- They departed from STAAB, a country
railway station 65 miles to the south-east of PRAGUE (then the capital of BOHEMIA) at
twelve a.m. on 26th February 1863.
-
- It was a icy winter night and the
land was covered with snow but all the friends, neighbours and relatives from the
surrounding districts came to see them off, arriving at the railway station on foot, on
horseback and in wagons.
-
- The old people tried not to display
their hurt that the young were so enthusiastic to leave them and the young tried to
conceal their impatience that the elderly could not participate their enthusiasm and
intense hopes.
-
- The frosty air cracked with
excitement and a impression of high adventure.
-
- The small towns and villages of
BOHEMIA felt that they were opening a portal to the new world. Most of them were confident
that those who were leaving would become rich and prosperous in no time at all, that they
would share their wealth with those left behind and always be ready to clasp out a hand to
those who wished to follow.
-
- Some were very youthful like Benedict
Remiger, who was only twelve and on fire to conquer new worlds.
-
- His father was most unwillingly
allowing him to go and made his final appeal at the doorway of the train.
-
- He told his son that he would gladly
forfeit the passage money he had paid if the boy had any doubts at this late hour.
Benedict laughed, kissed his father and boarded the train.
-
- In his imagination he was already the
landlord of wide and fertile acres, travelling back home to set up his parents in comfort
before returning to his sunny land of plenty.
-
- At midnight the final goodbyes were
said, the ultimate promises made, and the last handclasp broken. The train moved,
cautiously at first, then rapidity sped into the darkness.
At the STAAB station the company
broke up and the people made their route back across the snow to lonely homes from which
one or more of their loved one's had gone forever.
Even the group on the train must
have been saddened and silent at the moment of separation, but they probably wiped away
their tears, made a few jokes and reminded one another again of their fine progression.
Perhaps one of the men played the
accordion while the others sang. It is certain that some took out packs of cards and
started to deal while mother's tried to settle their sleepy children down as the train
carried them swiftly through the snow covered fields on the start of their journey.
Morning saw them in the city of
PRAGUE. It was perhaps, the first time many of them has seen the capital but hey had a
full and busy day of last minute preparations, attention to visas, shopping for the long
voyage, possibly visits to relatives and more goodbyes, and finally, a visit by the
leaders of the group to His Eminence, Cardinal Schwarzenburg, Archbishop of Prague.
Nothing underlines more the
importance of this mass emigration and the high hopes or its success in the eyes of the
people, than the fact they were received by the Prelate.
The Cardinal gave them his Blessing
and spoke to them like a true father of God. He reminded them that they had, of their own
free will, decided to become citizens of a foreign country and that they would soon be
called upon to pledge their allegiance to that country. He impressed it upon them they
must give that allegiance whole-heartily and without reservations. He reminded them that,
although they were going to the other side of the earth, it was not foreign to there
religion which was well established there and it was his earnest prayer that they would
remain faithful to their Church to the last.
Sixty years later, Benedict Remiger,
then an elderly man, recalled the Cardinal's words and testified that the people had never
forgotten them and had never betrayed the trust he had laid upon them.
- Today, over a hundred years later,
the people of PUHOI are prepared to say that the Cardinal's injunction is still memorise
and obeyed.
- From Prague, a weary railroad journey
of three days took the party across Europe to Hamburg and then over to Altona, the port.
Here they stayed for a week, feeling like seasoned travellers and citizens of the new
world.
It was a festive occasion in the
city for the future King Edward VII was there with his bride Alexandra, and they were able
to see the ceremonious departure of the couple for England and the illuminations and
decorations which sealed the royal visit.
A sail of three days across to
GRAVESEND gave them a foretaste of what the sea had in store for them, and several, at
that stage, would have been glad to turn back to their landlocked country and never
consider crossing the sea again.
When the ship wharfed at GRAVESEND
four-wheeled wagons picked up the luggage and transported it to the other wharf at which
the ship which was to take them to NEW ZEALAND waited.
It was the 'WAR SPIRIT"of 1,234
tons, Captain J.R.Luckes. It was to be her first and last voyage to New Zealand.
As the BOHEMIANS went aboard the
vessel that was to be their home for 106 days, they must have thought apprehensively of
the other ships that had sailed from this and other ports and never heard of again and of
the horror of sea-sickness of which they had just sampled.
Twelve year old Benedict Remiger had
no apprehension at all. He was one of the first on board and, like every youth on every
ship, racing around, down below, then up again, to see what it was like. He found that the
'WAR SPIRIT' had been divided into two compartments for her maiden voyage as an
immigration ship. The starboard side was apportioned to the Bohemians and the portside to
the English, Scots and Irish immigrants.
When everybody was registered, the
most important traveller, the ship's cow (the passenger's milk) as led on board.
On the 12th March the ship was towed
out into the channel. To the sound of the sailors' sea-shanties, the sails were unfurled,
the tug cast off, the 'WAR SPIRIT' took the wind in her canvas, surged forward and the
great adventure was indeed under-way.
|
