CHAPTER 16
Being a human, Albert was the member of the crew who had the most interest in, and knowledge of, man’s history. That’s why he chose 1787 as the initial year for the group’s Australia stopover in the largest of the “Lands Down Under” (a region that also includes New Zealand).
Although our initial reason for visiting, or rather re-visiting Australia, was to see our old friend Yookie the Koala Bear again—in the year 2525—Albert told us animals that we would have plenty of time for that later (after all, we had no restrictions, time-wise, at all, being able to go forward or back in time at will). Before we visited Yookie, though, Albert felt something needed to be done to prepare for or prevent certain tragedies which would otherwise occur.
The situation, in a nutshell, was this: the next year (1788), Australia would begin to be colonized by Europeans, mainly and initially the British. But, as was true with America and other places that were colonized by Europeans and others, there were already people living in what came to be called Australia when the colonizers arrived—the British were not the first, or the founders, or the finders, of the place.
Specifically, an indigenous people, the Aboriginal Australians, as they came to be known by the latecomers, had lived there for thousands of years.
Although there were exceptions, many of the newcomers viewed these old settlers with disdain, and treated them unfairly and even viciously. Why? As is too often the case, simply because they looked, thought, and lived differently.
Albert’s plan was to prevent these injustices from occurring—to ‘nip them in the bud,’ as he put it. He felt it would probably not be possible to simply prove his bona fides, as he had done in Germany, and then beseech the colonizers to act less disgracefully toward the natives. He could try that, but he doubted it would change things much.
“You can’t legislate right feeling,” Albert told us. “Men can pass laws against certain specific actions, but they cannot enact and enforce laws against hatred and prejudice, or against people’s innermost thoughts—not with any real hope of success, anyway. Legal strictures instigated by humans to control the consciences of other humans will never work. A mightier force is what is needed here.”
“What do you have in mind?” I asked.
“You mean, ‘whom do I have in mind,’ Taterskin,” Albert answered. “And that ‘whom’ is you. And not just you, Taterskin, but all of you,” he said, looking around at all of us animals. “And not only you six, but the countless millions and billions of you.”
“What do you mean?” Tubthumper asked, thinking she knew what Albert had in mind, but wanting to verify her hypothesis.
“What I mean by ‘you’ is all the animals of Australia: Koala Bears (Yookie and his brethren), Kangaroos, Wallabies, Wombats, Duck-billed Platypi, Emus, Camels, Cassowaries, Australian Pelicans, Echidnas, Crocodiles, Sharks, Jellyfish, Blobfish, Headless Chicken Monsters, Dugongs, Bandicoots, Possums, Flying Foxes, Goannas, Dolphins, Sea Lions, Whales, Blue-Ringed Octopi, Blue-Tongued Lizards—”
“Hey! I want to see one of those Blue-Tongued Lizards!” Drako interjected, bobbing her head up and down in excitement at the prospect.
“—even venomous Snakes, Dingoes, Spiders and Insects,” Albert concluded.
“Thunder and Lightning! What will all these strange and exotic creatures do?” Terri asked.
“It’s no wonder that they appear exotic to you, Terri, but they are exotic to us, too,” I said. “Except for the Dingo—and the Koala Bear, now that I have come to know one of them as a friend—most of them seem downright strange to us, also.”
“These animals, unfamiliar to us but common here, will need to be coached up to protect the indigenous humans—and some of the indigenous animals, too, for that matter,” Albert said. “The ones protected will, in turn, train future generations: Their children will adopt this tradition, passing it down from father to son, mother to daughter, uncle to nephew, and so on—you get the picture.”
“Who will coach the first generation?” Stripes asked.
“We will,” Albert said. “All of us will teach the animals what they need to know and do.”
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