 19th century criminal justice system. In this it reminded me somewhat of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables (although the two are not comparable in their quality of writing). In Les Miserables Jean Valjean is the convict that shakes off his chains to become a valued member of society; in Moondyne, it is the bushranger Moondyne who does the same. Both are noble men blighted by circumstance and society. In Les Miserables there is the romance of Marius and Cosette; in Moondyne the romance is between Alice Walmsley and Australian property owner Will Sheridan.
Moondyne is steeped in Australiana, from wonderful descriptions of the Western Australian bush to the interaction of the European settlers with the aboriginal inhabitants; the novel even finishes with a Bush fire disaster – a topic of recent interest in modern day Australia.
So I had decided that John Boyle O’Reilly was dinkum and that Moondyne could be added to my growing list of Australian novels … except… O’Reilly was born in Ireland, was transported as a political prisoner after the British quelling of the uprising of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, or Fenians of which he was a member, escaped from Australia a couple of years later and settled among the Irish of Boston in the USA. He would have been a resident of the US when he wrote Moondyne.
Boyle was more famous for his poetry that his prose. It is purported that O’Reilly was President John F. Kennedy’s favourite poet. The Irish rock band U2 dedicated their song Van Diemen's Land on their album Rattle and Hum (1988) to O'Reilly.
But because he was of convict stock, he’s as true blue as the Southern Cross and will remain in my collection of Aussie authors.
The novel was OK, but never reached astounding heights. It was just a little over-melodramatic, even for a 19C novel. It is semi-autobiographical and has much to say about the evils of transportation and the whole 19th century criminal justice system. In this it reminded me somewhat of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables (although the two are not comparable in their quality of writing). In Les Miserables Jean Valjean is the convict that shakes off his chains to become a valued member of society; in Moondyne, it is the bushranger Moondyne who does the same. Both are noble men blighted by circumstance and society. In Les Miserables there is the romance of Marius and Cosette; in Moondyne the romance is between Alice Walmsley and Australian property owner Will Sheridan.
Moondyne is steeped in Australiana, from wonderful descriptions of the Western Australian bush to the interaction of the European settlers with the aboriginal inhabitants; the novel even finishes with a Bush fire disaster – a topic of recent interest in modern day Australia.
So I had decided that John Boyle O’Reilly was dinkum and that Moondyne could be added to my growing list of Australian novels … except… O’Reilly was born in Ireland, was transported as a political prisoner after the British quelling of the uprising of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, or Fenians of which he was a member, escaped from Australia a couple of years later and settled among the Irish of Boston in the USA. He would have been a resident of the US when he wrote Moondyne.
Boyle was more famous for his poetry that his prose. It is purported that O’Reilly was President John F. Kennedy’s favourite poet. The Irish rock band U2 dedicated their song Van Diemen's Land on their album Rattle and Hum (1988) to O'Reilly.
But because he was of convict stock, he’s as true blue as the Southern Cross and will remain in my collection of Aussie authors.
July 20, 2021
Wow, this is an drama packed book!
August 11, 2012
John Boyle O'Reilly was one of the many Irish Republican Brotherhood members transported to Australia, and his story is part of Keanally's The Great Shame. He eventually escaped and ended up in Boston where he was an editor, writer, poet and participated in intellectual societies. Moondyne is supposed to be based on his experiences in his Australia prison.
The story is somewhere between the Count of Monte Cristo and Great Expectations, though more tragic than either, and possibly more romantic too. The attitude toward the aboriginals was possibly more enlightened than most, though still colonial. Not a bad story - a bit too much angst and drama, even for me. But certainly worth reading after reading The Great Shame.
The story is somewhere between the Count of Monte Cristo and Great Expectations, though more tragic than either, and possibly more romantic too. The attitude toward the aboriginals was possibly more enlightened than most, though still colonial. Not a bad story - a bit too much angst and drama, even for me. But certainly worth reading after reading The Great Shame.
November 14, 2016
The story written by an Irish patriot who himself was sent to the Australian penal colonies in his youth. While the phrasing is a bit stilted the author shows his personal experiences in the shipload of convicts sent to Australia and the brutal conditions that they lived under. His protagonist, an escaped convict, goes into the bush and through hard work and native intelligence becomes a wealthy landowner via his efforts and then turns to reforming the harsh penal code in both UK and Australia!
Interspersed is a love affair thwarted by an evil personage that takes years across continents to arrive at a happy solution.
Interspersed is a love affair thwarted by an evil personage that takes years across continents to arrive at a happy solution.
February 9, 2015
Pretty cool book considering when it was written. A lot of references to places to which I'm very familiar with and kind of think is funny.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews