Page:History of West Australia.djvu/480



HERE are no biographies published in this work where the gentlemen concerned can claim a longer association with Western Australia than Mr. John Thomas, better known as Captain Thomas. It is a somewhat impressive fact and one calling for respect and delight that we have still in our midst he who came to the colony in the year when it was proclaimed—in 1829. Captain Thomas thus bridges the space of time between the days when Western Australia was the hunting ground of the dusky natives and the present, when the whites are pushing their enterprise and industry over the rich lands, north, south, east, and west, and even into the solemn deserts of the interior. In itself it is the span of a long life, and one fraught with much pregnant moment, not only to the continent of Australia, but to the whole world besides. While Captain Thomas has been hid in the interminable forests and the gloom and mystery of silence in Western Australia, cities have been born on the continent which have grown to such dimensions as to be recognised the world over. Notable men have appeared, and in his own colony and the others of the group great industries have risen, and the white man's ingenuity and industry have sedulously penetrated where the black in 1829 reigned supreme.

The life of Captain Thomas in Western Australia has been a romantic one. His experience among the poor, ignorant savages, his days spent in the grim silence of the woods, and his voyages along the immense coast and to convenient islands, are remarkable enough to form subject matter for a novel. Many a tale he can tell of the early days of Western Australia which should appear in books of history before they forever sink into the forgotten. He is a link binding the past with the present, and his biography should find interested readers everywhere.

John Thomas was born in Wales in 1815. He was educated in his native land, and when the boy was fourteen years old his father accompanied Mr. Thomas Peel to Western Australia to take the position of clerk of works on somewhat extensive land proposals that gentleman intended carrying out in this colony. The whole family set sail in the ship Gilmour, and landed in Fremantle in November, 1829. Thus the subject of our sketch entered this colony some five months after it was proclaimed and not long after the first settlement was made at Albany. Fremantle at that time was in its dismal native state, and little evidence could be seen by the incoming pioneers of the work of white men. However, they soon joined the little party who had bravely elected to pioneer the colony under Commander Stirling. One of those who entered Western Australia by the same vessel was Mr. Smythe, who subsequently surveyed the site of Fremantle. Among the first efforts of the boy John Thomas was that of cutting timber in the locality where Rockingham now stands. The wood obtained from there was eminently suitable for the erection of houses. Large tribes of natives inhabited the district, and already they were showing how greatly they resented the raids of the whites upon what they considered their own peculiar property. In order to safely accomplish their work the party of woodcutters, of which Mr. Thomas made one, was guarded by two men with guns, to frighten off the armed blacks. The lad came through the dangers of this work unscathed, gnd returned to Fremantle and Perth. He followed various occupations—among the few which so young a place supplied—and in 1832, in partnership with a man named William Gaze, he began farming in the Kelmscott district, on the present Canning Road. Before the seed could be sown the fields had to be denuded of timber, and the two pioneers proceeded energetically to clear the forest and to establish a home. John Thomas, although but seventeen years old, was able to do a man's work, and the two quickly cleared part of their little holding, prepared the soil, and tilled the wheat. Another chain of land yet remained to be cleared and tilled. One fine autumn morning they worked as usual, but the day eventuated in horror for both of them. Leaving their tools in the field they repaired to their modest hut, some little distance away, and partook of their simple noonday meal. This over, they returned to work, and while one sowed a little patch of the primitive farm the other began cutting away the timber. Presently they were roused from their occupations by the howling of their dog, and looking in the direction whence the sounds came they observed that the animal was speared through the head. Glancing from him to the ridge above, they saw scores of natives assembled and seemingly bent on encompassing their destruction. Could the two men but get into their hut where their guns were they would be safe, but the natives were cunning enough to place themselves on the path they must take. A mile