Description
This is a black-and-white photograph showing a camel drinking from a gnamma, or water hole, in the eastern gold fields of Western Australia at the time of the gold rush in 1909. The camel is bridled and saddled and is carrying items such as water bags and a swag needed by the prospector for his journey. The camel is kneeling on his forelegs to reach the water in the hole, which is completely concealed below the surface of the rock.
Educational value
- This asset features one of the naturally occurring rock holes, known as gnammas, that collect rain falling in the surrounding area - these holes provided an important source of water in Western Australia's arid interior before a pipeline was built from the Perth hills into the region; Indigenous peoples used and conserved gnammas, marking their whereabouts and placing branches so any animals falling into the water could escape; exploration parties searching for suitable pastoral land in the mid-1860s also used and noted their position; prospectors in the 1890s knew these positions and relied heavily on gnammas for water in their rush to the eastern gold fields.
- It shows a gnamma, a geological formation that acts as a water collection and storage tank - water follows the contours of the bare rock into a gnamma during rain; the holes can be of varying depth and size, but their small surface-area-to-water-volume reduces losses from evaporation; because the water in a gnamma is surrounded by dense rock, it is usually kept cool; in some gnammas the water is replenished from stores in underground decomposed rock.
- It indicates that scarce water sources had to be shared by humans and their animals - this situation caused some conflicts; animals could drink water of lesser quality than people, but needed more; animals, for instance, could drink water straight from the Government bore at Coolgardie, whereas the saline water needed distilling for human consumption; in this photograph a camel is drinking from the gnamma, a fact that would have angered teamsters who claimed that camels drank much more than the horses and that they polluted the water.
- It suggests the appropriation of Indigenous water sources due to the influx of people and their animals during the 1890s gold rush - Indigenous peoples had a superior knowledge of water sources in Western Australia's arid interior, using gnammas or soaks (depressions in water continually drains towards a hole dug in the centre); the original inhabitants revealed the locations of gnammas and shared their precious water sources with the newcomers, sometimes voluntarily, sometimes by coercion; water that had been a free resource soon became a commodity to be bought and sold.
- It is a source of water that would have been foreign to European prospectors joining the 1890s gold rush - several prospectors were so intrigued that they wrote about gnammas; explorer-prospector David Carnegie wrote in 'Spinifex and Sand' that he was neither a geologist nor a dentist but he likened the formation of a 'namma-hole' to a hollow formed by tooth decay; he surmised that beneath the hard surface layer, rain weathered away comparatively soft decomposed rock; he was surprised at not suffering any ill-health when he was forced to drink this water, which, 'in civilization would be thought only fit ... for the garden'.
- It shows a camel, which was more effective than a horse in Western Australia's harsh interior - this animal is loaded with equipment, including two water tanks, to allow its owner to survive the long distances between watering places; camels could carry up to 272 kg and work for up to 30 years; they could also live off the land, being partial to saltbush, whereas horses needed imported fodder; in addition, camels have spongy pads on their feet that enable them to walk easily on sand, and can travel long distances without drinking; a well-known camel named Misery, owned by explorer A P Brophy, held a record in Coolgardie for travelling 600 miles (966 km) without water.
