The Argus at KellyGang 19/3/1881 (5)
Except in four cases, the children are very young, and in these four cases the boys and girls are under 12. One of the rules of the establishment is that girls, before they become young women, must lodge by themselves in special quarters next the schoolroom. Some mothers object to this rule, on the ground that they require the help of their daughters in housework. The village has a clean appearance and as for the occupants of the cottages they are far more comfortably housed than the families of many scores of free selectors in the Benalla, Goulburn, and other districts. The Corinderrk cottages are palaces compared with the miserable slab huts to be seen on the farms between Benalla and the river Murray-huts often occupied by a family of seven or eight persons. At each of the cottages in the village our small party made a call, and had a brief talk with the inmates. The supply of furniture was not large, but more than one would expect to find in a blackfellow's home. In the principal room there were chairs, a table covered with a cloth, sometimes ornaments on the chimney piece, and decorations cut from illustrated papers on the wall. Sofas, or benches covered with blankets were found in several cottages. The floors and walls were clean, the housewives neatly dressed and comely in appearance, especially the women with pile complexions. They had their little children with them, and one mother was seated on a sofa with three beside her. The children were in capital health, and full of good spirits. In many cases we saw that the food was cooked in the open air, and the fireplace in the cottage left unused. This would be summer practice. The outdoor fireplace was at the back, about 10 yards from the door. Each family is supposed to have a garden, but it is only around the long occupied huts and cottages that fences have been erected to keep out the cattle, and vegetables and fruit trees planted. Several of the old gardens have been allowed to fall into neglect. Like children, the blacks soon tire of their play things...
The visitor cannot fail to be struck with the whiteness of the skins of the majority of the population. Out of 112 men women and children on Coranderrk there are only 24 pure blacks and of these 24 only two were born in the district-a fact to be remembered when people say it would be cruel to move them from their "native place". Most of the children and the young men and women are half or quarter bloods-a few almost white. It is a mistake, therefore, to regard this as a settlement of pure bred aborigines. If they have lost the colour they still retain the features and limbs of blacks-bright, full eyes, thin bony limbs, and long narrow feet. The English the children speak is good state school English, and it is said that they know little or nothing of the dialect of their aboriginal forefathers. One is disposed, on first view, to ask why the half and quarter breeds are not allowed to shift for themselves -the young men to find work on cattle runs and the girls placed out as domestic servants. But people who know the ways of the blacks intimately shake their heads at suggestions of this sort. There is a great deal of the aboriginal in the whitest children-indolence, childishness, simplicity, and easy readiness to fall into temptation-what we call temptation, but they do not give it that name. From an inspection of the school work we learned that the children can write as well as ordinary state school pupils and we heard them read and sing. The darkest children, in this respect, are as clever as the whitest. The two assistant teachers are girls, nearly black. There was much in the actions of the school children-the way in which they ranged themselves on the forms, the tones in which they sang their hymns, &c - to remind one or a school of negro children in the Southern States of America. Though the settlement is clean and fairly well ordered, it lacks, without doubt, the neatness and taste which characteises an English homestead. Many little things which clever handed craftsmen would get done at once are left unattended to. An artificial water channel runs down one street. In a model village the sides of the channel or race would be kept trim, to prevent overflows. This race is not supposed to be used except on special occasions, because it carries water down to a portion of the hop grounds where little or none is wanted. The main race takes another direction at the back of the village. The water comes from the upper portion of Coranderrk Creek, and is conducted over the high levels by an open channel to the top of the new street, where part of the stream is diverted into a single line of pipes, and the rest passed on to the hop garden. The cottagers are supposed to draw their domestic supplies from a stand pipe in the lower street, but they prefer to help themselves at a stream that flows by their doors, and therefore always keep the inlet to that stream from the main race open. If the blacks were all good carpenters their fences would be in order, but they are easily satisfied people. They don't see what good it can be to fence in a bare patch of ground securely. We only saw one fence greatly out of repair, however. The wind had blown a panel out of the perpendicular. One of the old fashioned huts had open slits between the upright slabs. The occupier, a single blackfellow was absent from the station. With regard to defects noticed by the recent official visitors in the sanitary arrangements-defects which they grossly exaggerated-it is true that some improvements might be introduced with advantage, the positions of the closets altered, so that they be more private than they are, &c. Two stand on the side of a gully which drains into the creek. The main complaint to be made against the blacks is that they do not make use of the household conveniences provided for them. But the late talk about want of decency is as monstrous and absurd as the story that one of the single blacks lodges with a family in a two roomed cottage. The man (a brief visitor from Queensland) boarded with the family, but lodged in the single men's hut, near the hop kiln. As it is the wish of the board to close Coranderrk, one can readily understand why as little money as possible should be laid out in improvements and new works. In their present state of uncertainty they do not see their way to make additions which would otherwise be undertaken at once.
As regards the cultivation carried on at Coranderrk, little need be said. Hops are grown on a well irrigated flat by the creek. The water comes from the race, and the main stream is broken up into a multitude of rivulets. When hop cultivation was first begun on a small scale a large yield was obtained, under the management of an experienced grower, but his plans were interfered with, the roots injured, and the crop fell very low. Latterly the hop plants have begun to recover their former vigour, and a reasonably good yield is expected from the 20 acres of ground now under cultivation. Several blacks are employed in the grounds. They work about eight hours a day, and the labour of eight to twelve men suffices to keep the plantation in order. When the crop is ready the station hands are not numerous enough to gather it in, and extra labour is engaged. The hop plantation is now under the care of a practical gardener, who acquired his experience under a skilled grower. The returns from the grounds depend on the season and market price of hops, which vary greatly. The gross returns range from £1,000 to £1,700 a year, and the expenses from £400 to £600. The hay crop is another source of revenue, so is the herd. The blacks are supplied with abundance of food, also clothes. Their furniture they have to buy, but a new married couple usually receives a small stock to begin housekeeping with. They have also to buy their own meat out of their wages. At first meat was sup- plied in the same way as groceries, but the blacks would not take care of it. The meat was withdrawn, and their daily wages proportionately increased. A Healesville butcher now calls thrice a week for orders, or they buy station beef. Each family is entitled to the use of a cow, and one of the difficulties of the superintendent is to make them milk their animals regularly. The principle of co-operation is not understood by the blacks, and they object to help each other. In 1879-80, the gross expenditure amounted to £2,363 9s 8d, inclusive of £413 13s 7d. paid to the blacks in wages. The gross proceeds of station produce in the same period were £1,397 7s Id. During the last seven months, the outlay has been £1,254, of which £161 16s 9d consisted of wages.
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