Expedition to Europe

Port Hedland is one of Australia's largest iron ore export ports in the 21st century.

Port Hedland has excellent hydrological conditions, with an average depth of about 15 meters, and can accommodate ore transport ships of more than 100,000 tons.

At the same time, the geographical location here is also very advantageous. If you go all the way north from here, it is less than 2,000 kilometers away from Kalimantan. From the perspective of sea transportation, this is simply within reach.

However, in the early 20th century, Port Hedland did not have the status of the 21st century, because the iron ore mines in the Pilbara region had not yet been discovered, so it was just a fishing port, and because it was a bit far from the traditional fishing grounds, few fishermen were willing to travel so far to dock in Port Hedland, even though the port conditions here were actually good.

Port Hedland in the early 20th century covered an area of ​​only about one square kilometer, with a population of only more than a hundred people, that is, a small village, and even because the residents were relatively scattered, it could not even be called a small village.

Well... because there are only a few wooden docks in the port now, it can't be called a port now, it's just a harbor at most. Considering the convenience of expression, we still call it "Port Hedland".

The residents of Port Hedland live a peaceful life. They just graze or fish every day. They don't create much economic value and don't have much development potential, so the Western Australian government doesn't pay much attention to it.

There are not even sheriffs and tax officials here. You must know that in the Commonwealth, the above two officials are essential configurations. Basically, as long as the taxes received can support these two positions, there will definitely be these two officials.

But at this time, Port Hedland didn't even have these two officials. You can imagine how desolate and backward it is here.

In April 1919, a large group of strangers landed in Port Hedland. Seeing that they were wearing turbans and looked lean and thin, they were Indians and the former Dutch East Indians.

In fact, it's not appropriate to describe it as a large group, because the number of people is really a bit large. The first ship alone brought more than 1,500 people.

1,500 people!

This is equivalent to ten times the number of natives in Port Hedland.

This situation naturally aroused the vigilance of the locals. The men gathered together spontaneously, holding weapons and looking at the strangers with scrutiny; the women returned home and closed the doors and windows, and stayed behind the windows with the children, looking curiously at this place through the glass.

Obviously, life on the ship is boring. The guys who got off the ship looked a little shaky. Just like the locals looked at them with scrutiny, they were also looking at everything here curiously, whether it was people or buildings.

So there were two distinct groups of people standing on the simple dock. They were on guard against each other and had no intention of communicating with each other.

There was a reason for the lack of communication. Port Hedland was in a state of anarchy. No one was able to represent others, and people were unwilling to be represented. So once this happened, naturally no one came forward to negotiate.

And those who had just landed, their heads were probably not up yet, so no one came to negotiate.

People are social animals. Since they live in groups, communication is inevitable. If there is no communication, there will always be some trouble.

Because the dock is really simple and the wooden plank road does not extend far into the sea, although the conditions in Port Hedland are good, those ocean-going ships still cannot dock, so they can only rely on lifeboats to send people to the shore.

As more and more people landed, the natives began to feel uneasy, because there were too many people who looked dry and thin, and they could not compete with the simple weapons in the hands of the natives.

Just when the natives began to feel uneasy, there was movement from the people who landed.

A guy who looked like he might be in his 20s or 30s suddenly covered his stomach and looked around, and then in full view of everyone, he ran to an open space not far away, took off his pants and squatted down.

Open space!

There was no cover there.

But the Indians in turbans did not say anything, and they were not even interested in taking a look.

The guy who urinated and defecated in public didn't look embarrassed at all. He just squatted down openly and raised his black buttocks...

"God, what does this damn guy want to do?" A bearded aboriginal stared at him for a long time, then suddenly loaded the shotgun in his hand, and then rushed over angrily.

He wanted to teach those unruly guys a lesson and let them know whose territory this is.

"Bill, wait, don't be impulsive..." A middle-aged man in military uniform reached out and grabbed the bearded man.

Judging from the style of the middle-aged man's uniform, he was an Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who participated in the World War. It is estimated that this middle-aged man has just returned from the European battlefield.

Well, that's right. When the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps fought in Europe, they had a lot of cooperation with the Indian Army Corps, so the soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps naturally knew the virtues of the Indians, especially in terms of being close to nature.

Indians actually love nature by nature. They are straightforward and innocent. They eat when they want to eat and poop when they want to poop, even if they can't find a toilet or there is no toilet paper...

Uh...don't get me wrong, Indians wipe their butts with their left hands and eat with their right hands.

Forget it, let's not talk about such disgusting things...

Public urination and defecation is definitely not an isolated phenomenon in India. Even in the 21st century, it is not uncommon on the streets of the Indian capital. In the early 20th century, it was commonplace in Port Hedland.

So in just over ten minutes, the place where the young man squatted just now was horrible.

Well, if you want to pass by there again, you may have to jump.

Faced with this situation, let alone the bearded man who is now so angry that he is about to smoke, even the former soldier who was rational at first felt it was intolerable.

So after finally seeing a white man in a jacket and jeans jump ashore, the former soldier couldn't wait to communicate.

"Hi, my name is Steven, I'm glad you all came to beautiful Port Hedland." Steven extended his hand in a friendly manner.

Who said that foreigners don't beat around the bush? Although this guy was livid just now, his smile can still make people feel like spring breeze.

"Hi, nice to meet you, my name is Jonathan, from Yorkshire." Jonathan responded enthusiastically. Australia is still a Commonwealth country, and they are considered a family.

"Oh, Yorkshire, I've been there. It's a really beautiful place. The pudding and gingerbread are great." Steven was enthusiastic and praised Jonathan.

"Haha, yes, the gingerbread is great. I brought some. If you don't mind, I can ask you to taste it. It's the authentic Yorkshire flavor." Jonathan laughed heartily.

Who doesn't say that our hometown is good? This feeling is the same all over the world. Whether it's an Oriental or a Westerner, praising the other's hometown is definitely an effective way to quickly get closer to each other.

"Of course, I'm very happy. I can also ask you to taste my homemade dark beer." Steven doesn't mind making friends, but it depends on whether the other party is worth making friends with.

"In fact, Hedland is also a beautiful place, but you see..." Steven changed his tone and went around the large area of ​​disharmony that was continuing to expand. Coupled with a look of helplessness and embarrassment, it was really sympathetic.

"Oh, God, these damn guys are making garbage randomly again. It's really unbearable. You may not know that when you are on a ship, if there is no supervision, there will be garbage on the stairs, in the storage room, in the dining room, in the bedroom... almost everywhere!" Jonathan's reaction was not what Steven expected. While mumbling, he apologized to Steven and smiled awkwardly, and took out his belt and strode over.

The original text is in the six # 9 @book/bar!

Steven did not stop him. In fact, if it was up to Steven, he should have shot them all into a hornet's nest with a shotgun and thrown them far into the sea to feed the sharks.

Yes, in Steven's mind, he did use "them" to describe these guys who urinated and defecated everywhere.

"Damn... Get out of here... Get out of the way... My God... Look at what you did? Get out, get out..." Jonathan didn't say much nonsense, and started to beat them with a belt.

This area is actually a "minefield". Jonathan was caught by the trap without paying attention, and now he is beating like crazy.

"Hey... Jonathan, forget it. If you kill someone by mistake, it will be your loss." A white man who just landed tried to dissuade him, but he was just talking. He had no intention of going over, and his words did not show much respect.

"Samit, bring your people to clean up here. There is no pay for this job. I will come to check later. If the cleaning is not thorough, you will all go back to Calcutta!" Jonathan looked at the shoes under his feet with a livid face.

Soon, with Jonathan's shouting and cursing, a group of people came and started to clean up.

What's more disgusting is that they don't have any tools...

"Oh my God..." Steven closed his eyes in pain. He had a premonition that the peaceful days in Hedland would never come back.

At night, at Steven's house.

Steven fulfilled his promise and invited Jonathan and dark beer, which was brewed by Steven himself.

Of course, Jonathan did not break his promise. He brought gingerbread from Yorkshire and asked Steven and his neighbors to taste it.

"... So, this is what happened. My boss Jack bought a large piece of mountain land nearby. I can't tell how big it is. It's probably the size of two or three Yorkshires!" Jonathan, who had changed his clothes, introduced his origins.

Jonathan and his friends were now sitting on Steven's lawn. There were Jonathan, several of Jonathan's colleagues, and Steven and his neighbors.

"Two or three Yorkshires... God, what does your boss want to do?" Australians are actually British, and someone sighed immediately.

"Pfft... The mentality of the rich is incomprehensible. Maybe that 'angel' wants to drill oil from the Pilbara." Someone speculated.

"I think he is quite a king. He has created a king, and it's not rare for him to ascend the throne." Someone laughed.

About the "Angel Jack", it is estimated that the whole Commonwealth now knows about it. In other words, it is estimated that the whole world now knows about it.

Who made the British Empire now known as the "sun never sets"?

"So, how long will those Indians stay here?" Steven asked the question that everyone was most concerned about.

"It's hard to say, maybe tomorrow, maybe forever, it depends on the boss's mood." Jonathan was just a grassroots employee, he couldn't understand the boss's intentions.

After hearing Jonathan's answer, Steven's heart was extremely cold. Was he going to live with these guys who had no sense of "civilization" in the future?

No, no, no, that was unacceptable no matter how he thought about it, but if he didn't want to make do with it, what should he do?

"In fact, the most ideal place for me to work is Perth. I heard that the black swans there are very cute. I want to go and see them." Jonathan seemed to be nagging unintentionally.

Perth?

Yes, it's Perth!

A ray of hope suddenly appeared in front of Steven's eyes.

"Joe, does your boss need a ranch?" Steven made up his mind.