James Bonwick

“ Robert Clark brought to my house in Hobart Town four Tasmanian youths, my feelings of the prospective civilization and happiness of the race were of the most buoyant character. The dear lads were so interesting and artless as to gain my heart. They were clean, cheerful, and intelligent. Dressed in comfortable, and even respectable, European attire, with their fine open countenances, their languid smile, their beautiful eyes, I could not recognise them as the sons of degraded savages. ”

“ We do not yield to any set of men our innate feelings of humanity, and to none would it impart more heartfelt joy to see the Aborigines brought into terms of friendly intercourse than to us. But, situated as we are in the interior, and having had the opportunity, either personally or through the medium of others, of knowing the treacherous disposition of these Natives, and of experiencing by their daily atrocities their deep-rooted enmity towards us colonists, viewing us as intruders, we altogether despair of their being induced to receive our offers of friendship. ”

“ Men are accustomed to talk about the virtues of national elevation, without realizing the meaning of the term. One has written these thoughtful words: "Progress is a taking word, and civilization, like a cardinal's red hat, covers a multitude of sins and crimes. It is a tinkling cymbal, which drowns the noise of all other discordant things." We appropriate the land of a people, and gratify our self-love, while silencing the accusations of conscience by promising them all the delights and exaltations of our civilization in return. ”

“ The prison, the asylum, the many spectre-haunted homes of civilization tell what it has done for us. Its history unfolds more horrors than pestilence, more miseries than famine, more destruction than war. But we have some resisting media to its attack; the remedies of medicine, counteracting stimuli, moral antagonisms, the forces of education, the voice of affectionate warning, the pleading example of self-denying ones. But what has the savage? It comes as a friend to relieve his ennui, and it supplies the lack of previously existing natural excitements. ”

“ The neophyte of civilization and the red-handed savage slept beneath the fallen leaves of the forest. I turned my gaze from the bay to the opposite side of the channel. There, at Oyster Cove, at the distance of two or three miles from the scene of the first Black settlement, stood before me the rude homes of the last feeble few of the race! There is something of a peculiarly melancholy interest in the reflection, that the remnant of the Tasmanian tribes should expire within sight of the Bruni depôt of their day of strength and independence. ”

“ She shook her head, and mournfully, and yet with bitterness, replied, "No one cares for the Natives' souls now that Father Clark is gone."
And now she has gone, and Walter has gone, and the Blacks are all gone but an old woman. Father Clark had gone to his rest before such blighting sorrow came. It is good to read of such a man as he. It is a relief to the harshness and selfishness of life to know such a man as he. It would be a blessing to the world if more would live his life and die his death, even should clouds dim the horizon of hope. ”

“ One day the tribe attacked the overseer, a man of energy and tact. Quickly closing the door, and shouting loudly, he brought down one marauder with a shot. Then through holes in the slab sides of the hut he continued to fire, calling out in simulated voices, as if several were with him, and more than once letting part of his body be seen with a changed coat or cap, to impress the enemy with a sense of his strength of support. The ruse succeeded, and the discomfited warriors departed. Waiting a while, he opened his door, and saw the coast clear. ”

“ It was lucky for one poor fellow that the Natives enjoy a sense of the ridiculous. A shepherd of Jerusalem—which lies in a carboniferous region, with the greenstone covering the coal, and not far from Jericho and the River Jordan—being oppressed with the indolence of his occupation, and the heat of the day, placed his gun against a tree and fell asleep. Some Blacks came softly round, took away the weapon, and, with a loud simultaneous shout, startled the Bushman from his dreams. ”

“ It represses energies, now no longer required, and it deadens sensibilities, now out of exercise. No shame stays its ravages, for the stranger has stolen native pride. No conscience struggles against its influence, for the canker of new vices has consumed his heart. He is too despised to hear the cautionary word of kindness, and the common moral fall of the tribe drags him quicker, deeper, down to ruin.
Alas! how many a tale could I tell of the ravages of this element of civilization! ”

“ The Launceston Advertiser, mourning over the oft-repeated tale of horrors, exclaims, "We have seen the Natives despoiled of their lands by a strange race of men, and we have seen them ill-treated by the invaders, their provisions destroyed, and their lives cruelly and wantonly taken by men whose nation proudly boasts of her inhabitants being the most civilized and most noble-souled creatures on the face of the globe." ”

“ It is noticed in the glens of Tasmania that the beautiful Exocarpus, or native cherry-tree, flourishes best beneath the shade of other forest forms. When the axe lowers its tall and graceful companions, it begins to sicken, as though bemoaning the loss of sympathy, and gradually decays. Thus was it with the Natives. The departure of some let the sun in too rudely upon the others, and they shrank in their sensitive natures, hastening to the shade of the tomb. ”

“ The boat, driven from its moorings by the tempest, might leave the mariner to perish alone on the ocean-girt rock. Even when associated with others, the violence so characteristic of the race would lead to hasty quarrel, and sudden, fatal retribution. Lawless themselves, bound by no ties but convenience and self-interest, conflicts were not uncommon, and the community sought no protection but their own strong arms, their own swift and certain revenge.
Captain Flinders applauded the enterprise and daring of the sealers, as qualities his own nature could well appreciate. ”

“ In his indignation he says, "They are a lawless, brutal mob, under the guidance of this Black Tom, who had at a former period voluntarily become a member of this community, who lived many years as a free servant to one of our settlers, and who now, with the basest treachery, turns the very weapons which he then acquired, to the destruction of that society which he had deceived into confidence. He is, therefore, not a deserter, but a rebel, a civil and internal enemy, and those who have joined him are alike guilty with himself." ”

“ Fifteen powerful men, with three spears and a waddy each, filled with all the hate and loathing for white men which such a war had excited, were ill restrained by the voice and gesture of their head. They rattled their spears, shouted their battle-cry, and menaced the Mission party. The women kept to the rear, each carrying on her back a fresh supply of weapons. One hundred and fifty dogs growled defiance at the intruders. ”

“ Several were disabled for life. No wonder that but one party, escaping from Macquarie Harbour convict settlement, arrived at the civilized region in safety. Men perished in the scrub, were lost in snow, or were devoured by their companions. This was the territory traversed by Mr. Robinson and his Black guides. All honour to his intrepidity, and their wonderful fidelity! When they had, in the depth of winter, to cross deep and rapid rivers, pass among mountains six thousand feet high, pierce dangerous thickets, and find food in a country forsaken even by birds, we can realize their hardships. ”

“ One Hobart Town paper had a violent leader upon the subject, expatiating upon the outrages of 1831, and predicting a bloody renewal of them, should the Natives be allowed to leave the Flinders' asylum. As if twelve men, the number then alive, could light up the fires of country homesteads, and resume the spear of slaughter, in a colony of eighty thousand Whites! ”

“ M. Rienzi, like many others, saw light and hope for the future of the Aborigines in the use of such means, and thus dwells upon the prospective advantages to the Van Diemen's Land Natives: "They have no other means of safety than to adopt the civilization of those whom they have unhappily learnt to despise; therefore they will finish by disappearing from the soil which belonged to them. A glory bright enough is reserved to the English; it is to enlighten and soften these ferocious islanders; it is to ameliorate their condition, in expiation of the evils which they have done to them." ”

“ Thus arose the celebrated "Black War of Van Diemen's Land."
The formalities of a herald, or the very last ultimatum, would let slip the dogs of war, according to approved civilized ways. As no such courtesies were shown, or expected, in the relations between the naked Tasmanians and the British settlers, the precise line of actual hostility cannot be determined. All that can be done is to trace the history of the race, as resulting from contact with the Europeans in their own beautiful isle. ”

“ The Natives were terribly harassed by the roving parties. Their sufferings were severe, especially from their fear to light a fire to warm their bodies, or to cook their food. Children and weak persons rapidly sunk from fatigue and want, or were hurried by violence to a grave that would shield them from their implacable foes. Opposing craft to force, the men of the woods concealed themselves in chosen retreats, kept up a vigilant lookout, and knew how, at fitting times, to silence their faithful and obedient dogs. ”

“ One has said, "Whatever civilization has done, it has not, to all appearance, materially diminished the sum of human misery and crime. Is all civilization, then, but a vicious circle, and our efforts, from century to century, but the oscillations of a pendulum?—Is it only a change of form in man and in states, not an essential change of nature or condition?" ”

“ The repeated orders which have been put forth by this Government must convey the idea out of the colony that there exists a horde of savages in Van Diemen's Land, whose prowess is equal to their revengeful feelings, whereas every settler must be conscious that his foe consists of an inconsiderable number of a very feeble race, not possessing physical strength, and quite undistinguishable by personal courage, but who are undoubtedly more and more formidable from the success which has hitherto attended their unexpected and sudden attacks upon unarmed persons, almost defenceless. ”

“ We turn to the journal:—
"To the signs of friendship which we made, one of them precipitated himself from the top of a rock, rather than descended it, and in the twinkling of an eye was in the midst of us. He was a young man, of from twenty-two to twenty-four years of age, of an apparently strong constitution, having no other defect than a slenderness of legs and arms, which characterises his nation. His physiognomy exhibited neither austerity nor ferocity; his eyes were quick and sparkling, and his looks expressed at once benevolence and surprise. ”

“ Of powerful frame, goodly stature, great activity, untiring energy, quick intelligence, and superior Bush-craft, he was fitted for leadership in the Black War. But, of agreeable manners, exuberant spirits, and genuine kindliness, he became the admired of men, and the favourite of women. Governor Arthur acknowledged the public efforts of Mr. Batman, and was pleased with his society, while the convict servants of his household, and the roving tribes of the island, alike felt the benevolence of his heart, and bowed before the force of his character. ”

“ An educated European who marries a native woman must give up all ideas of peace and comfort. A Maori will never marry a white woman, because he feels her superiority, and he cannot make a slave of her as a native woman. No white woman, not even the most degraded, could be induced to unite herself to a Maori—to herd, native-fashion, in a pa, amid dirt, vermin, and discomfort. ”

“ While, as the contagion of European intercourse has extended itself among them, they gradually lose the better properties of their own character, they appear, in exchange, to acquire none but the most objectionable and degrading of ours. The most revolting spectacle which presents itself to a stranger newly arriving on these shores is the sight of their natural occupants reduced to a state of worse than barbarian wildness, by that fondness for intoxicating liquors which they imbibed from our example ”

“ He who talks of a necessity," says he, "that uncivilized man must perish away before civilized, proud though he may be in his own fancied light, is, with respect to the nobler qualities of man, barbarous and uncivilized himself. That almost all historical experience is on the side of the exterminating politician we are compelled, alas! to admit, to the shame of our race and of our country; but, in the name of humanity, we indignantly deny that the circumstances which impel the civilized race to root out the uncivilized are inevitable." ”

“ These were they who penetrated the oak-forests of Britain, the bog-paths of Ireland, the sweet vales of Gaul, and the wilds of Russia, that they might raise man. These are they who go now to the desert, to the jungle, to the snows, to fever-haunts, to storm-girt coasts, to dreary wastes—among men, repulsive by their habits, disgusting in their persons, cruel in their hearts—and all to do good to their fellows, to bless them in the world, and lift their heads to God. ”

“ No hunting tribe has any such right; perhaps no hunting tribe can have such right, for, in strict political philosophy, the only exclusive right which any man can acquire in land, the gift of nature, is that which he creates for himself, by what he puts, into it by way of labour and investment, alike for his own and for the common good. ”

“ Notwithstanding the hostility which has so long prevailed in the breast of the Natives of this island toward Europeans, we now perceive with heartfelt satisfaction that hatred in some measure gradually subsiding. Several of them are to be seen about this town and its environs, who obtain subsistence from the charitable and well-disposed. The more we contemplate the peculiar situation of this people, the more are we impressed with the great arrearage of justice which is due to them. Are not the Aborigines of this colony the children of our Government? Are we not all happy but they? ”

“ It is a bloody and terrific tournament, the females gathering in a trembling group to watch the issue of the combat that is to decide their fate. The rocks are dyed with blood, and strewn with slain. The victors approach the weaker sex, triumphantly make their selection, and adopt their partners for the season.
A rich harvest rewarded the early sealers. Of the two species, the black is preferred for its finer and longer fur, the skin fetching double the price. ”

“ He is in reality subjected to complex laws, which not only deprive him of all free agency of thought, but, at the same time, by allowing no scope for the development of intellect, benevolence, or any other great moral qualification, they necessarily bind him down in a hopeless state of barbarism, from which it is impossible for him to emerge, so long as he is enthralled by these customs, which, on the other hand, are so ingeniously devised as to have a direct tendency to annihilate any effort that is made to overthrow them. ”

“ I would beg leave to submit to your Excellency that a salary of fifty pounds per annum is not sufficient for the support of my family—would therefore request that you would be pleased to make such additions to the salary as you may think meet. Should my offer be accepted, I do not wish the superfluities, I only desire to be able to procure the necessaries of life, I wish to devote myself to this people. ”

“ While the Native has been too readily pronounced incapable of civilization—that is, the acceptance of our form of civilization—sufficient apology has not been made for the conservative influence of tribal usages. Bound by the chain of custom, and swayed by the practice of forefathers, it is no less difficult for us to engraft our manners upon the naked savage, than upon the cultivated Hindoo. How could we expect to change the course of thought in such barbarians, when we have succeeded so ill in our teaching elsewhere? ”

“ The Aborigines committee evidently saw another side to the worthy farmer's sketch, when they felt compelled to say, "Few attempts can be traced on the part of the colonists to conciliate the Natives, or to make them sensible that peace and forbearance are the objects desired. The impressions remaining from earlier injuries are kept up by the occasional outrages of miscreants, whose scene of crime is so remote as to render detection difficult, and who sometimes wantonly fire at and kill the men, and at others pursue the women, for the purpose of compelling them to abandon their children." ”

“ It is true that they do not cultivate the ground; but have they, therefore, no interest in its productions? Does it not supply grass for the sustenance of the wild animals upon which in a great measure they are dependent for their subsistence? Does it not afford roots and vegetables to appease their hunger, water to satisfy their thirst, and wood to make their fire? or are these necessaries left to them by the white man when he comes to take possession of the soil? ”