# The Last of the Tasmanians

FERN TREE VALLEY NEAR HOBART TOWN
THE
LAST OF THE TASMANIANS;
OR,
The Black War of Van Diemen's Land.
BY
JAMES BONWICK, F.R.G.S.
FELLOW OF THE LONDON ETHNOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETIES, AND FORMERLY AN INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS, VICTORIA.
WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS, AND COLOURED ENGRAVINGS.
LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, SON, & MARSTON, CROWN BUILDINGS, FLEET STREET.
MDCCCLXX.
[All Rights reserved.]
LONDON: R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS, BREAD STREET HILL.
PREFACE.
My simple object in the publication of this book was to make known some facts of colonial history not collected by another. It is just possible that my own deep interest in the fate of the Lost Tribes may have led me to overvalue the importance of that knowledge. To me the story of the Tasmanians is so romantic, so affecting, so suggestive, that I, perhaps, have erred in deeming the public sensitive to such sympathies. Anyhow, a sense of duty has actuated the literary venture. Others had laboured for me; I did but return a little.
The critic's forbearance is respectfully solicited. I am conscious of irregularity of style, if not of graver faults. The apology is, that most of the book was written on the voyage from Australia; and those who know the constant disturbing influences of ship-board, and the absolute deprivation of quiet privacy, will be ready to accord me their indulgence.
The difficulties of collecting materials for such a work must be considered. It was not a mere hunt through Blue Books. The forest depths, the sultry plain—the homes of peace, the dens of penal woe—have each brought something to the store. The laugh of the Bushman, the sigh of gentle womanhood, the grief at lost affection, the curse from some remembered wrong, have been the varied accompaniments of tales thus told.
​The returning of thanks to those who have aided my efforts is a pleasing duty. Yet where so many individuals have been kind it is not easy to name a few. To the Government officials of New South Wales and Tasmania I am under much obligation. The early records of both colonies were unreservedly submitted to my inspection. To the Australian Library of Sydney, the noble Public Library of Melbourne, and the Parliamentary Libraries of the Colonies, I am also much indebted.
If this simple narrative of the Tasmanians excite some benevolent desire to bless the rude tribes left beneath our sway, my object is accomplished.
The Second Part, soon to follow the present historical work, will speak of the Tasmanians in their home, and everyday life. It may be regarded as a sequel to the book in hand. The one traces their career as a nation; the other will bring them in their individuality before us. We shall see them at their meals, their sports, their sick couch, and their grave. Their songs and laughter will be heard, and their dark traditions told.
Should the British and American public listen favourably to the story of the Tasmanians, other chapters of early colonial days, as singular as they are interesting, may be unfolded.
It is with humble confidence in the sympathy of philanthropists, and a respectful reliance on the generosity of Anglo-Saxons in both hemispheres, that the book is launched upon the waters of the literary world.
James Bonwick.
Acton, London, October 18, 1869.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. VOYAGERS TALES OF THE TASMANIANS. :
| The First Battle | 3 |
| Captain Cook's Visit | 5 |
| The French Visit in 1792 | 9 |
| Flinders and Bass at the Derwent | 15 |
| Péron's Visit in 1802 | 18 |
| The French and the Wood-nymphs | 23 |
| CHAPTER II. THE BLACK WAR. ||
| Massacre of the Blacks in 1804 | 32 |
| Destruction of Public Records | 39 |
| Kidnapping Black Boys | 41 |
| Michael Howe's Black Mary | 47 |
| Chase after Stock-keepers | 50 |
| Colonel Sorell's Order of 1819 | 53 |
| CHAPTER III. CRUELTIES TO THE BLACKS. ||
| Cruelty of Early Settlers | 59 |
| Cruelty of Bushrangers | 61 |
| Spanish and Dutch Cruelties | 68 |
| CHAPTER IV. OUTRAGES OF THE BLACKS. ||
| Hanging of Two Aborigines | 75 |
| The Demarcation Order of 1828 | 78 |
| Martial Law | 82 |
| Pictorial Proclamation | 85 |
| Proclamation of October 1830 | 89 |
| Mosquito and the Tame Mob | 98 |
| Execution of Mosquito and Black Jack | 103 |
| Cruelties of the Blacks | 107 |
| A Hand left in the Trap | 111 |
| Bravery of a Half-caste Wife | 121 |
| Chastity of White Women respected | 125 |
| Time of Terror | 129 ​ |
| CHAPTER V. THE LINE. ||
| Proclamation for Volunteers | 133 |
| Arrangements for the Capture | 143 |
| Leaders and Numbers in the Line | 151 |
| Savage's Tale of the Savages | 158 |
| Mr. Walpole caught a Black | 163 |
| Siege of the "Three Thumbs" | 169 |
| £80,000 for One Black | 173 |
| Egg-gatherers break through a Line | 179 |
| CHAPTER VI. CAPTURE PARTIES. ||
| Leaders of Parties | 182 |
| John Batman, the Blacks' Friend | 189 |
| The Sydney Black Guides | 193 |
| A Night at Ben Lomond | 198 |
| Gilbert Robertson, the Leader | 201 |
| Jorgen Jorgenson, the Dane | 206 |
| CHAPTER VII. GEORGE AUGUSTUS ROBINSON, THE CONCILIATOR. ||
| Bruni Island Depôt | 213 |
| Truganina, the beautiful Tasmanian | 217 |
| The Conciliatory Mission | 220 |
| Robinson's Capture of a Tribe | 223 |
| Triumphal Entry into Hobart Town | 229 |
| Truganina saves Robinson's Life | 233 |
| CHAPTER VIII. FLINDERS ISLAND. ||
| Swan Island Depôt | 243 |
| Gun Carriage Island | 245 |
| Flinders Island Depôt | 247 |
| Visit of the Quaker Missionaries | 251 |
| Life of Aborigines on Flinders Island | 253 |
| Mr. Clark, the Catechist | 259 |
| School Examination of the Natives | 260 |
| Dr. Jeanneret, the Commandant | 267 |
| Dr. Milligan removes Natives from Flinders | 270 |
| CHAPTER IX. OYSTER COVE. ||
| Author's Visit to the Natives at Oyster Cove | 274 |
| Death of Mr. Clark | 277 |
| Maryann and Walter | 282 ​ |
| CHAPTER X. THE SEALERS. ||
| Home life of Sealers' Women | 295 |
| Robinson removes the Women to Flinders | 300 |
| The Qnakers and the Sealers | 305 |
| CHAPTER XI. HALF-CASTES. ||
| Murder of Half-castes | 311 |
| Fecundity of Mixed Races | 318 |
| Bishop Nixon's Visit to the Straits' Half-castes | 317 |
| Bong and her Daughter Dolly | 321 |
| CHAPTER XII. NATIVE RIGHTS. ||
| Legal Rights | 327 |
| Hanging of Four Tasmanians | 331 |
| CHAPTER XIII. CIVILIZATION. ||
| Whately's Degradation Theory | 385 |
| Effects of Civilization | 348 |
| Drink and Civilization | 347 |
| Walter, the civilized Tasmanian | 352 |
| An Aboriginal Discourse | 354 |
| Mr. Wedge's Black Boy | 355 |
| Failure of Australian Missions | 365 |
| Christian Tasmanians | 367 |
| CHAPTER XIV. DECLINE. ||
| Amalgamation of Races | 378 |
| Decline, a "Decree of Providence" | 375 |
| Hawaiian and Maori Decline | 379 |
| Drink, the great Destroyer | 381 |
| Story of the civilized Mathinna | 388 |
| Count Strzelecki's Theory of Decline | 387 |
| Lanné, the Last Man | 398 |
| Lalla Rookh, the Last Tasmanian | 399 |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
COLOURED PLATES. :
| To face page ||
| Fern Tree Valley, near Hobart Town Frontispiece |
| Attack on a Settler's Hut | 51 |
| The Corra Linn of Northern Tasmania | 364 |
| WOODCUTS. ||
| Mother and Child. (Péron's "Voyage") | 23 |
| Tasmanian Woman. (Péron's Arra Maida) | 25 |
| Tasmanian. (Péron's Grou-Agara) | 26 |
| Pictorial Proclamation for the Blacks | 84 |
| Mr. Robinson on his Conciliation Mission. (From Mr. Duterreau's great picture) | 210 |
| Wooreddy, Truganina's Husband. (From Mr. Duterreau's portrait) | 217 |
| Manalagana. (From Mr. Duterreau's portrait) | 218 |
| Fac-similes of Autographs | 268 |
| Wapperty, a Tasmanian Woman. (Photographed by Mr. Woolley) | 279 |
| Patty, the Ring-tailed Opossum. ((Photographed by Mr. Woolley) | 280 |
| Patty in Oyster Cove Holiday Costume. (Photographed by Dr. Nixon, Lord Bishop of Tasmania) | 280 |
| Bessy Clark, of Oyster Cove. ((Photographed by Mr. Woolley) | 281 |
| Walter George Arthur, and his Wife Maryann the Half-Caste. | 282 |
| William Lanné, the Last Man. (By Mr. Woolley, 1866) | 393 |
| Lalla Rookh, or Truganina, the Last Woman. (Photographed by Mr. Woolley, 1866) | 399 |
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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