OLD CHINESE LINK WITH NORTHERN TERRITORY SURFACES IN DARWIN

 As a result of  Little Darwin's recent  photographic  post on  Darwin's Chinese temple  , local resident , Bob White , with  a swag of  interesting  stories  to   tell ,  sent   an  email  with   photographs   and   details of  a brass  Chinese  joss stick holder  he  inherited from  his father , who  had   been  a   buffalo   shooter. 

Bob said there are two theories about the origin of the  object -that it  came from  the  Darwin  Chinese   temple  that  was ransacked  and  burnt   during WWll,  or  the  Pine Creek  temple  which  might have  experienced  the  same   fate.

He felt it could have come from Pine Creek  because his father had been a buffalo shooter between the East and South Alligator rivers  after the war, connected  with  Jimmy  Ah Toy whose  business interests  included a  well known  store   in  the  town. 

His father had operated from a  depot  with a nearby  Aboriginal camp ,near Patonga, later  said  to have  been sold to  Alan  Alexander Stewart, the so called  Great  White  Hunter, mentioned  in  this  blog.  . 

Buffaloes  were  shot in  the  spine   from  horseback so  that they became paralysed   and  were    later   skinned  for  their  hide.

 In an attempt to  find out information about  the  object,  Bob White  got Darwin's  Chung  Wah Society  to send it  to China . It  was sent back  with the  advice that   it was  ancient, with symbols dating from pre 1700-1800.

 It has what appears to be  a rising sun phallic symbol  between  two  dragons  and  also   a  swastika like  mark. 

The extent of  the Chinese involvement in the Northern Territory, especially Pine Creek ,  is  indicated  in  this  photograph  displayed  in   Darwin .  

 

 NOTE : It is intended to run some of  Bob's  interesting stories  which  include  an  uncle  who  found  the uranium  which led to the   Rum Jungle  mine,  another  relative who worked on a Queensland lighthouse  and   Bob's  memories  of  schooldays  in  Townsville, working  in  the  Northern Territory News  as  a  proofreader.