In the mid-nineteenth century Afghan camelmen played a critical role in opening up the vast Australian outback to Europeans. In these times camel trains were a crucial life support system to outback communities. The cameleers came from Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Turkish empire and their labour and skills in hot, dry arid conditions made possible a number of key projects including the Overland Telegraph Line between Adelaide and Darwin, the Queensland Border Fence, the Transcontinental railway Line between Port Augusta, South Australia and Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, and the Rabbit Proof fence and Canning Stock Route in Western Australia. Cameleers were also vital to the early wool and mining industries What’s more, some of the exploratory expeditions which traversed the most inhospitable parts of Australia only survived due to the expertise and endurance of the cameleers in the hot and waterless land (they were also dependent upon Indigenous Australian skill and knowledge of country).
Not too many of them around any more, but you can still ride a camel at many of the Country Shows around South Australia and sometimes at the beach at Glenelg. As for the Afghans now, any who make it here end up in Immigration Detention. Small reward for the cultural link between the countries.
2 comments:
I love the story of the camels running along the railway tracks across the Nullabor but I don't love them being hit by the train. One of the locals was ehard to say, They're dumb bastards.'
They must be very unlucky, given the small number of trains that run across the Nullarbor. I ran over a Wallaby once in Scotland of all places. The funny thing was that the other person in the car was an Australian vet, who confirmed it. Apparently it had escaped from a wildlife park in the neighbourhood.
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