Australian Fairy Tales

In the centre of Australia there’s a large and lovely lake, And its waters gleaming golden, from the sun their glory take; In the middle of the waters there’s an Island, wondrous fair, And the perfume of its fruit and flowers, like incense fills the air! In the heart of this fair Island there’s a wonder-working well, By the fairy-folk enchanted; for ’tis there the Fairies dwell!

Most people seem to think that the heart of Australia is nothing but a sandy desert. Well, that’s not quite correct. As a matter of fact, though not a great number know it, the very, very centre is inhabited by Fairies. They live there on a beautiful island in the middle of a great lake; and all they have, including their wonderful city, is all due to the “Magic Well”!

On their splendid Island there are hills covered with trees—forest trees! And there are great valleys where wild-flowers grow; and springs and streams and waterfalls; and caves with stalactites in them; those funny things that look something like sheep’s tails frozen! These stalactites hang down from the cave-roofs, and even they are due to the Magic Well! That may seem strange; but the way it happens is this:—Little drops of water, very slowly oozing down from the top of the cave, carry with them the tiniest bits of sand or limestone. The first pieces of sand or limestone just stick to the roof; and then, every other little piece, after it gets through, just clings to the piece that got there before it, so that, by-and-by, thousands and thousands of them, all joined together, make a stalactite.

But of course there are many other things there beside those that hang in caves! For instance, there are the loveliest birds and butterflies; the most beautiful beetles and moths; and, above all, the rarest lot of Australian animals the eye could wish to see. Kangaroos, Wallabys and Woolly Bears! ’Possums, Platypuses, and gaily-coloured Lizards, big and little!... And then, the fern gullies! Why, there never were such ferns anywhere ever before! Thousands of them! Tree-ferns galore! Stag-ferns in plenty! Maiden-hair in bunches as large as rose bushes; larger indeed; and cat-heads; besides great trailing asparagus ferns, and every kind that the world knows! Date palms, too; and lofty cocoanut trees; with the cocoanuts on them always ready to pull; and banana trees, with great yellow bunches of bananas hanging down most temptingly!

Then there are bread-fruit trees, as well as fruit trees of every other description; and flowers, and flowering shrubs in untold number and variety. Can you imagine such a place? And all due to the Magic Well! For without that Well the Island could not have come into existence; and, if anything were to happen to it, the Lake would disappear, and the Fairies of Australia have to find a new home!

Strictly speaking, it should have been said that the “superior fairies” would have to find a new home, for, as everybody knows, not all the fairies live in one place. Even those who belong to “Fairy Island” are not always there! Over and over again they are sent travelling about on errands for their King and Queen; and sometimes they are given very important work to do. For example, they are constantly showing the rain-drops just exactly where to fall; coaxing the wind to blow more softly on the delicate flowers; pulling the dark clouds away so that the sun can steadily shine upon the Earth, warming the soil, causing things to grow—and making everything very sweet and pleasant for everybody!

Of course there are other tribes, such as the Mountain Fairies, the River Fairies, the Forest Fairies, and many more. But these are all subject to King Waratah at Fairy Island, and have only a Governor over them now. That was not always the case. Many years ago the various tribes were all independent of one another, and each tribe had its own particular piece of country within which it lived and was supreme; and, naturally, each had its own King or Queen! But a time arrived when this was changed; and it came about in quite a wonderful way, and, in a manner of speaking, all through the Magic Well! Some day you shall be told all about it; but, for the moment, attention must be devoted to the discovery of the Magic Well, and what took place as the result of that happy event.

Now this is how the Well came to be found.

Prince Waratah, as he was then called, having come of age, was sent by his father to look for a wife. It was then the custom among the fairies—as it still is among the crowned heads of the world—for the King’s sons and daughters to get their wives or husbands from among the families of other Royal households. The Prince’s father—who was the head of the Forest Fairies—was called King Eucalyptus! And a very clever and prudent old King he was, too; though not nearly so wise as his son became, as you shall learn later on! At the same time he was not without a great deal of what is termed “natural shrewdness”! He therefore reasoned that, if he sent his son travelling from tribe to tribe—with strict injunctions or orders not to choose a wife until he had seen at least six Princesses—he must indeed learn many things that were unknown to his father. So off the Prince went!

As it chanced, however, his father need not have had any anxiety about his making any mistake in selecting a wife; for he had very good taste, and was gifted with what is called discrimination, or the power to see for himself the best in whatever came under his notice. So, though he paid many visits to many Fairy Kings, up to this time he was by no means satisfied to make a choice. His latest journey had taken him to stay for a while with a tribe of Fairies who lived in what is now called the “Northern Territory”—quite close to the Gulf of Carpentaria.

The King of those Fairies had several daughters, all very bright and witty in their conversation, but, possibly owing to the heat of the climate, rather sallow complexions, and not nearly beautiful enough to please the Prince’s fancy. He, therefore, finally resolved to make his way across the Continent from North to South; for, so he had heard, the Wattle Fairies of that part of Australia that is now known as Victoria, were particularly fair and lovely, and he cherished the hope that at long last he would discover a Princess fit to be his wife.

As may be imagined, in the course of such an extraordinary lengthy journey—about two thousand miles—he naturally met with quite a number of adventures. Of these there is not time to tell; except to say, that though over and over again in peril from the wicked Desert Fairies, who repeatedly tried to overwhelm him in storms, he always had the good fortune to win safely through!

When he had gotten exactly half way across Australia, he came upon a very singular sort of hill, rising in great slopes above the otherwise level country. Interested, he stayed to closely examine it, climbing at last to the top. Whilst there, night came on, and being very tired, he settled himself to sleep, selecting for a pillow one of the numerous tussocks of grey-green grass which were growing all over the hill.

Of other vegetation there was very little—only a few stunted trees, almost devoid of leaves. But the hill itself spread over a very wide area indeed; and though in many places sandy, there were other spots, as the Prince had seen, that were covered with what looked like excellent soil; ready to grow anything if only plenty of water were available. In point of fact, it was on these patches that the stunted trees were growing, only saved from death, no doubt, by the falling of extremely rare showers of rain. There were gorges and gullies too; but so dry from lack of water that only the merest tuft of things were growing there. Round about the hill, as far as the eye could see, and, further, stretched miles and miles of sandy desert!

Just as the sun rose in the morning, the Prince awoke. In order to pull himself to a sitting posture he clutched at one of the grass tussocks that grew near. To his astonishment, it came easily out of the ground. But judge of his intense surprise, when, gazing steadily into the hole left by the uprooted grass, he saw a tiny drop of water slowly come through the soil at the bottom. Quickly replacing the tussock, and firmly bedding the loosened earth round about it, he gave himself up to pondering on the very peculiar fact that had just come under his observation.

After a while a great thought came to him. The drop of water he had seen could not be there by itself. It must have come from some larger supply located deeper down in the earth. If that were the case—and there could be no reason to doubt it—then it might become possible to do many things, which, in his dreamings, he had often planned to carry out if only the opportunity offered. Such, for example, as the building of a new, safe, and perfectly wonderful City, the creation of a Fairy Navy; or the erection of a glorious Palace greatly in advance of anything that had ever before been seen.

Almost all his life—maybe because he had so frequently noted the comparative scarcity of water in the inland portions of Australia—he had thought of what might be done with unlimited supplies. Here, then, appeared to be his golden opportunity. It was a chance not to be missed!

Giving up his quest of a wife, and hastening home with all speed, he secretly got together a number of his more intimate friends and told them of his remarkable discovery. He then persuaded them to join him in going back to the Well, in order to see what might be done with its waters, and whether or not he could do some of the other things about which he had been thinking; but, for fear of failure, he did not let his father know of his return or of his intentions. For the same reason he did not tell his friends what was in his mind; but he resolved that should the matter turn out as fortunately as he hoped, to take them into his entire confidence and seek their assistance in the carrying out of the great enterprises he had in view. So, having provided them with everything he thought might be required for the works he proposed to carry out, quietly and unobtrusively, off they set upon their mission.

After surmounting many difficulties, in due course they arrived at the place where Prince Waratah had rested a few weeks earlier. He very easily found the spot where he had lain down to sleep, because, quite apart from a pile of stones he had set up to mark it—the tussock he had disturbed was, consequent upon its getting a little more water than it had previously been able to draw from the earth, much greener than before. It was only the work of a moment to again pull it from its place, and there, sure enough, in a very few minutes the tiny bubble of water appeared!

To say that they all were deeply interested is to put it mildly. But they were not allowed to waste much time in merely wondering from whence the water came. Acting under the Prince’s orders, a circle was first drawn round the opening from which the tussock had come. From centre to circumference the distance was six feet, so that from edge to edge of the circle was exactly twelve feet. Within the circle they all then set to work removing the earth, even the Prince himself digging away with the others.