Back in the villages of their
homeland, when the people met on Sunday for Mass, the letters were passed around, read and
re-read. It was then that the seed of the second migration was sown.
Laurence SCHISCHKA undertook to head
another group of immigrants to PUHOI and it's numbers were made up as eagerly as those of
the first batch two years previously. There were 28 of them, mainly from the SCHISCHKA,
WECH and WENZLICK families.
It was not a midnight departure this
time. The train left LITTITZ at 9 o'clock in the morning on October 16th 1865 for PILSEN.
After a intermittent journey by train across Europe, they sailed from LONDON on the 8th
November in the "LIVERPOOL", a ship of 1,454 tons with 192 passengers. Like the
first group, they had several weeks of peaceful sailing, then a storm.
Vincent SCHISCHKA wrote in his
diary, memoirs of the journey.
"A lot of water reached even
the steerage deck and the ship rolled so that the water stood higher than the ship. We
believed that the ship would flounder and we had fear for our lives but all went
well".
It is obvious that Sunday did not
pass unmarked among the devout BOHEMIAN people, for the diary is mainly worked out, not
from the calender dates, but by the Sundays of the liturgical year.
"On the Third Sunday of Lent we
passed the Equator."
" On the Tuesday after the
Second Sunday in Advent the first individual died on the ship."
The first casualty was a shoemaker
and, a few days later the passengers thought they had an additional tragedy to record in
their dairies when one of the ship's officers fell from the mast into the sea. However, he
was picked up and was unhurt.
Other entries in Vincent SCHISCHKA
diary of memoirs:
"On the 15th January we caught
and albatross whose body is bigger than that of a goose. The beak is broad and its feet
webbed. Its fine feathers are white. Only the wings are white."
"On the 20th January in the
darkness of night we had the biggest storm we have had. So much so that a newly made boom
broke off and nearly all the sails were reefed so that they would not tear."
"Night of the 26th - a twelve
year old girl died and the following day we caught another albatross."
"On the 26th February, we saw
the NZ Coast for the first time. The coast we could see was mountainous."
"On the 5th March 1866, about
noon we arrived near AUCKLAND and anchored not far from the town. The sight of the town
appears white and its small houses are surrounded by gardens and fields."
After travelling through he cities
of EUROPE, The BOHEMIANS thought AUCKLAND town a poor collection of Shanties - they had
not seen PUHOI yet!
When the "LIVERPOOL"
rounded North Head (entry to the Auckland Harbour) she was flying the yellow fever flag
which was a source of great distress and disappointment to the relatives. There had
been seventeen cases of typhoid on board, but only two had proven fatal.
The latest arrivals were meet by an
immigration officer and taken to the inevitable nikau whares which had been erected as
Immigration Offices among the ti-tree on what is now ALBERT PARK - in the centre of
AUCKLAND.
The Provincial Government was very
anxious to settle as many people as possible in the WAIKATO area (about 100 miles south of
AUCKLAND) - perhaps to consolidate against possible Maori reprisals for land confiscation.
Lawrence SCHISCHKA, at the request
of the government when to the WAIKATO and met again the BOHEMIANS who had settled there
after the War. He bought a 50 acres section - where the OHAUPO railway station is now
stands - for 1 pound sterling and then returned to tell his companions in AUCKLAND
what he had done.
Nothing, however would persuade them
to change their plans. They were determine to proceed to PUHOI and would go nowhere else.
Rather than split up the group at the start of their new life, Lawrence SCHISCHKA gave in
to the wishes of the majority, abandoning his expectation of the new land he had bought,
and agreed to go with them to PUHOI.
His contract at OHAUPO has been
easier to make than break!
Although he had forfeited his
deposit, the owner of the land, a Mr Rochchiss had demanded payment of the full amount,
and when it was not forthcoming imprisoned Mr SCHISCHKA for the debt.
A letter composed presumably
to his sons from his debtor's prison, emphasise the steady quality of his own character
and, perhaps points out the strength and tenacity of all BOHEMIAN settlers. His attitude
is the mirror of that of the first PUHOI settlers all over again. He is resigned and
prepared to make the best of a bad situation: not invective against his misfortunes, but
quietly calculating the prospects; looking forward to the time when the present
difficulties would be over and schemed accordingly.
"We don't do badly. I have a
warm bed and food as much as I need. I have it better than at home or as you. But however,
no pleasure. Look after yourselves and pray until our hour strikes again when I can look
after you. Be sensible in all things and go home every day. At least by this you help the
house and mother better."
Finally, the imprisoner got tired of
supporting him in prison and he was released. He returned to AUCKLAND, his wife, children
and the rest of the party. They then resumed their interrupted journey to their promised
land - PUHOI.
It was not Maori canoes waiting for
this group at the mouth of the river - it was Paul STRAKS's punt. Their final journey was
an improvement on that of the first arrivals for they were taken up the river in daylight.
Their arrival at the landing place however, was almost as daunting as that of the first
group.
As the punt was poled in toward the
wharf, their first greeting was a shout from a Waterloo veteran of the Prussian Army
Corps, a Mr Pittner. "What tempted you to come out here into this wilderness? You
have come from the frying pan into the fire!"
Lawrence SCHISCHKA's reply was brief
and to the point..... "Your letters."
The disappointment covered by that
short reply can easily be imagined.
Perhaps the arrival of the new batch
of hopefuls - so soon to be disappointed - reminded the original pioneers of their own
high hopes which had been submerged in continual toil, for they gave them a sombre
reception.
Vincent WENZLICK, one of the new
arrivals has left a record of the cheerless atmosphere of the reunion.
"A reception in tears, not of
joy but of despair. They were pleased to meet us but, under the circumstances
knowing the difficulties and burdens they were still struggling under, and aware that we
were about to participate in a similar destiny, they reckoned that our safe arrival at
PUHOI only meant a prolonged agony - worse than death itself. As we gazed upon the
members of the first batch assembled to meet us, we could have easily notice the three
years' suffering they had lived through. It was written in their faces. What could we do?
There was only one course open to us. To face the future as our predecessors had done -
and face it bravely!"
It could not be tears all the time.
Some joy must have risen to the surface in the talk of the old country and the people left
behind. Perhaps the original pioneers, having explained about their difficulties took some
pleasure in pointing out that the worse was now past and showing with pride how such
difficulties had been overcome.
Joint effort bridged the gap between
them. The new arrivals were a compensation to the settlement for those who had left PUHOI
for the bleak undulating land of the WAIKATO. Instead of a number of individual groups to
struggle for themselves, it was added strength for the community: More
hands and brains to work for the
common cause, an even better chance of survival for the community.
Ten years following the first
arrivals, the third and final organised group of BOHEMIANS disembark. In spite of their
great hardships, PUHOI must have made it's claim upon the affections of all of them, for
in 1873 it as John SCHOLLUM - of the original group - and Lawrence SCHISCHKA - of the
second group - who were leaders in orchestrated with the government that the third group
should receive land under the Homestead Act. Te Hemera's people had transferred their pa
from the river mouth and had sold the property to the government. It was on this land that
the new settlers were established.
This group was comprised of Mr &
Mrs Anton SCHISCHKA, John STILLER, Heilder, Joseph & Wenzl SCHOLLUM and a cousin Miss
D SCHOLLUM.
The situation facing them was
considerably rosier than that which had confronted the other groups but they threw
themselves at once into the community effort - not now for mere existence but for
prosperity and for PUHOI.
