Chapter 8

Richard drove to Mitchell on the 28^th, taking a room in the nearly-empty Richard’s Hotel. He ate dinner, washed up and slept. It had taken nearly nine hours to cover the 400 miles from Southport to Mitchell. But he felt invigorated in the morning. After a hearty breakfast, he drove to the store, and bought a 600’ coil of 1/4” manila, a small sledge, a bright orange grease marker and a 40’ measuring tape; he also bought ten pounds of sugar, two bricks of chewing tobacco and a tin of pipe tobacco.

He pulled onto the verge and opened the gate, slightly more decrepit than it had been years ago. He walked toward the creek, noting that the turf was greener and the ground softer in early summer than it had been in early autumn.

After about five minutes, he realized he was being watched. “I come as a friend. I am known to Amos.”

He waited.

“You Holli-man?” It was a teenager.

“Yes.”

“You are expected. Come.”

Richard followed the youth for a few minutes and came to a clearing where there were several fires, six or eight humpies, and two dozen aborigines of various ages and both genders. Amos stepped forward.

“I bid you welcome, Holli-man.”

“I greet you, Amos. I have brought sugar and tobacco.”

Amos gestured to one of the women who stepped forward an took the two sacks from Richard.

“We have yabbies and fruit. Will you share with us?”

“I will be honored to share with you.”

Amos laughed. “There! We have complied with the required formalities. Come and sit.” He gestured towards some stones and a few fallen tree trunks. He raised his voice a little. “Andrew, Stephen, Henry, Joshua come and sit.”

They sat and two young women brought bark plates with bush fruit and charred yabbies. Each had something. Then Amos said: “Richard owns all this land.”

Richard had been well-taught by James. “Only Baiame owns the land.”

Amos laughed. “The Shire of Booringa of the White Man’s government says that Holli-man owns this land.”

The Shire of Booringa was a local government area in the Maranoa region of Queensland, Australia. It existed from 1879 to 2008. The largest town and home of the shire administration was Mitchell. The shire is now part of the Maranoa Region.

“OK.”

“Tell us of your plan.”

“As you know, I am working on a station to the north. I have agreed to work there till the end of next year. In the meantime, I thought I might look about here and take your counsel as to where I should plan to site the main house and some other structures.”

“That is good. Joshua has worked on a station near Roma. Stephen and Henry worked on building houses north of Mitchell.”

“On the road to park,” said one.

“Forestvale Road,” chimed the other.

“Good. I thought to lay out a site and measure it. Perhaps tomorrow. I would put in stakes where the corners of the house would be.”

“Put it on a slab or make pillars?”

“I think pillars. A slab would take more digging, more levelling. And it would mean designing and laying out plumbing. My basic plan would be 30 by 40 feet. At four or five foot centers, that would be 50 pillars. I would plant rebar into the tops of the pillars. And treated 4x6 joists as the bridges.”

“Anchor bolts work better than rebar. 3/4 inch. Hex nuts on top.”

“Right! You’re Stephen?”

“No. Henry. That’s Stephen.”

“How deep and how high?”

“A foot deep and eighteen above ground. Mebbe more, mebbe less. Dig some sample holes, first.”

“That’s a good plan. I’ve got a few tools in my truck. But no shovel.”

“We got several shovels.”

“Can we meet here tomorrow morning?”

“No problem. First we look at site.”

Amos and Joshua had remained silent. Now Amos said: “I show you where house goes.”

Four of them stood up. Amos began walking westward. “What about Joshua?” Richard asked.

“No stock, no need for stockman,” Amos responded. “Andrew my son.” The group crossed a small creek and walked about half a mile. Then Richard could see a hillock. “That’s your site.”

Richard walked up the hill, walked around on it. “Where’s the highway?” Amos pointed. “I want to walk there.”

It took him about 10 minutes. Looking east, Richard could see his red ute, though there was a bend in the road. There wasn’t an obvious gate in the fencing, but that wasn’t an obstacle. He took out his Wittingslowe and cut a notch near the top of a post. He’d know where to pull over next time.

He walked back. “Looks good. I’ll come tomorrow but not too early. I’ll buy some sacks of cement and some buckets. And two plastic sheets. We can get water and sand from the creek.”

“Meet here near ten?” asked Stephen.

“Yes. Bring a shovel or two.”

“Right.”

“Amos. I am in your debt.”

“We help you now. Later you help us.”

Richard stopped at the bank and took two hundred pounds from his account. He drove to the hardware store and bought several 1”x6”x8’ rough planks and 10 lbs. of 3” nails. He arranged to pick up two sacks of quick-set concrete in the morning, along with two buckets and a galvanized trough. Back in the hotel, he ate a sandwich and tried to work out how much concrete he’d need for 50 pillars. He guessed they’d be 30x7x7. Maybe a bit less. That’d come to fifty cubic feet of mix. But they’d try for just the four corners tomorrow. He added six anchor bolts and hex nuts to his list. And a crosscut saw. And an eight-foot 2x2 (treated). He’d pay by cheque. He wanted to give a hundred to Amos.

Examination of the geological map had revealed that an artesian well should supply water on the station; perhaps two. But the property was certainly within the Eromanga basin. He’d worry about a drilling contractor next year.

Over many millions of years, the Great Australian Basin was created by the deposition of sediments that eventually formed alternating layers of permeable sandstone and impermeable siltstones and mudstones. The deposits occurred in three major depressions; the Carpentaria, Eromanga and Surat basins, which make up the GAB. Government of Queensland

Amos wasn’t in sight, but Henry and Stephen were near the fencepost he’d marked. The ute was unloaded quickly and everything transferred to the proposed site, where one sheet was spread as a barrier to damp. The 2x2 was cut in four and one piece driven into the ground. Glancing at the sun, Richard measured 40’ to the west and drove in a second stake. “Front of house facing north,” he said to the workmen. Richard then measured 30’ at a right angle and walked to his first stake. “Henry, could you hold this here?” he gave him the hooked tab at the end of his measuring tape and walked toward the marker. “Close,” he muttered, and moved a bit, then putting the third stake upright.