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Western Australia on 7 July 1894 (Sturt Recorder, 13 July, 1894:2), but
most strings seemed to be comprised of about forty camels.
Gool Mahommet, an Afghan hawker who chose to ignore the rules let his
three camels feed on the common for a few hours. In consequence he was
fined three shillings and sixpence, but to this were added 'costs of the
court' of nine shillings and eight pence. (Sturt Recorder, 10 September
1898:2) The fine was not large, but the opportunity cost of having to attend
court at Milparinka some days or weeks after the offence was committed
was considerable. Another 'Afghan', Mahommet Croze, brought thirty two
camels onto the common without giving the proper notice. He was fined
twenty shillings when brought before the Milparinka Police Court (Sturt
Recorder, 26 November 1898:2).
Gool Mahommet was one of several 'Afghans' to be granted hawking
licenses by the Milparinka Licensing Court. Mongul Sin, another hawker,
was granted a license by the court in January 1898. Thomas Hill (licensee
of the Albert Hotel) and F.C. Bamess (whose occupation at the time is
unknown, but who in 1892 had been a stonemason) acted as his
bondsmen (Sturt Recorder, 8 January 1898:2). The next year Patti Yungh
and Rabba Singh were granted hawking licenses by the court (Sturt
Recorder, 7 January 1899:3)
The Afghan cameleers appear generally to have worn traditional clothing,
and in the case of the haWkers, seem to have 'put on a show' when
arriving in the township. Nel Barlow, in a discussion of life at Milparinka
prior to the first World War said
"... it was a great day the days the Afghans came though ... we'd get
a school holiday and the camels would march down the street and
the ghans would be all dressed up with their elaborate turbans and
the camels would be all decorated up with bells and rugs and you
know ... it was a great day and they'd march through the streets and
we'd all get a school holiday...[they didn't come all that
often]...they'd bring food .. you know big bags of flour and sugar all
that and there would be some of them like be hawkers and bring
materials and had materials and it would be a great day. Everybody
would dress up and go down to see the hawker open up all his
goods... Down towards the creek there used to be a plain there but I
think there's trees on it now... they used to camp there" (Nel Barlow,
personal communication, 1988).
The plain was part of Milparinka Common, but by the time which Nel
remembered, camels had become recognised for their worth and were
perhaps grudgingly accepted by the European population. Unfortunately
the nature of this camp, and its location, make it very unlikely that any
archaeological evidence remains for its existence.
During good seasons bullock teams and some horse teams attempted to
compete with the camel trains. But a good season for horses and bullocks