Efforts made to civilize the Aborigines—Rev. L. E. Threlkeld—Results
of Missions—Government support of Missions—Society for propagating
the Gospel in Foreign Parts—Population in the Port Phillip District
—Examination before the Legislative Council on the Aboriginal Question
—Lieut. Sadleir’s evidence—Rev. L. E. Threlkeld’s evidence—Captain
Grey’s opinion.
The following may be considered as a brief summary of the several
attempts to christianize and civilize the aborigines. Several portions
of the Bible have been translated, but as the natives are fast
acquiring English, this need not be continued.
The Rev. Mr. Threlkeld was a translator into the aboriginal language,
as appears from the following, but the tribes in question are now
extinct:—
“AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL LANGUAGE.
“_To the Editor of the Herald._
“Sir,—In your issue of the 2nd instant appears a short review (from the
_Sydney Mail_) on the recently published work, entitled ‘Kamilaroi and
other Australian Languages,’ by the Rev. W. Ridley, lately issued by
the New South Wales Government Printing Office. In your remarks on the
work I notice the following:—
‘If we mistake not, the Rev. L. E. Threlkeld was the _first_ to produce
any publication on the subject of the aboriginal language, his little
work, containing ‘Specimens of the Dialect of the Aborigines of New
South Wales,’ having been given to the world in 1827. In the same year
he issued another essay, in which he endeavoured to throw the language
into grammatical shape; and in 1856 appeared his ‘Key to the Structure
of the Aboriginal Language.’
“As the above gives but a very brief outline of the work rendered by my
father (carried on for sixteen years under great privation and through
many trying circumstances) in the interests of the aborigines of this
Colony during his mission, commencing in January, 1825, and terminating
December, 1841, I trust you will not consider that I am needlessly
trespassing upon your columns in placing before you a few of the more
prominent results emanating from those labours, especially as it would
appear, from the recent publication, that our Government is more alive
to the importance of preserving reliable works on the dialect of the
aboriginal language that it was at the time of their publication.
“The Rev. L. E. Threlkeld’s first production was ‘Specimens of the
Aboriginal Language,’ printed and issued for publication (as mentioned
by you) in 1827.
“In 1829, under the auspices of the Venerable Archdeacon Broughton
(subsequently Bishop of Australia), he completed the translation of the
Gospel of St. Luke, which was revised in 1831, and the MSS. forwarded
to the Archdeacon.
“In 1832 a selection of prayers from the Ritual of the Church of
England was translated.
“In 1835 his ‘Australian Grammar, being a Dialect of the Languages of
the Aborigines,’ was completed, a copy of which was presented to His
late Majesty King William IV, and placed in the Royal Library.
“In 1836 the ‘Australian Spelling Book’ was completed and printed
for the use of the aborigines. Two of the youths then attending the
Mission School could read and write in their native tongue. In the same
year ‘Selections from the Old Testament’ were also translated to form
reading lessons for the native youth.
“In 1837 the first translation of the Gospel of St. Mark was finished.
“At the close of the yearly report ending 1838 the following subjects
are alluded to as having occupied his attention—
“1. Specimens of the Language }
} In print. The copies were then
“2. An Australian Grammar } expended.
“3. The Gospel of St. Luke.
“4. The Gospel of St. Mark.
“5. The Gospel of St. Matthew to the 5th chapter.
“6. A Selection of Prayers for Morning and Evening Service.
“7. A Selection of Reading Lessons from the Old Testament.
“8. The Australian Spelling Book.
“In 1856 (some fifteen years after the close of the Mission) he
completed and published his last work—‘The Key to the Structure of
the Aboriginal Language’—and at the time of his death, in 1859, he
had nearly completed the final revision of the Four Gospels, with a
view to their publication. At the request of Sir George Grey, who has
always taken a lively interest in aboriginal languages, I forwarded the
manuscript to him, under the impression that he would have it printed
and forward me a copy.
“In the annual report of 1839 allusion is made to the similarity of
the aboriginal language with the Cherokee Indian, where specimens of
the dual are given; the Cherokee habitual form of the verb agreeing
with the modification in the Australian Grammar, page 29. A comparison
of dialects is also made of the aborigines at Lake Macquarie, Manila
River, Swan River, and King George’s Sound.
“Burwood House, March 16.
L. E. THRELKELD.”
The first institution, at Parramatta, was instituted by Governor
Macquarie. Next, we may regard the Rev. Mr. Cartwright’s attempt at the
Male Orphan School, which was only limited to a few children. One of
the girls, under the care of Mrs. Cartwright, made great progress in
learning, aspired to music, and was afterwards married to a stockman on
Manaro Plains. Some of the boys turned out well.
The Rev. Mr. Threlkeld’s mission at Lake Macquarie (see his evidence
and brief notice attached); the Church Missionary Society, Wellington
Valley; Mr. Watson’s Mission of the remnant down the Macquarie; the
Moravian Missions and Roman Catholic Missions, Queensland; Sir Richard
Bourke’s Mission, Melbourne; also the Wesleyan and the Lake Mission
there; Missions in Western Australia and Adelaide; Mission by the Rev.
Mr. Ridley, Barwon and Namoi; two Missions under Mr. Matthews and the
Rev. J. B. Gribble; Tasmanian Aborigines.
“Rev. L. E. Threlkeld, who had been associated with Rev. John Williams,
‘the martyr of Erromanga,’ in the South Sea mission, commenced a
mission among the aborigines at Lake Macquarie, near Newcastle,
and continued for eleven years to labour among them. Mr. Threlkeld
published a grammar of the language spoken by the aborigines of the
Lower Hunter, which constitutes a valuable philological record. A large
number of the natives received the elements of education from Mr.
Threlkeld, and some of his old catechumens are still to be met with
in different parts of the Colony; but no decided and permanent moral
change appears to have resulted from his long-continued labours there.
Like other tribes in the neighbourhood of colonial settlements, that
in the midst of which Mr. Threlkeld carried on his labours rapidly
decayed, and left no material for benevolent agencies to work upon.
The Revs. Messrs. Watson and Gunther, of the Church of England, for
several years conducted a mission for the aborigines in Wellington
Vale, the results of which are very similar to those of Mr. Threlkeld’s
mission. Among the aboriginal shepherds and stockmen scattered over
a wide district Mr. Watson’s old scholars may be occasionally met
with, and their training under his care has at least had the effect
of making them more intelligent and useful servants. Mr. Watson
accomplished a work of mercy for numerous half-caste children scattered
among the tribes in the western and north-western districts. Many of
these unhappy children, disowned by their fathers, and liable to be
destroyed by their mothers’ tribe, having no prospect but an early
death or a savage life, were rescued from such a fate by Mr. Watson,
and instructed in Christian knowledge and useful art.” (See Bishop
Broughton’s visit and report of this mission; also Bishop Barker’s
tour.)
Between 1837 and 1844, the Rev. Benjamin Hurst and the Rev. Francis
Tuckfield, under the auspices of the Wesleyan Society, started on a
mission at Buntingdale, or Colac, near Geelong. They conducted a school
at which 100 aboriginal children attended, and trained the adults to
farm labour; but the spiritual good which was their chief aim was not
manifest in a decided manner. Hostile attacks by other tribes put a
stop to the work, and convinced the missionaries of the necessity of
simultaneous and enlarged efforts among all the neighbouring tribes.
Rev. William Walker, another Wesleyan Minister, laboured with great
zeal for the conversion of the aborigines in the neighbourhood of
Bathurst, and some of those brought up under his instructions made an
open profession of Christianity and adopted the habits of civilized
life. One of them was for years a preacher of the Gospel.
In 1837 a party of nine missionaries, who had been enlisted in the work
by Pastor Gossner, of Berlin, were directed, through the exertions of
Rev. Dr. Lang, to Australia, and came with their families to Moreton
Bay. These missionaries taught the children of the aborigines the
English language, the use of the hoe, and other useful arts. Their
attempts to instil Christianity into their minds do not appear to
have been successful. The lives of the missionaries were repeatedly
endangered by the plots of the aborigines to rob and murder them. After
some years, having been compelled by the absence of external support to
devote their attention to the cultivation of the ground for the support
of their families, they gradually abandoned the attempt to evangelize
the natives. Two of them, Rev. G. Hansmann and Rev. W. Riquet, have
been since labouring successfully for the good of their own countrymen
in Victoria. Between 1853 and 1856 the Rev. W. Ridley made several
missionary tours to the aborigines on the Namoi, Barwon, and Balonne
Rivers, and Moreton Bay; in the course of which he collected and
made public information relative to the language and traditional
customs of the tribes in those districts. Mr. Ridley addressed to
the aborigines, in their native language, elementary instruction in
revealed truth; and especially among the Kamilaroi-speaking tribes on
the Namoi and Barwon—these instructions were received with attention
and thankfulness; no evidence, however, appeared of any permanent
good being effected by this brief attempt. In the Colonies of Western
Australia, South Australia, and Victoria more successful efforts have
been made. In Western Australia the Rev. George King carried on a
mission for seven years, 1842 to 1848, the results of which continue
to this day. Mr. King devoted his attention chiefly to the children;
and during the whole course of the seven years from thirteen to fifteen
children were frequently under instruction. Mr. King was obliged to
discontinue the mission on account of failing health.
Some of these denizens of the bush have become quite industrious,
and not only have they adopted the Christian name and a few outward
forms of religion, but by active benevolence, by consistent honesty
and industry, by patient resignation and suffering, and calm hope in
the hour of death, many of them have, as may be seen by the yearly
reports of Mr. Hammond, proved the reality of the change which they
professed to have undergone. There has also been a mission carried on
up to this time, or till very recently, in the Wimmera District, in the
Western Province of Victoria, by Mr. Spieseke and other missionaries
connected with the German Moravians, from whom accounts have been
received of hopeful success in this work, followed by sad tidings of
a fatal epidemic among the tribe. For further information concerning
this and the Port Lincoln mission we may refer to the Rev. R. L. C.,
of Melbourne, who has taken a lively and active interest in the work,
and who himself educated and took with him to England an aboriginal
boy, Willie Wimmera. A school, opened as a trial establishment, was
also managed during several years by the Government at Port Franklin,
in Victoria, where the Rev. Mr. Hobarton Carvosso laboured with very
great assiduity and some success in the teaching of black children.
But there are many thousands of aborigines still, on and beyond the
borders of the Colony, and there is yet time for a more enlarged,
skilful, and persevering effort to raise their condition by Christian
missions; while, in reference to the past, the painful fact cannot be
forgotten that many of the white men who first came into contact with
the aborigines were far more willing to instruct them in evil than in
good—a fact which explains to some extent the indisposition so commonly
exhibited to learn anything good. In looking to the future relation of
Australian Christianity to the aboriginal race, it cannot be reasonably
doubted that if the religion of the colonists should become in them
a vital power, regulating and inspiring all their actions, it will
speedily overcome all the difficulties which have hitherto obstructed
the endeavours made to raise the physical and spiritual condition of
the Australian aborigines.
It would occupy too much space to enter into a detailed history of all
these attempts to civilize and christianize these people. Both the
Rev. Mr. Johnson and the Rev. Mr. Marsden and others had attempted to
domesticate some of the children, but after a residence of some time,
they returned into the bush but little benefited.
Governor Macquarie established a school in Parramatta, in which several
children—twenty-seven girls and thirty-seven boys—were partially
educated. This school was removed to Blacktown, where land was set
apart for the natives, and inducements held out to both blacks and
whites to mass them here. Several were educated so that they could
read, write, sing hymns, and do needlework; but the white population
pressed around, and after some years of labour it had to be abandoned,
the Rev. Mr. Walker removing to Bathurst to re-establish the school
there. The Rev. Mr. Cartwright mixed the boys with the white boys in
the school. They worked well together, but a foolish apprehension
that the black children communicated disease to the whites caused its
discontinuance.
The Rev. Mr. Threlkeld laboured in Lake Macquarie, a beautiful sheet
of water and large grant of land having been set apart for them, but
its proximity to Newcastle, and gradual dying out of the blacks,
extinguished the mission.
The Church Missionary Society, at the instigation of the Rev. Samuel
Marsden, established the Wellington mission. The situation was
especially suited, and the labourers diligent and efficient, but after
a few years the pressure of the white population put an end to the
mission there.
The Rev. Mr. Watson gathered up the remnant, and recommenced the
mission on his own station down the Macquarie. Bishop Broughton visited
that establishment, and was highly gratified with the success and
management, but it also died out, I suspect, with the death of Mr.
Watson.
The Moravian Mission in Queensland was established by the Rev. Dr. Lang
there, settled at Brisbane, but afterwards removed to the Bunya Bunya
country, where natives congregate for the fruit of the pine. The salary
promised by the Government was withdrawn, and that, with the influx of
the squatters and their threats to the natives, caused the breaking up
of the mission.
The Roman Catholic Mission was commenced at Stradbroke Island by
Archbishop Polding, in 1842, who brought out two Italian priests to
establish it, but they soon became tired of the occupation, and retired
from the charge.
The mission of Sir R. Bourke to Melbourne, after some trial, had to be
given up, owing to rapid pressure of the white population.
The Wesleyan Mission there, after much labour, had likewise to be given
up, for a similar reason.
The mission of the Rev. Mr. Ridley, who acquired the language, and
itinerated and preached to them, had likewise to be given up. Mr.
Ridley has left a valuable work on their language.
Two or three missions were established—one in Western Australia,
another near Adelaide; and two others, under Mr. Matthews and the
Rev. Mr. Gribble, are now under the consideration of the Government,
which has appointed the Honorable G. Thornton, M.L.C., Commissioner,
and the Board of Missions, under the Church Synod, so that some hope
remains that many, especially children, may be rescued from gradual
destruction, hitherto the result of civilized Christianity with them.
It may naturally be asked what is the reason of these failures in
the attempts which have been made in various portions of New South
Wales, Victoria, &c. The answer is in the constant encroachment and
pressure of the whites and their rapid settlement in an open country,
coupled with the helplessness of the natives when brought within their
influences, dependent as they are on gratuitous support, and the vices
and diseases of the white population which are so fatal to them.
The Government support of missions to 1838 appears to be—
Wellington Valley £500 0 0
Lake Macquarie 186 0 0 besides land
Moreton Bay {450 0 0
{310 19 2
Port Phillip 534 17 0
Provisions and clothing 440 17 11
Wesleyan—Port Phillip 600 0 0
————————————
General support £2,691 16 11
————————————
In April, 1844, the Society for propagating the Gospel in Foreign
Parts proposed to Lord Stanley to combine with the Colonial Government
for supporting missions and schools for the European and aboriginal
population of New South Wales, the Society offering to defray a certain
portion of the expense. Four clergymen were to be maintained by the
Church Societies on a salary of £250 per annum, and £50 for horse
allowance, each; total, £1,200. Expenses to be borne by Government
of four additional clergymen as before, £1,200. Two missionaries—one
for the whites, and the other for the aboriginal population—were
to be placed at each station: at Western Port, two; at Goulburn,
two; at Mount Rouse, two; at River Lodden, two. At each station,
four schoolmasters. The missionaries at each station were to devote
themselves to the white and black population within a reasonable
distance.
From the report of the Port Phillip District Committee of the Society
for promoting Christian Knowledge, the following tables represent the
numbers and localities of the white and aboriginal population in and
about the Port Phillip District in 1844:—
WHITE POPULATION IN THE BUSH.
Mount Rouse. The Lodden. The Goulburn. Dandenong. Total.
Within Circuits 1,046 1,102 750 290 3,188
Beyond Circuits 270 270 250 167 957
Moving population 250 250 250 250 1,000
————— ————— ————— ———
Totals 1,566 1,622 1,250 707
Total British population entirely destitute of religious ordinances 5,145
On purchased lands 1,000
In villages and farms near town 2,000
————— 3,000
—————
Total British population 8,145
ABORIGINAL OR BLACK POPULATION.
Mount Rouse. The Lodden. The Goulburn. Dandenong. Total.
At stations 400 300 400 200 1,300
Accessible beyond
the limits of
occupation 800 800 1,000 ... 2,600
————— ————— ————— ——— —————
Totals 1,200 1,100 1,400 200
Total black population 3,900
White population 8,145
—————
12,045
These proposals were communicated to His Excellency Sir George Gipps,
together with a letter from the Immigration Office with the views of
the Land Commissioner on the project; but the result of this truly
liberal and Christian proposal seems to have met with no response.
I may here venture to add my own testimony to that of the Rev. Mr.
Threlkeld and Mr. Robinson upon this subject, as given in evidence
before a Committee of the Legislative Council, in the year 1838;
also Captain Grey’s opinion. I fear Mr. Robinson’s evidence is not
obtainable; but the wonderful achievement of that gentleman in
accomplishing single-handed what the whole power of the Van Diemen’s
Land Government could not succeed in with a large military force,
backed by the settlers, and at a heavy cost, is one of the noblest
triumphs of moral over physical power probably ever accomplished. I
have described this in the “Reminiscences of Tasmania.”
_Examination before the Committee of the Legislative
Council, 1838.—Extracts from the Minutes of Evidence
on the Aborigines Question._
Lieutenant Richard Sadleir, R.N., Liverpool, examined:—
When I first arrived here, in 1826, I was employed on a tour of inquiry
as to the state of the aborigines, by order of the Home Government, and
under the immediate direction of Mr. Archdeacon Scott.
I proceeded first into Argyle, and examined into the numbers of the
tribes, and as to their intercourse with the whites, and the cause of
the disputes with them.
From the Murrumbidgee, I struck off to Bathurst, pursuing the same
inquiries, and from thence, I went 80 miles below Wellington Valley, on
the Macquarie River; afterwards to the head of Hunter’s River, which I
traced down to Newcastle.
I had with me only one man, two horses, and a cart.
I sometimes ventured from 30 to 60 miles beyond the stations of the
whites, and on one occasion reached a tribe consisting of about 100
persons, at the Cataract, on the Macquarie, who had never seen white
people. I made them presents, and was received in a friendly manner,
and remained with them for the night.
I had intended to have proceeded further, but was apprehensive of
danger in doing so, and therefore returned, accompanied for some
distance by the tribe, who, however, would not go to the establishment
at Wellington Valley, but took alarm about 9 miles from thence, and
left me.
I think it would be dangerous for a single individual to go amongst
the native tribes beyond the white settlements. It would be a perilous
undertaking, but one which I have already ventured upon myself, and
it is a well-known fact that whites have lived amongst them for years,
as in the case of Buckley, and some bushrangers. There would be a
difficulty in communicating with any but the tribe whose language
had been previously acquired, from the difference of dialect, nor
can I conceive that an individual could effect any extensive good
by so exposing himself. The only instance I have ever heard of was
that of Mr. Robinson, of Van Diemen’s Land. It is, however, certain
that a small body of Europeans may travel amongst them well armed and
maintaining a conciliatory spirit, as in the case of Mr. Eyre and
others, in their journeys to South Australia, and also Captain Sturt
and Mr. Cunningham. Indeed we see stock stations extended amongst them,
where there have been but a very few white persons, and those persons
having shown a spirit of conciliation, have not been molested; whereas
in other instances, where, in all probability a different spirit had
been exhibited, aggression has followed. Impressed, therefore, with
this opinion, I wrote to the Moravians to say that I thought their
system of missions would be well suited to this people, inviting them
to send out a missionary, conceiving that if small bodies of stockmen
(men of depraved habits) could venture to reside amongst them, a small
community of virtuous people, such as the Moravians, would not only be
secure, but likely to effect much good.
Respecting the office of Protectors, if they are persons qualified to
fill the office, and Magistrates, I conceive that they may be of great
benefit both to the whites and the aborigines, as at present both
parties have much reason to complain of the impossibility of obtaining
justice; the natives have to endure a variety of wrongs, without any
means of redress but by retaliation; and the whites are placed in
much the same situation; the consequence is that there ever has been,
and must continue to be, a system of reprisal, often leading to the
most atrocious acts of violence on both sides; but more especially
inexcusable on the part of the whites, who have in several instances
practised barbarities on these people, revolting to human nature, which
have been overlooked, in consequence of there being no public officer
to apprehend and prosecute the parties.
I have known cases of this kind, but not being in the Commission of
the Peace, I could not act, but could only content myself with making
them known to the Government, who could not adopt measures promptly
enough to bring the parties to justice. My opinion is that a Protector
(supposing him to be a man of influence and energy), residing on
the outskirts of the white population, would prevent a number of
the feuds and violences daily taking place between the white and
aboriginal population—would preserve order and law amongst the whites
themselves—would impress the aborigines with a proper opinion of our
character as a people (the very opposite of which is the case now, the
aborigines being brought first in contact with the most unprincipled of
our countrymen), and would, from their opportunities of observation, be
enabled to suggest to Government, from time to time, such measures as
would not only prevent that too general feeling of Lynch law, but serve
to ameliorate the condition of the aboriginal population, and afford
security to the whites themselves.
My own experience convinces me that much of the evil which at present
exists may be prevented by the residence of officers on the frontiers,
whose peculiar province it would be to ascertain the sources of these
evils, and then suggest the means of preventing them.
But I must further add, that I conceive the duties laid down in Lord
Glenelg’s despatch are in many instances unsuitable to the office of
Protectors, being of a missionary character, and that they are likewise
too onerous for any one individual to perform. I likewise think
the salary for Assistant Protectors too small to ensure men of the
proper qualifications, the office being one not only requiring moral
character, but likewise men of address and standing in society.
Other expenses besides mere salary will be requisite for the
Protectors. They must have either an European or aboriginal police;
also, have funds for presents, &c., so that the expense cannot be
estimated at less than £500 per annum for each Protector.
I further conceive that a summary of our laws should be translated into
the dialects of the aborigines and frequently promulgated amongst them;
for as they are subject to our laws, without any voice in framing them,
it is but justice that they should be made acquainted with them.
Respecting the removal of the Flinders Island blacks, this appears to
be a matter of necessity, as they are dying away rapidly, and must
shortly become extinct; therefore justice and humanity require their
removal, if the cause or causes of the prevailing fatality cannot be
overruled. Wearing English clothing, want of their usual allowance of
animal food, situation, nostalgia, or _mal du pays_, may all contribute
to this end; some of these causes therefore can be removed, but others
are beyond the power of control.
If the necessity for their removal be however admitted, the question
whether they ought to be located in Van Diemen’s Land or removed
here, becomes the next subject of consideration. It appears from
the inquiries I have been able to make, that locating them in Van
Diemen’s Land would revive the old feelings of hostility and awaken
recollections of past violences, and that therefore it would be an
impolitic act. The bringing them to this Colony consequently appears
to be the only resource left. What their influence would be upon the
uncivilized tribes appears to me to be very problematical; and how
far it would be possible to preserve them when introduced within the
pale of our white population, from the destroying influence of that
population, as well as with what feelings of jealousy a foreign tribe
may be viewed by the aboriginal natives here, are questions which our
present experience would lead us to hesitate coming to any conclusion
on.
I conceive, in both these instances, we must depend upon the ability
and experience of Mr. Robinson, whose extraordinary success should
certainly establish confidence in his plans, and who appears to
consider the assistance of some of these natives essential to his
success in the wider field of action which this Colony throws open to
him.
The expense of the maintenance of these natives should most certainly
be borne entirely by the Van Diemen’s Land Government, for the benefit
of their removal is theirs, and not ours.
In viewing the question of the aborigines, I conceive that justice,
mercy, self-interest, and religion all demand of us that expense
and exertion should not be spared in attempting something for their
amelioration.
In the first place we claim them as our subjects, and bring them under
the administration of our laws; therefore, as our subjects, they ought
to have protection. While, secondly, as we deprive them of their
lands and means of subsistence, in justice we ought to remunerate
them. While, thirdly, as a question of humanity, nothing can be more
dreadful to contemplate, or more disgraceful to a Christian and
civilized nation, than the wholesale destruction which has been going
on for the last fifty years, and must continue, unless some plan be
devised to prevent it, for the next hundred years. While, fourthly, as
a matter of self-interest, it is a strange contradiction of things to
be destroying, on the one hand, thousands of our fellow-creatures, who
may be made useful members of society; and, on the other hand, in such
great want of population as to be pressed to introduce, at considerable
expense, races of Pagans but little superior to them, in either their
moral or physical powers. Besides which, policy should lead us to
adopt measures calculated to encourage the peaceable extension of our
territory.
On the score of religion it is not necessary to enlarge, for the
command is, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every
creature.”
A knowledge of their language is essential to preaching the Gospel,
and we know that our Divine Master bestowed the gift of tongues on his
Apostles. This, therefore, is one of the first things which should
occupy the teacher’s attention.
In following these views of the question, two things present themselves
to our notice:—
1. The measures to be pursued to those aborigines _within_ the pale
of white population.
2. The measures to be pursued to those _without_ the pale of white
population.
Those within the pale of white population must, within a very few
years, be utterly destroyed, if the most prompt measures be not taken,
so much so that I conceive that there is scarce an alternative between
coercion and destruction. I would therefore beg to recommend a clause
to be introduced into the Vagrant Act, empowering their transportation,
under peculiar circumstances, to distant parts of the Colony—say
Moreton Bay, Port Phillip, &c.; it being a well-known fact that, when
sent to a distance, they can be made to work, and, from their great
apprehension of strange tribes, their erratic habits can be restrained.
I have no hesitation in saying, that they would thus be made useful
servants; their children would be brought under the full and favourable
influence of education; that they may be taught trades, to tend cattle,
sheep, &c. The measure should be entered upon cautiously at first,
removing the tribes in the vicinity of towns, and then extending its
operation in a manner so as not to provoke open hostility on their
parts. The numbers of each tribe should be ascertained, and, if
possible, the whole tribe should be removed at once.
The children unprovided for, may be placed in the orphan schools, where
there have been already several brought up, some of the boys having
made good sailors, and some bullock-drivers, &c.
Much may likewise probably be done in removing them by conciliation,
insomuch that I am inclined to think the enforcement of the Vagrant
Act may be limited to the most vicious characters and those in the
neighbourhood of towns; but I look upon it that the removal of those
living within the precincts of white population can alone rescue them
from destruction, as vice, disease, and want of food are making fearful
inroads upon them.
Of those without the pale of white population, measures should be taken
to prepare and preserve them from the encroachments of the whites,
and I know of none so well calculated to effect this as missionary
colonization, alluded to by Mr. Roberts.
These missionary colonies should be placed at 100 miles in advance
of the white population, in suitable situations, and large blocks of
country should be reserved for the natives, forming territories of
refuge for them. The white population pressing upon them would help
to force the natives into these reserves; and those portions of land
would also prove places for those within the pale of civilization to be
either translated or transported to.
These missionary establishments, like those of the Moravians, should
embrace within themselves all the means of protection, as well as the
means of colonization, and would no doubt be supported to a great
extent by the religious community at Home. They may have sheep, cattle,
husbandry, trades, &c.
In America and Canada such a principle has been acknowledged as that
of reserving portions of land. The Indians have their own places of
worship, schools, saw-mills, farms, &c.; also in Upper Canada the
Indians on the Grand River are settled on a block of land, and in a
state of civilization; and in South America, we are aware that the
Jesuits pursued a somewhat similar system of colonization; with marked
success.
That much can be done by moral and religious influence alone on
savages, we have the evidence of William Penn, of the Missionary
Societies, amongst the Esquimaux, Hottentots, &c.; and though hitherto,
the progress of civilization has proved the destruction of savage
nations, yet this is no proof that such is the decree of Providence,
but rather, that the system of colonization has hitherto been unjust,
selfish, and unchristian.
The expense of all this machinery is a matter of importance, though in
comparison with the destruction of life, the demoralizing influence of
the present state of things, it scarcely deserves attention; yet, to
provide for this, I would venture to propose what I conceive would not
be felt as a very heavy tax: that the rent of lands be doubled, from
£1 per section to £2; that the minimum price of land sold be advanced
6d. or 1s. per acre; that town allotments in the interior be raised £1
each; that the penalty on drunkards be increased from 5s. to 10s. or
£1, according to the circumstances of the individuals.
The natives ought to be compensated out of the land fund, the land
being their property until usurped by us; likewise, those crimes most
destructive to them, such as drunkenness, &c., should be heavily taxed,
with the hope to check them. Persons selling them spirits may be
likewise fined.
The whole amount required would not in all probability exceed £10,000,
with aid from Home, and if we deduct from thence, the destruction and
insecurity of life and property, the expense which from time to time
has been incurred by the hostility of the natives, the necessity of a
police force on the outskirts, which has been computed at the increased
expense of £15,000 this year, the actual increase of expense would be
but very small.
As many prejudices prevail to the injury of this people, and many
arguments have been advanced against their moral and intellectual
qualifications, it may be well briefly to remark, that the trials
to civilize and christianize them have hitherto been made, without
exception, under either mistaken principles or great disadvantages.
The idea entertained in establishing the Blacktown School, that the
females, being civilized, would be the means of civilizing the male
population, still savage, went upon a principle directly opposed to
what our knowledge of the savage character teaches, namely, that the
female has scarcely any influence over man in his uncivilized state,
and the result proved the absurdity of the theory; for after all the
pains, and the proof that the natives are susceptible of at least
intellectual if not moral improvement (many having been taught to read,
work, draw, and sing, &c.), the act of uniting or marrying them to the
unreclaimed natives defeated the objects of the institution, for they
were carried into the bush, and there speedily relapsed back again into
their savage habits; while, on the other hand, all the establishments
(even that recently formed at Port Phillip) have been, by some strange
fatality, placed either close to towns or in the very heart of a dense
white population,—an oversight most fatal to their success.
That little good has resulted from such attempts, is therefore not to
be wondered at, but that these several attempts have not been without
their benefit, is a fact too often overlooked; they have proved
beyond the possibility of contradiction, that the natives, however
despicable they may be in the estimation of phrenologists and others,
are capable of intellectual improvement. Sir G. McKenzie, a celebrated
phrenologist, having received a skull from Patrick Hill, Esq., speaks
of their intellectual abilities as by no means despicable. The
insurmountable difficulty hitherto has been, not that of teaching them,
but that of locating them—their propensity to wander breaking through
all restraint; wherefore the necessity of removing them to a distance
from their native place.
The charge of laziness, likewise so often preferred, is no more
peculiarly applicable to them than to other savages, all of whom
are given to extreme indolence, but whose energies are more or less
drawn out by climate, physical peculiarity of country, and other
circumstances calculated to develop character, which do not exist
in this Colony; while the opinion too generally received, that
they possess no religious notions or belief, and therefore are not
susceptible of moral impressions, is also, I conceive, most unfounded.
Their ceremonies, superstitions, and belief of a future state,
exclusion of women from many of their rites, and their belief in evil
spirits, all tend to show the unreasonableness of such a conclusion.
That the question under consideration involves the destiny of perhaps
100,000 or 200,000 of our fellow-beings, is a serious consideration,
and one which should cause us to pause before we venture to abandon
them to what must inevitably take place—destruction.
The numbers now within the influence of the white population, embracing
Port Phillip and Moreton Bay, cannot be less, I conceive, than from
eight to ten thousand souls, for I found within a given space near
Wellington Valley, in 1826, nine tribes, consisting of 1,658 souls.
That a dreadful destruction of life has taken place since, there is no
doubt; but that still in the interior, within the reach of the white
population, a considerable body of natives is to be found, I feel
myself borne out by the various inquiries I have made.
The Reverend Lancelot Edward Threlkeld examined:—
I reside at Lake Macquarie, and have done so nearly fourteen years,
during which I have been engaged in acquiring a knowledge of the
language of the aboriginal natives, and instructing them; for six years
of that period, my undertaking was carried on under the auspices of
the London Missionary Society; but owing to the heavy expense of the
mission, amounting to about £500 per annum for my own support, and that
of such natives as I could persuade to remain with me, for the double
purpose of obtaining from them a knowledge of their language, and to
give me an opportunity of endeavouring to civilize and instruct them,
the Society being disappointed in the amount of aid expected from other
quarters, and regarding the expense as encroaching too much upon their
funds, relinquished the mission; and for nearly two years I was left to
my own resources and the assistance of some friends, without other aid,
when General Darling obtained the authority of the Secretary of State
for an allowance of £150 a year, and £36 in lieu of rations for four
convict servants, which has been granted to me during the last eight
years.
The mission has thus occasioned an expense to the London Society, for
the first six years, of about £3,000; and for the eight following
years, to the Colonial Government (at the rate of £186 per annum), of
about £1,488, or about £4,488 for the fourteen years, exclusive of my
own outlay.
For the probable result of the mission, if pecuniary aid sufficient
to carry out my plans had been continued, I beg leave to refer to the
opinion of Messrs. Backhouse and Walker, who visited my station, as
given in their letter to the Society, dated 21 May, 1836.
The native languages throughout New South Wales are, I feel persuaded,
based upon the same origin; but I have found the dialects of various
tribes differ from that of those which occupy the country around Lake
Macquarie, that is to say, of those tribes occupying the limits bounded
by the North Head of Port Jackson, on the south, and Hunter’s River on
the north, and extending inland about 60 miles, all of which speak the
same dialect.
The natives of Port Stephens use a dialect a little different, but not
so much as to prevent our understanding each other; but at Patrick’s
Plains the difference is so great, that we cannot communicate with each
other; there are blacks who speak both dialects.
The dialect of the Sydney and Botany Bay natives varies in a slight
degree, and in that of those further distant, the difference is
such that no communication can be held between them and the blacks
inhabiting the district in which I reside.
From information obtained from Mr. Watson, of Wellington Valley, I
learn that the language of the tribes of that district is also derived
from the same general origin, but their various dialects also differ
very much, and the use of any one dialect is very limited.
During the period of my connection with the London Missionary Society,
I generally had about three or four tribes resident around me upon
10,000 acres of land, granted in trust for the use of the aborigines;
and I have occasionally employed from ten to sixty blacks in burning
off timber and clearing the land, at which work they would continue
for a fortnight together, being the employment they appeared to like
best. Since that period, I have not been able to employ more than half
a dozen at a time, having no funds at my disposal for their support.
I have generally found that they would continue at their work for eight
or ten days at a time, when some other object called them away, and
they remained absent for as many weeks. Two lads whom I was teaching
to read and write, in which they had made some progress, remained
with me for six months, when they went away, and after an absence of
nearly a year returned, and they are now at work at my residence, where
they will probably stay until some native custom or report of hostile
intention from a neighbouring tribe or tribes will again call them away.
In respect to the office of Protectors, I think too much is expected in
the duties which are to devolve on them. I consider a Protector as a
legal advocate, to watch over the rights and interests of the natives,
and to protect them from aggression, which I think would be sufficient
occupation for any individual.
The object contemplated respecting the moral and religious improvement
of the natives by instruction, would be more properly the duty of
persons appointed specially for that purpose, and would fully occupy
their time.
To illustrate the subject, and show the necessity of legal protectors,
I state the following circumstance:—I was directed by the Government
to send a man of mine to Patrick’s Plains, to give evidence respecting
the alleged murder of three black women by their own countrymen. I had
to attend myself, and the distance I had to travel was 200 miles, which
detained me a week. I was informed on the road of a murder at Liverpool
Plains, which took place a year before, when, after some depredations
committed by the blacks in spearing cattle, a party of stockmen went
out, took a black prisoner, tied his arms behind him, and then fastened
him to the stirrup of a stockman on horseback; when the party arrived
near their respective stations, they separated, leaving the stockman
to conduct his prisoner to his hut. The black, when he found they were
alone, was reluctant to proceed, and the stockman took his knife from
his pocket, stuck the black through the throat, and left him for dead.
The black crawled to the station of a gentleman at the Plains, told his
tale, and expired. Another instance was mentioned to me, of a stockman
who boasted to his master of having killed six or eight blacks with his
own hands, when in pursuit of them with his companions; for which his
master discharged him. These cases alone, if I had authority to act,
would have taken me some months from home, merely to investigate the
matter at that distant place.
Thus I am firmly of opinion that a Protector of Aborigines will be
fully employed in investigating cases, which are so numerous and
shocking to humanity, and in maintaining their civil rights. I am
certain that the duties attached to the office of Protector of the
Aborigines are more than any single individual can perform.
Mr. Threlkeld advocated the removal of the natives from Flinders
Island, and says “I have no hesitation in saying that I think the
establishment itself may be beneficial, as an example to the other
blacks, who will in all probability visit it.”
_Captain Grey’s opinion._
He states, in his recommendations to Lord John Russell for the
treatment of the aboriginal population, that the people are capable
of being civilized, but that all the systems hitherto pursued have
been erroneous, and that the error lay in treating them as British
subjects, in as far as British property was concerned, but in all that
related to themselves they have been left to the exercise of their own
customs and laws; but as their traditions and laws are peculiar, and
such as cannot raise them from a state of barbarity, however it may be
intended, and the plea of their being a conquered people may appear
plausible, this state of things is inadmissible, and the natives from
the moment they become British subjects should be taught, as far as
possible, that British law is to supersede their own, for he says,
until this is enforced, the natives will ever have at disposal the
means within themselves of effectually preventing the civilization of
any individual of their tribes, even those who may be disposed to adopt
European habits, &c. Capt. Grey then refers, in support of this view,
to instances of persons, especially girls betrothed in their infancy,
who after adopting European customs have been compelled to relinquish
them and to return to a state of barbarism. He likewise shows the
effect on the mind of these people when they are punished for offences
such as theft, murder, &c., committed upon Europeans, while they are
freely permitted to be guilty of those very acts upon themselves.
For the enforcement of law and protection of both races, Capt. Grey
recommends the establishment of a mounted police; also, that native
evidence, under peculiar restrictions, should be admissible in our
Courts of justice. Capt. Grey states some instances of injustice under
which natives have laboured in consequence of their evidence not being
admissible; also, of their being puzzled as to our forms of law—that
when they pleaded guilty they were punished, and when some were induced
from the consequences they saw resulting from this line of conduct
to plead not guilty were punished likewise, they became perfectly
confounded; further, the natives not being tried by their own people,
but by those likely to be prejudiced against them, and relying chiefly
upon an ignorant interpreter, he recommends counsel to be provided for
them.
The preventives to their civilization Captain Grey sums up as
follows:—The irregular demand for their labour, the inadequate payment
they often receive for it, not being able to comprehend the variable
value of labour regulated by the skill required.
He then proceeds to point out the difficulty of instructing the
aboriginal population, showing that it can scarce be expected that
individuals would undertake the task; and even if they did, the natives
would only be employed in the most menial offices, and that in forming
native institutions, and these could be only local and partial; he
therefore proposes a scale of remuneration to all who may undertake
to instruct these people, arguing that as the expense of introducing
labour is already provided for, this plan would occasion but little
additional expense in obtaining labour, while a fresh good would arise
out of it in converting those who would be otherwise hostile and
useless into good subjects.
The disposal of these remunerations to be subject to the following
restrictions:—
A deposition before a Magistrate, a certificate from the Government
of the District, and a further certificate from the Protector of
the Aborigines, as to the residence and attainments of the natives
employed, and on whose behalf remuneration has been applied for; thus
civilization would proceed (Capt. Grey observes) upon an extensive
scale, not being confined to mere institutions or isolated attempts. In
densely peopled districts the natives may be collected together, but
in the more thinly inhabited districts, as this may be attended with
danger, the employment should be of a description not to congregate.
Capt. Grey concludes by observing that some of these plans have been
already brought into operation in Western Australia; and further, that
in the selection of work for these people it must be of a description
suitable to their unsettled habits, possessing variety, such as opening
out new roads and clearing old ones, some of the party being engaged
hunting and fishing so as to provide food for the others; and as
remuneration to the natives for these labours, &c., he proposes that
any native being constantly employed for three years at the house of
a settler should receive a grant of land in the district of which he
may be a resident, also a sum of money to be laid out in the stocking
of the same; that rewards should be given to those natives who may be
content to live with one wife, and who would register the birth of
their children; and that some competent person should be employed to
instruct some of the native youths so as to fit them for interpreters
in Courts of law.
Many of these observations of Capt. Grey are deserving of attention,
and, as Lord John Russell in a despatch to Sir George Gipps suggests,
appear fit for adoption, subject to such modifications as the varying
circumstances of the Colony may suggest; but they have never been acted
upon: expense overrules every other consideration.