The true story of Billy Blue’s Reef

Adapted from the Braidwood Revue and District Advocate (NSW), 8th February 1938

The story of Billy Blue’s Reef is an epic story of an El Dorado that never existed. The tale of an outcrop of pure gold, alleged to exist somewhere in the gorges of the Shoalhaven River in NSW, has been told the world over. This writer has heard it in drover’s camps, where sheep men congregate; by bivouac fires beneath the shadow of the Sphinx, and in the forecastle during the watch below. Gold! Dinkum gold! Knobs of it that could be hewn off with a tomahawk; and only Billy Blue knew where, and he never told; and then indignation would subside into sullen silence.

The whole matter is easy of explanation. Billy Blue was a cunning aborigine and in the course of his wanderings along the Shoalhaven he occasionally obtained fair specimens from potholes when the river was low. He stored his findings in a pickle-bottle and carried the gold either to Marulan or Nowra, and the fertile imagination of the whites did the rest – creating an El Dorado that was not.

When the truth of the situation dawned on Blue, he naturally enough assumed an air of stolid mystery, accepting meanwhile all the libations of rum and contributions of cash that were lavished on him – all in the vain hope that he would disclose the whereabouts of the reef.

For liquid and monetary consideration, Billy would consent to lead an expedition. Such expedition would set out in good order, only to find that friend Billy was missing from the first night’s camp.

Theories were advanced from time to time, only to be exploded when put into practice. A blazed tree on the mountain side was a hot scent; a series of blazed trees spelled near success that ended in dreary failure. The appearance of Billy at Marulan on one occasion, dripping with water, gave rise to the conclusion that his find could only be reached by means of a swim under water to a mysterious cavern; diving suits and subterranean exploration then became the order of the day.

None realised more than Billy the true meaning of the old adage, “Silence is golden.” To him it was more golden than gold; he wanted for nothing that a gold-fever victim could supply him with, and they were many.

Billy Blue used to wander along stretches of the Shoalhaven River when it was low and pick up the odd bit of gold from potholes

Times innumerable he was “shadowed” in his meanderings by hill and dale on Shoalhaven side, with the view of finding that which was not – the medieval search for the Philosopher’s Stone and the Elixir of Life pales into insignificance when compared with the search for the visionary reef.

After the demise of the astute black, some 62 years ago, the business of Billy Blue’s Reef Unlimited was carried on with less success by his bereaved wife, Fanny Blue. For the consideration of a fig of tobacco the secret of the location of the reel was imparted to many, and the result was the fervid curses of many disappointed goldseekers.

The late Henry Moss, of Nowra, a geologist and explorer of some attainments, had the confidence of Blue, and knew he had nothing to tell of, save his own duplicity.

Vainly Mr Moss strove to disillusion would-be seekers of the reef, but he usually only succeeded in convincing them that he knew of the location, and was endeavouring to put them off the scent.

Down the years gold-hunters called at the old inn and demanded the secret from the relatives of the late Mr Moss, and always they have scorned the suggestion of the non-existence of the reef. It is safe to say that somewhere in the hills today, where the Shoalhaven winds its way, there are lonely “hatters” diligently searching, patiently hoping to find the lost El Dorado of Billy Blue; and that search will be carried on whilst ever red blood runs in Australian veins.

While there is much tragedy in the story, comedy is paramount; in the beginning Billy Blue was innocent, the secret was created and literally forced upon him, and then he slowly realised that he had indeed the equivalent of a gold mine. Certain it is that if the reef existed neither he nor Fanny could have kept the secret of its location.

Quite recently an inquiry was afoot in Nowra for a photo of the unlamented Billy. It was elicited that the photo was required for the use of a spiritualist, to use in the locating of the reef. A humourist supplied a photo of an aborigine of unknown identity, and the credulous goldseeker supplied the spiritualist with some money.

A trance was staged, with the usual trimmings, and then followed a vivid description of a subterranean cavern, from the roof of which hung stalactites of gold. The goldseeker appeared to be getting value for his outlay, until the medium indignantly refused to act as guide on a fifty-fifty basis.

Billy Blue was tersely described by a Nowra lady, since deceased, as having been “a real old scoundrel.”

Note: The Billy Blue in this newspaper article should not be confused with William “Billy” Blue, an Australian convict who, after completing his sentence, became a boatman providing one of the first services to take people across Sydney Harbour. Although Billy Blue’s place and date of birth are uncertain, convict records suggest he was born in Jamaica, New York, around 1767. Other people reading his records believe him to have been from Jamaica, West Indies. In 1817, Governor Macquarie granted Billy Blue 80 acres on the shores of Sydney Harbour at what is now Blues Point, which was named after him. He died in 1834.