Taj and the Great Camel Trek Read online

  I kept my mind from thinking about my mother until I managed to push her back in that room of my heart I kept locked. I thought instead of my letter to Emmeline. What would she think when she received it? She would laugh, I was sure of that. Sometimes Emmeline’s laugh was her way of talking.

  Once she played a trick on me. We were splashing in the running spring near her house. I kept my shalwar on but my turban and shirt were left on the ground. She laughed so much it lifted my spirits. She left the water before me and when I came out to get my shirt it was no longer there. But I heard her giggle from behind a saltbush. And sure enough there was the end of my unravelled turban plain to be seen. She thought it a great joke. She could always make me laugh, and I wished she was with me.

  When we arrived at Ooldabinna it was the first day of August; Alec said we had travelled 1,010 miles since Beltana. It was a pretty place with grasses and mulga trees and pea-vetch, the plant that the camels enjoyed eating on the plain.

  ‘The native owners of this place must enjoy it very much,’ Mr Giles said, walking around and inspecting our camp but when he saw the waterhole he frowned. ‘This water supply is not as much as William and Jess said.’ I edged closer to look. As usual it was clogged up with mud; the camels didn’t even feel like drinking from it. Jess Young’s face grew as red as his hair when he heard Mr Giles’ words, but he carried on unloading his bag.

  Mr Giles inspected the water supply again the next day. Mr Tietkens was with him. ‘I wanted this to last a month, but it only looks a week’s worth.’ He turned to Mr Tietkens. ‘Why did you say the water supply was sufficient, William?’

  Mr Tietkens stared at the murky water in front of him. ‘It looked enough when we were here.’

  ‘You should have sized it better – it can be dangerous not to do so.’ Mr Giles’ voice rose.

  ‘We have to be grateful for what we can find out here. We did our best.’ Mr Tietkens’ voice rose as well. ‘Can’t you be satisfied with that?’

  I stumbled in surprise as I led Mustara to the water to see if he would drink. I had rarely heard Mr Tietkens raise his voice, and never to Mr Giles.

  Afterwards, as I brought the other camels to the water I heard loud words between Mr Giles and Jess Young, but I didn’t understand them. Jess Young sounded as if he would fight Mr Giles. What would happen then? Would Padar stop them, or Mr Tietkens?

  The camels drank finally and all the water disappeared. Mr Giles had harsh words to say about that too. Now we would have to rely on the soakage for our own needs.

  Under Mr Giles’ guidance we set to work to deepen the natural wells with shovels. Jess Young didn’t have a word to say but Tommy chattered so much to Mr Giles that Jess Young told him to shut up. Then Mr Giles snapped at Jess Young: ‘The boy doesn’t mean any harm.’ Mr Giles gave him a piercing glare and Jess Young clamped his lips together, but it looked as though there were more words behind his teeth itching to escape.

  All of us fell quiet as we sat and watched the water slowly filter through the soil into the bottom of each well. They took a long time to fill and Padar said, ‘This will not do for nineteen camels.’

  I nodded and Jess Young scowled at us but I was too worried to mind. We had come so far and what if there was only this much water at the next place? And the next? When camels need to drink they use a lot of water. How would they survive?

  Mr Giles walked off so he could stride up and down while he thought. Even Mr Tietkens let him be, though he often glanced over at him.

  Later, Mr Giles joined us at the campfire and he told us what he had decided. We had just finished our bird stew and damper. ‘The water will not last here.’ At least now his face was clear of frowns; the officers were forgiven for not finding enough water. ‘William and Jess, you will go north again to try and find water there. Take your riding camels and one baggage camel to carry thirty gallons of water and ten days’ provisions. I hope you find water within a hundred miles.’

  Alec whispered, ‘It is generous of Mr Giles to let the officers do their own exploring.’ It sounded commonsense to me: the more people looking for water the better.

  Peter and Tommy were told to look after the camp and the remaining camels.

  ‘Saleh and Taj, you will go west with Alec and me to see if we can find water,’ Mr Giles said. Then he sighed. ‘The country west will not be a Garden of Eden and we may have to travel two hundred miles before we find water.’ We would all return to the camp at Ooldabinna after our exploring.

  In the morning Padar and I loaded Rani and Rajah with two full water casks of thirty gallons each. ‘Do you think we will find water?’ I asked him.

  Padar shrugged. ‘Inshallah. Only God knows.’ And possibly Tommy, I silently added, and I wondered why Mr Giles didn’t take him with us.

  We rode out of camp with seven camels: four for riding, and three as pack camels. Padar rode Malik, Alec was allowed to take Reechy and Mr Giles rode Pearl. I saw Mr Giles patting his neck; he called him his splendid Pearl Beyond All Price.

  For three days Mr Giles, Alec, Padar and I marched west and we didn’t find any water. There were sandhills and salt lakes that were as dry as a bleached bone. The scrub was so thick we couldn’t see our hands in front of us. Even though it was a desert there were still bushes and scrub. How did they survive?

  Two more days’ marching and still there was no sign of any animal life other than the white bones that Mustara liked to suck and crunch. No tracks of people or even of game. The only thing we could hear was the soft tread of the camels, their groans, and the snapping of branches as they forced their way through the scrub. We were now 140 miles from Ooldabinna. Mr Giles didn’t recite any poetry. I think that worried me the most. Mr Giles had never been this quiet.

  That evening at our fire Mr Giles cleared his throat and said, ‘Saleh.’ Padar looked up from his plate of beans. ‘Tomorrow I want you to go back to Ooldabinna with Rani and Rajah, and leave the water in troughs in the desert.’ Then he turned to me. ‘You shall go with me. Saleh, you will only have a few nights alone in the desert.’ It was interesting that Mr Giles mentioned that, for Padar and I don’t like to be alone at night.

  I could tell Padar would rather go on with us, but Mr Giles didn’t want the two camels getting in a bad way if water was scarce. I tried not to think about what we would do if there was no more water. We would be trapped.

  Padar left before dawn. He put a hand on my head once he was mounted. ‘Allah keep you safe,’ he said. I was surprised. I would be with Mr Giles – why would Padar feel the need to pray for me? I watched him trot off until the scrub hid him from view.

  Even though we had only a few camels now and could have travelled faster Mr Giles was careful not to push them too quickly. ‘Our lives depend on these great beasts,’ he said.

  ‘Yes, sir.’ I found the courage to agree with him.

  After the camels found good bushes to eat they lay down and chewed their cud. Since I’d watched Peter make the food so often, I could make the damper and tea while Alec brought the camels to camp.

  ‘Were they feeding, Alec?’ Mr Giles asked.

  ‘Oh no, they were all lying down chewing their kid.’

  Mr Giles laughed, and he mentioned the camels chewing their ‘kid’ at least twice that evening. Alec smiled at me when Mr Giles teased him about his words. It was good, for the fun lifted Mr Giles’ mood. I was amazed at the way Mr Giles could find the heart again to joke when we were in such a serious position. Not many men could do that. I wished I too could stop worrying, and smile when Tommy teased me.

  Six days had passed and we were travelling slowly through an area of burnt spinifex. ‘Look.’ Mr Giles pulled Pearl to a halt. ‘The footprints of natives.’ Most people would be frightened of meeting strangers in the desert, and Jess Young had heard enough stories about black men spearing white men to sleep with his gun beside him every night. I tried
not to worry for I had never seen Mr Giles frightened and he wasn’t frightened now.

  My spirits rose. Where there were human tracks there was likely to be water. Mr Giles and I watched Alec climb a tree with Mr Giles’ field glasses.

  ‘Well?’ Mr Giles shaded his eyes as he looked up at Alec scrambling down.

  ‘There is a sort of hollow in the ground to the south-west.’

  Mr Giles was intent on seeing it straight away, but when we got there it was just another salt lake. ‘Look,’ I said, ‘here are tracks. Dogs have been here.’ I was not fond of wild dogs. They took baby camels before they could use their legs.

  The tracks made me remember an attack near the Afghan well at Beltana Station. Rani had just calved. Emmeline was with me; she wanted to pet it. The calf was bleating and struggling with its legs when we heard a growl. A dingo bitch was circling us. She had hungry eyes and long empty dugs. I picked up a branch. Rani roared to protect the calf as the bitch flew at it. Emmeline screamed and I hit the dingo with the branch, but it broke. I thought the dingo would go for Emmeline and me and I was never so glad for Rani’s bad temper. She bellowed and kicked that dingo until it howled and fled.

  I hoped we wouldn’t see any dingoes. There were good plants for the camels to eat though: the one they always liked, the little mignonette plant (that’s what Mr Giles called it), pea-vetch and Sturt’s desert pea. It was hot, 95 degrees in the shade by Mr Giles’ thermometer, so we decided to have dinner. Alec went off to find a good spot. He was a long time and in the meantime I helped Mr Giles dig holes in the salt lake to look for water. We had a shovel and I dug first.

  ‘Is there any water there?’ Mr Giles said.

  ‘No, sir.’

  Further out, I pushed the shovel in and Mr Giles sighed. I turned and found him regarding me. ‘So what do you think of all this, Taj? You’re an intelligent lad.’

  ‘What do you mean, sir?’

  ‘Water, lad, water. Do you know where to find it?’

  I stopped digging. His question was alarming. ‘No, sir, but you do. You’re the boss of the expedition.’ I was sure some sign of faith in him was needed. Was that why he asked me? At that point I believed what I said. He laughed, but he soon stopped. ‘So that’s what you think, is it?’ I nodded uncertainly. He didn’t seem displeased with my answer, just resigned.

  Alec returned, half running, with a smile spread across his face. ‘We are saved. I found fresh Aboriginal tracks. There’s water,’ and he led us to a native clay dam with yellow water. It was funnel-shaped and had enough water for the few camels we had with us but it wouldn’t be enough for the whole string. I brought our camels over and made a camp there. Even though Mr Giles told me what to do I felt as if I was the jemidar of the camels just as Padar was.

  I watched Mustara pulling leaves from a poplar tree. At least good feed was available for the camels. There was even dry grass though camels don’t care for that. I couldn’t get the human tracks out of my mind. Were we safe? I kept looking behind me to see if anyone was around, but no one showed themselves. What would the people think to see big monsters come and drink all their water in one gulp?

  Alec caught two bronze-winged pigeons that came to drink from the dam. I cut their throats with my knife facing Mecca like Padar did but I wasn’t sure if that is all that matters or if it is the words that are said. I said ‘Bismillah’ and ate some anyway, for I was hungry. ‘It won’t matter,’ Mr Giles said, seeing my hesitation. ‘God doesn’t worry about such things.’ But I knew Padar thought differently.

  Later, when Mr Giles was writing in his book he told us we were 156 miles from Ooldabinna. ‘We are close to the Western Australian border here.’ I no longer wondered how he could say such magical things. ‘So we’ll call this Boundary Dam.’ Then he added, ‘We can’t rely on it though. When we return it may have evaporated.’

  I stared at him in horror. We travelled so far to find this water; it was a shock to find it unreliable.

  I thought the camels would stay close by us in the night due to the good feed so I left long hobbles on them. When I awoke I couldn’t see them anywhere. I whistled for Mustara but even he didn’t come. A cold dread settled into the pit of my stomach as I remembered how many of us it took to find them near Youldeh. ‘I should have put short hobbles on them,’ I moaned.

  ‘It can’t be helped,’ Alec said but I knew he was worried too. ‘I hope they don’t break those hobbles, or we’ll never catch them.’

  Mr Giles couldn’t hide his worry as we left. ‘Make sure you recover them,’ was all he said, but I could hear the tension underlying the words. If we didn’t find the camels we would die.

  I felt a thumping in my chest. Camels are not dependent on us like horses that return to water and shelter. A camel can live for months without water if they have no work and can find enough succulent plants to eat. We couldn’t last for months in the desert looking for them.

  It was almost midday; we’d been searching five hours. I kept whistling for Mustara and finally I heard his bell. ‘Mustara!’ Both Alec and I ran through the scrub; there he was. He was grinning and chewing his cud as he trotted towards us.

  ‘Good boy!’ Alec threw his arms around Mustara’s neck. We knew the others must be close by. I thought I could hear their bells too. Then I laughed for I could tell from which direction the sound came, just like Padar. I jumped onto Mustara and led the way. ‘I see them!’ I shouted.

  The four of them were marching, still in single file following each other’s tails. I rode Mustara to the front where Reechy was, pulled her nose rope and made the string follow me. They didn’t seem to know their nose ropes weren’t attached and I hoped they wouldn’t realise until we reached the camp.

  When we returned victorious, Mr Giles hugged us. It made me think of Padar and whether he arrived back at Ooldabinna safely. ‘How hideous this pretty camp seemed when there were no camels,’ he said. ‘Death would have been a more welcome sight than you arriving back without them.’

  That night Mr Giles was mulling something over in his mind. Every now and then he would groan as if he was answering someone we couldn’t see. Perhaps Mr Giles wished Mr Tietkens was with us.

  ‘Are you concerned over a matter, sir?’ Alec tried to coax him to talk.

  Mr Giles regarded Alec for a while and must have decided he was worth sharing his thoughts with. ‘We know the water here may be gone when we return. I think we should try again further west. Whatever we do it is a risk.’ He looked at me and the challenge in his eyes reached out and clutched me.

  Alec and I remained quiet. This was a decision only Mr Giles could make. What a responsibility; the lives of all the men and the camels may rest on how he decided. ‘We can’t rely on whether Mr Tietkens has found water and a depot either,’ Mr Giles murmured. Was he thinking of the lack of water at Ooldabinna? ‘Water could be two hundred or even three hundred miles away.’

  I glanced at Alec. I had thought finding water would have been easier than this. Something to do with Mr Giles’ instruments; they could tell him which way to go and how far, and how hot it was. Why couldn’t they tell him where water was?

  Then Mr Giles looked up and held our gaze steadily, first Alec and then me. ‘We will push further west tomorrow.’

  There was no water west. No water in 200 miles, just scrub. ‘The water must be somewhere,’ I said to Alec, when we arrived back at Boundary Dam. ‘Surely scrub needs some to survive.’

  He regarded me. ‘Perhaps there is water, but it will do us no good if we can’t find it.’

  Mr Giles said ‘Hooshta’ to Pearl and he sunk to the ground. When Mr Giles inspected the dam, he called us over. ‘Look at this.’ He was frowning. While we were away the water level had dropped an inch a day.

  He made a snap decision. ‘We will return by a more southerly route and see if water lies that way.’

  Alec and I glanced
at each other. By going south we would not come across the water Padar left on the other track, but we didn’t argue.

  In the south was a plain. It was so cold in the night – only 26 degrees – that my legs ached. At least it was 94 degrees in the day. The plain was a change for the camels to travel over, no stones and no trees. Mr Giles said a bicycle could be ridden over it. By looking at his maps he thought it must be 600 miles long and 200 miles broad. I wished I was so clever.

  We didn’t find any waterholes on the 200 miles back to the depot either. It was a good thing we were carrying water. The next worry was whether the rest of the party was still at the depot. If the water had run out there the men would have returned to Youldeh, and we didn’t have enough water to travel that far.

  As we came over the last sandhill to Ooldabinna we searched the ground ahead for canvas. ‘I see them,’ I shouted, ‘the tents are still there.’

  It was the twenty-second day of August; we had been away eighteen days and we were as glad to see the others as they us. Padar hugged me, and I clung to him, shocked to find I was about to cry. Mr Giles said, ‘So Saleh, you didn’t get eaten in the scrub, I see.’

  Padar chose to smile and I pretended to blink my eyes free of dust.

  There was only a bucket or two of slush left in the wells to give our four camels a drink. Mustara nudged me looking for more, and I kissed him in sympathy.

  That night it rained. It was as if God was rewarding us after a hard time in the desert. We raced to catch the water running off the tents. I stubbed my toe in the dark but it was a small thing compared with catching water.

  Mr Giles broke into poetry again. ‘I am thankful to heaven for paying part of a longstanding debt, but it owes me more showers yet.’

  We slept little and spent the time watching the rain and checking it was running into the canvas troughs and into the wells.

  By breakfast time the rain had stopped. Mr Tietkens told of their search for a depot in the north. ‘We found a native well but it only had a bucketful of water.’ He looked pointedly at Mr Giles as he said this. Mr Giles just raised his eyebrows and smiled. Rain always put him in a good humour.