Evening star., 1943-05-09

tackled by dark-Sklnned natives, and
the Dutch left the area. 1t is likely.
but not certain, that French sea
captain also sighted Australia in the
same year.
Thus Australia might be called
the newest inhabited continent"
1t has been known to white men
for less than three and a half CEN
turies. Even after being discovered,
little was learned about it for long
time. Real knowledge of the place
was not gained until British settlers
went there to live. Following the
visits by Capt. Cook, British cotony
was founded at Botany Bay. That
was in 1888.
The colony grew as time passed.
and other villages were started. By
1858, Australia had a population Of
half a million.
The natives of Australia-often
called 'blackfelloWs fought the
settlers from time to time. They
were armed with spears and BOOM
erangs, but these weapons were no
match for the guns which the white
men used. AS a result, the blackfel-
lows were. for the most part, driven
to the interior
Poorly Armed.
Some thousands of the natives are
to be found in Australia today, but
they make up only small fraction
of the population. They seldom are
to be seen in the larger cities.
The blackfellows were more poorly
armed than American indians. They
knew nothing about the bow and
arrow.
Before the coming of the whites,
they had little need for good weap-
ons. Even the deepest wilds of Aus
tralia had few animals Of a danger
Gus kind. There were no lions or
tigers, no elephants or bufaloes.
Set apart from the rest Of the
world, Australia had kept many of
its olden types of animals. Among
these was the 'platypus.' a hairy
animal which lays eggs. Another
animal was the kangaroo.
In some parts of Australia kan
garoos are fairly common today. but
not in all parts. Some of the Amer
lean soldiers now stationed in Aus
tralia have reported that they were
disappointed because they had seen
no kangaroos hopping about.
Australia had no rabbits when the
whites first settled there. These
animals were brought in, and some
Of them escaped from their keepers.
Running about the wild lands, they
found plenty of food, and were
bothered very little by animal enc
mics. The wild dogs known as
"dingoes" were of danger to them,
but there were not enough dingoes
to make a great difference.
AS result, the number Of rabbits
kept growing. Soon, there were more
rabbits than people in Australia.
Destroyed Grass.
If the rabbits had stayed in the
wild lands. they might have caused
little trcuble. AS it was, they formed
the habit Of migrating. Sweeping
over pasture lands, they ate the
grass. They also destroyed young
trees which farmers planted in the
hope of having orchards.
The people Of Australia have
made Campaigns against rabbits,
but poisons, trapping and hunting
have done only little to keep the
number down.
One of the most interesting ef-
forts was the building of a fence
clear across the continent. This
wire structure runs from the south
ern coast to the northern coast.
cutting through deserts. sheep
ranches. gold fields and forests. It
is l.l39 miles long and three and a
half feet high.
The idea of the fence was to keen
rabbits from migrating from one
side of Australia to the other. 1t
has been of help, but it must not be
supposed that either side of Aus
tralla is without rabbits. Far from
it! There are millions of rabbits
on both sides Of the barrier.
Read Uncle Rays Corner"
Every Day in The Eueninq SturJ