Harry Heathcote of Gangoil · Chapter
Sergeant Forrest explained
Sergeant Forrest, a former Oxford graduate turned colonial policeman, investigates the bushfire fight at Boolabong.
What happens
Sergeant Forrest, a former Oxford graduate turned colonial policeman, investigates the bushfire fight at Boolabong. The Brownbie party, discomfited after their failed raid, try to deflect blame onto Harry Heathcote. Forrest inspects the scene but doubts he can secure a conviction. He and his constable return to Gangoil for Christmas hospitality, where Harry expresses lingering concerns about Boscobel. Forrest reassures him that further arson is unlikely. Nokes and George Brownbie vanish into the bush, never to be seen again.
Themes in this chapter
Justice and Lawlessness
Sergeant Forrest's investigation highlights the difficulty of proving arson and the limits of colonial law in the bush, where culprits like Nokes vanish without consequence.
Survival and Hardship
Nokes and George Brownbie vanish into the bush to live like wild beasts, illustrating the harsh fate of those who fail in the colonial frontier.
Characters to notice
- Sergeant Forrest
A former Oxford graduate and colonial policeman, he investigates the fire and fight, showing skepticism about legal outcomes.
- Old Brownbie
Head of the Brownbie family, he is gracious to the police but defensive about the family's role in the fire.
- Joe Brownbie
One of the Brownbie brothers, he tries to shift blame to Heathcote and provides hospitality to the police.
- Jack Brownbie
Another Brownbie brother, he suggests the police should go to Gangoil to find the real culprits.
- Jerry Brownbie
The leader of the raid, he hides due to burns on his hands and face, and later drives Nokes away.
- Harry Heathcote
He hosts Sergeant Forrest at Gangoil and expresses ongoing distrust of Boscobel.
Key passages
“Sergeant Forrest was a graduate of Oxford, the son of an English clergyman, who, having his way to make in the world, had thought that an early fortune would be found in the colonies. He had come out, had failed, had suffered some very hard things, and now, at the age of thirty-five, enjoyed life thoroughly as a sergeant of the colonial police.”
Forrest, an Oxford-educated clergyman's son, emigrated seeking fortune but failed, endured hardships, and now at 35 finds contentment as a colonial police sergeant.
Reveals Forrest's background and his unexpected satisfaction in his current role.
“Men such as he wander away from one colony into the next, passing from one station to another, or sleeping on the ground, till they become as desolate and savage as solitary animals. And at last they die in the bush, creeping, we may suppose, into hidden nooks, as the beasts do when the hour of death comes on them.”
Outcasts like Nokes drift between colonies and stations, sleeping rough until they grow as wild as animals, eventually dying alone in hidden bush corners.
Describes the grim fate of men who fail in the colonial frontier.