Evening journal., 1900-03-26
THE TAsMANlANs.
Futile Efforts by the English to Pre-.
vent Their determination.

vent ineif E@tcrmiuations
There was an interesting descrip-
tlon of the last days of the Aborigi-
nal, before he became improved
away" by the English settlers, in
lecture given by the Agent-General
for Tasmania (Sir Philip Fysh) at the
Whitehall Rooms last night. For the
South Sea Islanders, he said, nature
has provided, planting, cultivating,
and ripening their food so that they
toll not, neither do they spin nor
gather into barns" How different it
was in Tasmania It could not in its
primitive state support a large popu-
lation. A fungus known as the bread
fruit of the natives, and the kan
garoo, wallaby, and wombat were
there, and fish, all to be had by the
spear trap and the practice of amphib-
ious habits; but the race was poor
in physique, neglectful and remorse-
less of infant female life. Each tribe
was in perpetual war with the next.
between whom q river or a mountain
was the only line of demarcation.
They were exposed to the inclemency
Of the weather, an animal skin being
their only, If any, clothing; attacked
by catarrh and pneumonia, the NOR
tality must have been abnormally
high. and judging by the paucity of
numbers found by us there, they were
doomed race.
Great efforts for their protection
were put forth. Proclamations of his
Majesty were made by rudely-painted
pictures fastened upon trees intended
to explain that If white shot black
the former would be hanged. and If
black speared white the black would
be hanged. Many were docile, but the
villainies Of bushrangers drew upon
the settlers a vengeance without dis
elimination, causing an effort so early
as 1880 to collect all the tribes. Gov
ernment spent 100000 and engaged
5000 persons in a Gordon stretched
across the island, called the black line
or Black War, but il was a complete
failure, one man and one boy being
the only captives, and they by acci-
dent.
Among very many settlers who
were true friends OF the black, one
man stands out with a history which
is a memorial of good deeds. The
black mans friend was G. A. Robin
son, bricklayer by trade, anda noble
souled philanthropist he trusted
for a time, and by moral suasion he
brought them through many a hair
breadth escape himself to camp
around his home in Hobart. Their
counsellor and protector, his ascen-
dency became complete. Truganini,
native woman, was companion to Rob
inson in his journeys among the
blacks. She had lived long enough
at peace with white people to respect
their purposes. Mr.. Bonwick writes of
her: "Her mind was of no ordinary
kind. Fertile in expedient, sagaciOus
in council. courageous in difficulty,
she had the wisdom and destinations
of the serpent. the intrepidity and no
bility of the royal ruler of the desert"
When collected. they were fed.
clothed and protected in native quar-
ters and medically comforted under
the care of an Imperial Superintend-
ent. The remnant of their number in
1886 was but 2O3 souls. From a NOR
tality point such paternal care seems
to have been a failure, as their num-
ber in 1S47 was reduced to AZ. The
last male native. called King Billy. be-
came a whaling hand among sailors.
adopted their vices and succumbed to
excesses in 1869. Truganini or Tru-
canini lived to the fairly ripe old age
for an aboriginal of Go. She was a
constant visitor to my fruit garden.
and delighted in and indulged much
in the freedom OF many other gar
dens until she ended by her death the
last chapter of her race in the year
iS76.-Pall Mall Gazette.