Gold Dust and Ashes

Idriess has a real talent for taking what is an interesting and incredible story of a place or a group of pioneers, and wrapping a realistic and honest narrative around it to make it into an un-put-downable book.
In this case, when Australia claimed occupation of German New Guinea in 1914, prospectors and gold men were already working the dangerous depths of headhunter tribal lands. These were brave (some might say foolish) and physically able men - most often working alone and either living with or alongside the natives, buying their friendship with iron - axes, knifes and the like. Among the first pioneers were ‘Shark-Eye' William Park, and a handfull of others such as Arthur Darling and
At the same time CJ Levien (1874-1932) served as a lieutenant in the military administration in New Guinea in 1919-21. Saddled with debts from his farming venture, he quickly recognized that New Guinea might offer prospects for a better life. Meanwhile, he transferred to the post-war civil administration where his energy, maturity, and organizing ability were highly regarded by his superiors. ‘Tall, broad-shouldered and tough', he proved a capable district officer.

In 1919 Levien opened a new government station at Buka. In 1921 he contrived to have himself posted as district officer to Morobe, where southern tributaries of the Markham River had once again become a focus for prospecting. He spent long months looking for news of Park, who was flying well below the radar. park meanwhile had struck rich ground. Beyond the scale of a single man operation, park took on a partner, Jack Nettleton, and as word inevitably got out and the field opened up, with another half dozen prospectors making the difficult journey inland, hiring carriers and workers from the local tribes.

Levien bided his time, and before long joined in, setting up his own team. But Levien was a big thinker, and he was thinking years in advance. This made his the perfect primary character in Idriess's book. At the same time Levien and the other prospectors were cutting out the incredibly rich ground in the small creek, he was thinking of the next strike. He kept careful records of what others were doing - things had opened up further, and the main areas of known productive land were claimed, so many newcomers were prospecting further up stream, seeking the source of the gold. Levien was thinking about the limitations of the site, and how he can improve those. That meant either a road, or a plane. At the same time he was also planning the future for the less productive land - which still contained gold, but not of sufficient quantity for small scale digging. He was dreaming of dredging. At the time, of course, this was an impossible dream. Commercial dredges weighed hundred of tons, and there was no way native carriers would manage even the smallest parts.

Idriess rolls out the story, and Levien follows his long terms plans, in doing so established so many firsts, and so many records, so far in advance of the rest of the world it is incredible that this is not a more well known story. Some statistics mentioned near the end of the book astound:

[P245]
The day came when Levien saw spread out before him an aeroplane fleet worth £180,000. That fleet carried in three and a half years more that 12,000,000 pounds of cargo with 6776 passengers, and made 5987 trips with only one casualty. In one month in 1931 no less than 581 tons were flown in over the mountains, a far greater quantity of cargo than the combined air fleets of the world had transported during the previous twelve months!A world's record, both in aviation and in engineer-mining. That is not a boast: It is a simple fact. For long we have admired the accomplishments of other nations. Let us admire them. But let us, too, admire the accomplishments of our own men.

My review only hits the highlights of setting up the story. There is much more that my review hints at - there are the tales of many other men (and women) told in part in this book. There are those who got rich and got out, and those who got rich and didn't. There are, of course those who didn't get rich. There are the complex and intricate dealings with the New Guinea natives, bloodthirsty and defending their land against this influx of white men, strangely infatuated with the yellow stones the natives take for granted. There is the businesses established to commercialise the gold rush, and there are the heroic tales of the miners, the pilots, and the pioneers of Australian Occupied New Guinea.

In 1949 the Territory of Papua and New Guinea was established by an administrative union between the Australian-administered territories of Papua and New Guinea in 1949. In 1972, the name of the Territory changed to “Papua New Guinea” and in 1975 it became the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.

5 stars.