Tenacity in the Tropics: Chinese Overland Migration in Northeast Australia during the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

Discussion of lengthy overland travels by Chinese immigrants within colonial Australia have traditionally focused on the walk from Robe in South Australia to the Victorian goldfields, about 500 kilometres, between 1857 and 1862 involving around 16,500 migrants. Over a longer period (c. 1880©1901), small groups and individuals walked and occasionally rode from the Top End of the Northern Territory into North Queensland, about 1,500 kilometres. Travellers on this route faced diverse challenges including lack of water, Aboriginal attacks, ill-defined routes, lack of supplies and services, and the risk of arrest as illegal migrants as they crossed into Queensland. The northern trek has received little attention, despite being longer, in use for a greater period, and more hazardous than the Robe walk. Unlike their southern counterparts, only a few in the north used guides as they travelled through remote and unforgiving terrain. It is a migration that exemplifies the tenacity of both the Chinese and of those who were charged with enforcing the legislation of the times. This paper describes the general route, provides selected case studies associated with different routes used by these intrepid travellers, and examines the possible motivations for undertaking such a risky journey. Show more