Roderick Flanagan

“ One only means of human sustenance did the vast territory present—the animal tribes which bounded over its plains, or scampered up and down the trunks and branches of the towering trees; and to procure this mcans of supporting life in himself and household, the New Hollander was condemned to a life of perpetual roaming—a life of perpetual savageness—ever impelled by the silent but imperative watchword, onward! ”

“ For more than two years the warfare which the blacks waged upon the stations situate along the boundaries of the colony, from one extreme to the other, was universal, implacable, and incessant. So simultaneous, indeed, and so general was the movement that, did we not know from the habits and conditions of the blacks that such a thing would be impossible, a belief would be encouraged that the onslaught of the aborigines on the lives and property of the settlers was the result of a perfect organization, effected with all the aids of negotiation, secret intrigue, and general assemblies. ”

“ Thus, the brutalized shepherd or bullock driver of the interior affords to the aboriginal a plentiful supply of rum for the purpose of amusing himself, and being gratified by the fact that some other being is more depraved and debased than himself, by which he only copies in a manner some of the civilized and polished governments of Europe of former and present times, who, for the purpose of degrading men and nations, shut up the roads of knowledge and civilization to a large section of the human family, in order that they might thereby be rendered the helpless victims of tyranny and plunder. ”

“ When we reflect that the experience of each day tends to show that the country possesses the means of affording all the means of sustenance, to an extent before unthought of, and when we consider that there is no reason for doubting that those regions still untrod by Europeans are among the most prolific of all Australia—prolific, at all events, in the necessaries of aboriginal life—the conclusion becomes established, beyond doubt, that each hundred square miles of New Holland supports as many sable inhabitants as any equal extent of country yet explored. ”

“ The native language of New Zealand is very defective in point of euphony, its notes falling on the ear like the sound of a rapid current passing over rough rocks, or the pattering of a hail-storm on a shingled roof. ”

“ That, however, painting—the real art of portraiture, however rude—should exist, shows a systematic longing after the development of the sublime capabilities of humanity truly astonishing, and seems to contradict in the most ample manner the doctrine advanced by some, and certainly consistent with our highest teachings, that man in a primitive state of barbarism does not possess within himself the power of attaining the most elevated status of the human race. ”

“ A few days afterwards, when the same fleet—the commanders of the expedition finding that Botany Bay was not a safe anchorage, and that the country in its immediate vicinity was not a desirable locality for establishing the settlement—sailed round and entered Port Jackson, the same mystical sounds of "Wara-wara" greeted the ears of the people in the squadron as they passed the numerous outstretching headlands and the beautiful retreating bays of the magnificent harbour, now for the first time explored by civilized men. ”

“ The next position in which we find the future inhabitant of Australia is the land of promise gained, roaming delighted among the thick forests and the delightful valleys, of which he is thereafter to be lord and master. ”

“ Is it not more probable that the aborigines throughout the colony, learning from various sources the nature and extent of the terrible onslaught made on their brethren, were, in their subsequent hostility, rather actuated by a desire to revenge their death than encouraged by the punishment of their slayers to aggravated deeds of violence?
It was alleged, on the part of the settlers, at the period in question, that the police protection of the colony was insufficient, and that, therefore, the Europeans were entitled to take the law into their own hands. ”

“ Some years since nothing was more common than to observe among the groups of aborigines who usually assembled in the neighbourhood of Sydney some individual decked out in the gorgeous appendages of a half-moon of brass, suspended by a chain of the same metal around the neck, a cast-off cocked hat of some military officer, bending down under the weight of its feather, placed in any and every position on the crown of the head ”

“ This, no doubt, is in a great measure owing to that physical inferiority which this people certainly exhibit in as great a degree as almost any other race of men known. Their isolated and scattered position, their roving mode of life, their unwarlike character, their rude and all but harmless weapons, the utter absence of anything like concert in their habits and operations, have ever rendered them unimportant neighbours and feeble and insignificant enemies. ”

“ The Indians of North America are said to be capable, by the assistance of some unexplained agency, of navigating the vast lakes of that continent with a precision not to be surpassed where the compass and all the other scientific apparatus of modern navigation are rendered available — reaching in their canoes a destined point on the opposite shores, although for days out of sight of any land. Instances of the display of this extraordinary sagacity fully as striking are recorded by those who have had experience of the powers of the aborigines of New Holland. ”

“ Incapable of creating any considerable mischief, they have never, by war or by their opposition to the progress of the white man, forced themselves on the attention either of the governments or philanthropists of Europe. Another cause, no doubt, of the unbroken obscurity in which the history of the aborigines of this territory has been permitted to remain involved, is the extreme difficulty which, from the very first, presents itself to the dispelling of the thick cloud which hangs around the primeval origin and subsequent progress of the Australian tribes. ”

“ In a community such as then formed the colony, the number of those with whom the officers and the more honourable portion of the colonists could associate must have been very small. In order, therefore, to lessen the monotony of their avocations and relieve the dullness which, as a matter of course, prevailed in the new settlement, they courted the society of the aborigines, in whom they found men as yet untainted by the multiplied vices which prevailed among the great bulk of their own countrymen. ”

“ Whether he was carried before the King and royal family by his protector, whether he was visited by lords and ladies, whether he was run after and cheered by the populace, whether, in fine, he was regarded as a prodigy and a hero, inasmuch as he was the first aboriginal inhabitant of the antipodes who visited England, no evidence exists to enable us to say or gainsay. ”

“ He believed that in every one of the new beings before him he beheld some one of his ancestors or relatives returned from the land whence his whole race are translated after death, there to enter on a new and exalted state of existence. This would appear, from every source of information, to be the nearly general belief of the whole people—a deduction which, however much of simplicity it may display, seems as reasonable and as logical as could possibly be expected. ”

“ The burning of the grass, a result so frequently observed on the plains of the interior, is said to be the work of the aborigines, in order that a new and more luxuriant growth may spring up for the use of the kangaroos.
The wild turkey, a bird of very large size, the flesh of which is said to be extremely rich; is among the principal creatures on which the aboriginal depends for his stock of food. This turkey, or bustard, is said to be pretty abundant in some parts of the far interior, but is described as being remarkably shy of man. ”

“ The instinct of self-preservation gave rise to a general feeling on the part of the Europeans that something must be done to show the aborigines that they acted at once contrary to good policy and contrary to European law in assailing the lives and properties of the colonists—that they were assailing those who possessed the power to retaliate in a fearful manner. ”

“ After having gazed for some time, and finding himself unmolested, he commenced a series of the most extraordinary contortions and gestures, accompanied by some unmusical sounds, by spitting, and every conceivable mode of giving effect to his necromancy, all of which appeared so ludicrous to the whites that, forgetting their possible danger, they at length gave vent to their mirth in loud laughter, which only grew louder as the old man, enraged at their mirth, redoubled his exertions to cast a spell round the party. ”

“ The New Hollander, in like manner, invested the White man, when his presence first broke on his vision, with attributes, if not divine, at least with a superiority which in his mind rendered him infinitely beyond the sphere of his notions of humanity. ”

“ No man, for instance, not born blind, has failed to see that beautiful flood of light in the firmament known as the Milky Way, but how many have lived and died so absorbed in their own immediate thoughts, and so prone to earth, that its existence could be scarcely said to come within the limits of their knowledge. ”

“ These means consisted in enticing the blacks to the settlement by presents, and afterwards seeking to induce them to remain, by kind and conciliatory treatment. Sometimes an individual would be induced to stay among his new companions for a day or two, but just as his teachers and guardians would deem that they had succeeded in domesticating their unsophisticated ward, Nature would resume her sway over her élève and he would fly to her arms amid the depths of his native woods. ”

“ No nutritious and abundant root, such as the potato or the yam, springing spontaneously in the soil or requiring but little labour in its production, presented a never-failing means of sustenance, and an inducement to form settled communities; no cocoanut or bread-fruit tree, or maize plant, bending beneath the weight of their respective products, charmed the vision or solaced the loneliness of the wanderer. ”

“ The manner of wearing the opossum cloak is somewhat characteristic. A string or thong is run through the folds when doubled up, and being thus thrown on the left shoulder, it is fastened by the thong under the right arm, leaving the right arm and shoulder free and exposed. The object of this manner of dressing is apparent. The aboriginal, in his primitive state, is never unarmed, either by spear, waddy, or tomahawk, ready for use at all times either for attack or defence, so that it is indispensable that his right arm should always be untrammelled. ”

“ As our facts and figures are founded principally on the ascertained condition of the blacks in those districts where they have but little or no intercourse with Europeans, it will be more satisfactory and will involve less difficulty if we fix the period of our census about the time of the first colonization of Australia. Commencing with New South Wales, it has already been shown that the aboriginal population of the district included between Port Jackson and Broken Bay amounted, at the time of the arrival of the first colonizing expedition, to 1,500 souls. ”

“ The Chief Protector himself writes, in reference to the Port Phillip blacks: —
"The aboriginal natives of Portland Bay and Western Port districts are rapidly decreasing. Appalling collisions have already happened between the white and aboriginal inhabitants; and, although instances may have transpired where natives have been the aggressors, yet it will be found that the majority originated with Europeans. The aboriginal natives known to have been destroyed are many; and if the testimony of natives be admissible, the amount would be great indeed." ”

“ If the aboriginal race be in reality of a better stamp, they must have some other proof to bring forward besides mere personal qualifications—good countenance and figure. If they have no priests, they surely must have poets; if they acknowledge no chiefs, they certainly must have among them men "wise in their generation," in whose counsel they place reliance, and to whose direction they yield obedience. If they have not among them men "cunning to work all works," they must have men who devote themselves to artistic and mechanical studies and labours. ”

“ THEIR ORIGIN—PROBABLE PERIOD OF THEIR ARRIVAL.
No branch of that large section of the human race which, whether by the colour of their skin or by some other natural or fortuitous circumstance, has received from nature, or the hand of Providence, the impress of inferiority, seems to have occupied less of the attention or research of civilization and philosophy than the portion of the sable sons of earth inhabiting the Australian continent. ”

“ The manner of conducting their warfare is like everything else connected with them—novel. The hostility of the tribes to each other seems to be almost unremitting, and their encounters in their primitive state frequent. As, however, very few incentives inveterate to warfare are to be found amongst them, so they seem to have come to a mutual understanding that their struggles, however frequent, shall be as harmless as possible. Their encounters are said, in general, to follow from circumstances attending a death or marriage in the tribes. ”

“ The coo-ee is not only used as a call, but is employed as a salutation or a warning; and thus when a tribe, in its migratory wanderings, approaches a lagoon, it is the invariable practice among the blacks to despatch one of their number in advance, who, standing at a distance from the water, "coo-ees" at the top of his voice. If the banks of the pool are already in the possession of a tribe the coo-ee is answered, and the approaching tribe, halting at some distance, never attempt to approach till invited by the pre-occupants of the place. ”

“ Although it is certain that the chief purpose to which the coo-ee is applied by the aborigines, as well as by the Europeans, is that of maintaining a running correspondence when the tribes are engaged in hunting excursions, calling together the dispersed members of the same families, or regaining the haunts of men when an individual or a party may have lost the beaten path or strayed into the depths of the primeval forest, far from village or hut, still it must not be imagined that to those commonplace uses alone is the coo-ee applied. ”

“ Here, again, conjecture is the only guide which presents itself by which to attain to any approximation to truth. For certain it is that those early colonists of Australia set up no adequate monument to commemorate the event to future ages, or if they did it is equally certain that no such memorial has survived to record the circumstances of its construction. That the present aboriginal tribes of Australia are, however, the descendants of some particular batch of adventurers it is easy to suppose. ”

“ If a white man be present, however, it is said they will evince the greatest hospitality and politeness, offering him the choicest morsels before they serve themselves. All accounts agree in stating that animal food is always eaten by the aborigines in a half-cooked state; the only reason which can be adduced for this strange habit is to be gathered from the answer of an aboriginal when asked the cause of his not leaving an opossum longer in the fire, viz., that when roasted too much it became "only like a waddy." ”