AMONG THE ABORIGINES.
A Fire-Water Festival.—At Tea with the Aborigines.—“Black Fellow
all Gone!”—The Poison-Gift and Civilization.—The “Scattering” of
the Blacks.—The “Brute-in-human-shape” Theory.—The Testimony of
Nora.—Nathaniel Pepper and their “Gods.”—Smooth Stone Idols.—Rites
and Ceremonies.—“Too much Devil-Devil.”—The Quest for Idols.—Visit to
Nora in the Camp.—Independent Testimonies.—Nora’s own Letters.—The
Aborigines in Settlements.
Detained for nearly a week at Balmoral by the break-down of the coach
on these dreadful roads, I telegraphed to Hamilton for a conveyance;
and the Superintendent of the Sunday School, dear Mr. Laidlaw,
volunteered, in order to reduce expenses, to spend one day of his
precious time coming for me, and another driving me down. While
awaiting him, I came into painful and memorable contact with the
Aborigines of Australia. The Publicans had organized a day of sports,
horse-racing, and circus exhibitions. Immense crowds assembled, and,
amongst the rest, tribe after tribe of the Aborigines from all the
surrounding country. Despite the law prohibiting the giving of strong
drinks to these poor creatures, foolish and unprincipled dealers
supplied them with the same, and the very blankets which the Government
had given them, were freely exchanged for the fire-water which kindled
them to madness.
Next day was Sabbath. The morning was hideous with the yells of the
fighting Savages. They tore about on the Common in front of the Church,
leading gentlemen having tried in vain to quiet them, and their wild
voices without jarred upon the Morning Service. About two o’clock, I
tried to get into conversation with them. I appealed to them whether
they were not all tired and hungry? They replied that they had had no
food all that day; they had fought since the morning! I said,—
“I love you black fellows. I go Missionary black fellows far away. I
love you, want you rest, get food. Come all of you, rest, sit round me,
and we will talk, till the _jins_ (= women) get ready tea. They boil
water, I take tea with you, and then you will be strong!”
By broken English and by many symbols, I won their ear. They produced
tea and _damper_, _i.e._, a rather forbidding-looking bread, without
yeast, baked on the coals. Their wives hasted to boil water. I kept
incessantly talking, to interest them, and told them how Jesus, God’s
dear Son, came and died to make them happy, and how He grieved to see
them beating and fighting and killing each other.
When the tea was ready, we squatted on the green grass, their tins were
filled, the “damper” was broken into lumps, and I asked the blessing
of God on the meal. To me it was unpleasant eating! Many of them looked
strong and healthy; but not a few were weak and dying creatures. The
strong, devouring all they could get, urged me to be done, and let them
finish their fighting, eager for the fray. But having gained their
confidence, I prayed with them, and thereafter said,—
“Now, before I leave, I will ask of you to do one thing for my sake,
which you can all easily do.”
With one voice they replied,—
“Yes, we all do whatever you say.” I got their leaders to promise to me
one by one. I then said,—
“Now you have got your tea, and I ask every man and boy among you to
lie down in the bush and take a sleep, and your wives will sit by and
watch over your safety!”
In glum silence, their war weapons still grasped in their hands, they
stood looking intently at me, doubting whether I could be in earnest. I
urged them,—
“You all promised to do what I asked. If you break your promise, these
white men will laugh at me, and say that black fellows only lie and
deceive. Let them see that you can be trusted. I wait here till I see
you all asleep.”
One said that his head was cut, and he must have revenge before he
could lie down. Others filed past showing their wounds, and declaring
that it was too bad to request them to go to sleep. I praised them as
far as I could, but urged them for once to be men and to keep their
word. Finally they all agreed to lie down, I waiting till the last man
had disappeared; and, being doubly exhausted with the debauch and the
fighting, they were soon all fast asleep. I prayed that the blessed
Sleep might lull their savage passions.
Before daylight next morning, the Minister and I were hastening to the
scene to prevent further fighting; but as the sun was rising we saw the
last tribe of the distant Natives disappearing over the brow of a hill.
A small party belonging to the district alone remained. They shouted
to us, “Black fellow all gone! No more fight. You too much like black
fellow!”
For three days afterwards I had still to linger there; and if their
dogs ran or barked at me, the women chased them with sticks and stones,
and protected me. One little touch of kindness and sympathy had
unlocked their darkened hearts.
The Aborigines of Australia have been regarded as perhaps the
most degraded portion of the human race, at least in the Southern
Hemisphere. Like the Papuans of our Islands, they rank betwixt Malay
and Negro in colour and appearance. Their hair, coarse, black, curly,
but not woolly; eyes, dark and yellowish, with very heavy eyebrows;
nose flat, with hole bored through septum, in which ornament is hung;
small chin, thick lips, large mouth, and lustrous teeth; high cheek
bones, with sunken eyes and well-developed brow. Like all Savages
in their natural state, they were nearly nude, filthy, and wretched;
especially in winter, when covered with kangaroo and opossum skins,
which they hung around themselves loosely by day, and under which
they slept at night. They sometimes daubed their bodies all over with
paint, mud, charcoal, or ashes. Their women are generally of a slender
build. All these features and notes are true of many of our South Sea
Islanders too; but they, again, are decidedly of a higher type. On many
of the Islands, faces, though dark, are as pleasant and as well formed
as amongst Europeans. Besides, the Islanders are not nomadic; they live
in settled villages, and cultivate the land for their support.
Having read very strong statements for and against the Aborigines, in
my many journeys twenty-four years ago I resolved to embrace every
opportunity of learning their customs and beliefs directly from
themselves. I have also seen their disgusting “Corrobbarees,” and know
by facts how demoralizing these Heathen dances are. I know also what
strong drink has done amongst them.
Who wonders that the dark races melt away before the _whites_? The
pioneers of civilization _will_ carry with them this demon of strong
drink, the fruitful parent of every other vice. The black people drink,
and become unmanageable; and through the white man’s own poison-gift an
excuse is found for sweeping the poor creatures off the face of the
earth. Marsden’s writings show how our Australian blacks are destroyed.
But I have myself been on the track of such butcheries again and again.
A Victorian lady told me the following incident. She heard a child’s
pitiful cry in the bush. On tracing it, she found a little girl weeping
over her younger brother. She said,—
“The white men poisoned our father and mother. They threaten to shoot
me, so that I dare not go near them. I am here, weeping over my brother
till we die!”
The compassionate lady promised to be a mother to the little sufferers,
and to protect them. They instantly clung to her, and have proved
themselves to be loving and dutiful ever since.
In Queensland itself, the Native Police, armed and mounted—accompanied
by only _one_ white officer, that no tales might be told—were reported
to be regularly sent out to “scatter” the blacks! That meant, in many a
case, wholesale murder. But in 1887, the humane Sir Samuel Griffiths,
premier, had these blood-stained forces disbanded for ever. The _Sydney
Morning Herald_, 21st March, 1883, contains stronger things than were
ever penned or uttered by me as to the wholesale destruction of the
Aborigines. The watchword of the white settlers, practically if not
theoretically, has been, “Clear them out of the way, and give us the
soil!”
Though amongst the lower types of the human race, the Aborigines have
made excellent stock riders, bullock drivers, fencers, and servants in
every department. And they have proved honest and faithful, especially
when kindly treated. Australians are sometimes bitter against them, for
a reason that ought rather to awaken sympathy. They take Aboriginal
boys or girls into their service, they train them just till they are
beginning to be useful, and lo! they go back to their own people. But
in almost every case of that kind, the reason is perfectly clear. They
are only taught so far as to make them useful tools. Their minds were
not instructed, nor their hearts enlightened in the fear of God and
the love of Jesus. They were not on an equality in any way either with
children or with servants. They grew up without equals and without
associates. They saw their parents and tribesmen treated with contempt
and abuse. They instinctively felt that the moment they were unable to
serve the self-interest of their employers, they themselves would be
thrust out. They had not the spirit of the slave, though kept in the
rank of a slave; and they yearned for satisfaction of these instincts,
which the supply of their mere animal necessities could not assuage.
Among the whites, they felt degraded and outcast; amongst their own
people, they had the honour and esteem that were within reach of their
kindred, and they might weave around their poor lot the mysterious and
ever-blessed ties of family and home. And here and there, doubtless,
flashed in the heart of some Native boy a gleam of that patriotism
that led Moses to escape from Pharaoh’s court, and refuse to be
identified with the despisers and oppressors of his own enslaved
race,—divine in the Aboriginal as in the Hebrew, though each might give
a very different account of its origin!
A book once fell into my hands, entitled,—“Sermons on Public Subjects,”
by Charles Kingsley. I knew him to be a man greatly gifted and greatly
beloved; and hence my positive distress on reading from the eighth
sermon, page 234, “On the Fall,” the following awful words:—[1]“The
Black people of Australia, exactly the same race as the African Negro,
cannot take in the Gospel.... All attempts to bring them to a knowledge
of the true God have as yet failed utterly.... Poor brutes in human
shape ... they must perish off the face of the earth like brute beasts.”
I will not blame this great preacher for boldly uttering and publishing
what multitudes of others show by their conduct that they believe,
but dare not say so. Nor need any one blame me, if, knowing facts
and details which Kingsley could never know, I turn aside for a few
moments, and let the light of practical knowledge stream in on this and
all similar teaching, come from whatsoever quarter it may.
While I was pondering over Kingsley’s words, the story of Nora, an
Aboriginal Christian woman, whom, as hereafter related, I myself
actually visited and corresponded with, was brought under my notice,
as if to shatter to pieces everything that the famous preacher had
proclaimed. A dear friend told me how he had seen Nora encamped with
the blacks near Hexham in Victoria. Her husband had lost, through
drink, their once comfortable home at a Station where he was employed.
The change back to life in camp had broken her health, and she lay sick
on the ground within a miserable hut. The visitors found her reading a
Bible, and explaining to a number of her own poor people the wonders
of redeeming love. My friend, Roderick Urquhart, Esq., overcome by the
sight, said,—
“Nora, I am grieved to see you here, and deprived of every comfort in
your sickness.”
She answered, not without tears, “The change has indeed made me unwell;
but I am beginning to think that this too is for the best; it has at
last brought my poor husband to his senses, and I will grudge nothing
if God thereby brings him to the Saviour’s feet!”
She further explained, that she had found wonderful joy in telling her
own people about the true God and his Son Jesus, and was quite assured
that the Lord in His own way would send her relief. The visitors who
accompanied Mr. Urquhart showed themselves to be greatly affected by
the true and pure Christian spirit of this poor Aboriginal, and on
parting she said,—
“Do not think that I like this miserable hut, or the food, or the
company; but I am and have been happy in trying to do good amongst my
people.”
For my part, let that dear Christlike soul look out on me from
her Aboriginal hut, and I will trample under foot all teachings
or theorizings that dare to say that she or her kind are but poor
brutes;—they who say so blaspheme Human Nature. “I thank thee, O
Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that Thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.”
Recall, ere you read further, what the Gospel has done for the near
kindred of these same Aboriginals. On our own Aneityum 3,500 Cannibals
have been led to renounce their heathenism, and are leading a civilized
and a Christian life. In Fiji, 70,000 Cannibals have been brought under
the influence of the Gospel; and 13,000 members of the Churches there
are professing to live and work for Jesus. In Samoa, 34,000 Cannibals
have professed Christianity; and, in nineteen years, its College has
sent forth 206 Native teachers and evangelists. On our New Hebrides,
more than 12,000 Cannibals have been brought to sit at the feet of
Christ, not to say that they are all model Christians; and 133 of the
Natives have been trained and sent forth as teachers and preachers of
the Gospel. Had Christ been brought in the same way into the heart
and life of the Aborigines by the Christians of Australia and of
Britain—equally blessed results would as surely have followed, for He
is “the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.”
It is easy to understand, moreover, how even experienced travellers
may be deluded to believe that the Aborigines have no idols and no
religion. One must have lived amongst them or their kindred ere he
can authoritatively decide these questions. Before I left Melbourne,
for instance, I had met Nathaniel Pepper, a converted Aboriginal from
Wimmera. I asked him if his people had any “Doctors,” _i.e._, sacred
men or priests. He said they had. I inquired if they had any objects of
Worship, or any belief in God? He said, “No! None whatever.”
But on taking from my pocket some four small stone idols, his
expression showed at once that he recognised them as objects of
Worship. He had seen the sacred men use them; but he refused to answer
any more questions. I resolved now, if possible, to secure some of
their idols, and set this whole problem once for all at rest.
At Newstead, on another occasion, I persuaded a whole camp of the
Aborigines to come to my meeting. After the address, they waited to
examine the idols and stone gods which I had shown. Some of the young
men admitted that their “doctors” had things like these, which they and
the old people prayed to; but they added jauntily,—
“We young fellows don’t worship; we know too much for that!”
No “doctors” were, however, in that camp; so I could not meet with
them; but I already felt that the testimony of nearly all white people
that the blacks had “no idols and no worship,” was quickly crumbling
away. Besides, my ever-dear friend, Andrew Scott, Esq., had informed me
that when he first went out among the blacks,—almost alone, and one of
the first white men they had ever seen,—he saw them handling, and going
through ceremonials with just such “smooth stones” as I had brought
from the Islands, without for a moment dreaming that they were idols.
Yet such is the actual fact; very much as it was in the ancient days
when Isaiah (ch. lvii. 6) denounced thus the “sons of the sorceress,”
who were “inflaming themselves with idols.” “Among the smooth stones
of the stream (or valley) is thy portion; they, they are thy lot; even
to them hast thou poured a drink offering, hast thou offered a meat
offering (or oblation).”
Yet again, R. Urquhart, Esq., Tangery, informed me that he also had
seen the Aborigines engaged in religious observances. First of all,
a vast multitude of men and women joined in a great Corrobbarree,
or Heathen festival and dance. Thereafter each marched individually
towards the centre of a huge ring, and after certain ceremonies, bowed
as if in worship towards two manlike figures cut in the ground. Our
life amongst the heathen had taught us that Worship was there.
The rite of circumcision was practised also amongst the blacks of
Australia as well as amongst our New Hebrideans. Boys, on attaining
what was looked upon as early manhood, were thus initiated into their
privileges as men; and the occasion was accompanied with feasting,
dancing, and what they regarded as religious ceremonies.
Some tribes in Australia, as on our Islands also, indicate the rank
or class to which a man belongs by the barbarous custom of knocking
out the two front teeth! This is done on reaching a certain age;
with feasts and dancings held at midnight, and during full moon, in
connection with sacred spots, which no one but a priest will be found
daring enough to approach.
Hence there is no doubt in my mind as to the character and meaning of
such “mysterious figures” as those so much discussed, carved on the
flat rocks at Middle Harbour, or on the South Reef promontory at Cape
Cove. They are found also at Point Piper, at Mossmans, at Lane Cove,
and at many other places throughout Australia, representing the human
figure in almost every attitude, the kangaroo, the flying squirrel,
the shark, the whale, etc., etc.,—all of which I believe to be sacred
objects, and these rocks and cliffs to be sacred places. Some of the
fish carved there are twenty-seven feet long. The Aborigines would
give no explanation of their origin, except that they were “made by
black fellows long, long ago;” and that the blacks would not live near
them, for “too much devil-devil walk about there.” The Balmoral blacks
informed me that their sacred men carried about such objects as I
showed them, and “that they were devil-devil,”—which is their only word
for God or Spirit, when they talk to you in broken English.
The 18th of February, 1863, was a day worthy of being chronicled and
remembered. I visited the Wonwonda Station in the Wimmera district
of Victoria, and there beheld a great camp of the Aborigines on the
plain near by. Securing the company of the following witnesses, I
proceeded to the camp, and found that part of them had already seen me
at Balmoral. Two of them spoke English fairly well. I managed to break
through their reticence, and in course of time they told us freely
about the customs and traditions of their people. They took us to their
“doctor,” or Sacred Man, who was lying sick in his hut. Half concealed
among the skins and clothes behind him, I observed several curious
bags, which I knew at once would probably contain the little idols of
which I was in quest. I urged the witnesses to take special notice
of everything that occurred, and draw up and sign a statement for my
future use. The following is their attested report:—
“Mr. Paton, having carefully explained to the blacks that he would
like to see some of the sacred objects which they said made the people
sick and well, assured them that his aim was not to mock at them, but
to prove to white people that the blacks had objects of worship and
were not like pigs and dogs. He offered them a number of small pieces
of silver to get bread and tea for the “doctor,” if they would open
these little bags and let us see what was in them. After a good deal of
talk amongst themselves, he took some of the Island stone-gods from his
pocket, saying, ‘I know that these bags have such things in them.’ An
Aboriginal woman exclaimed, ‘You can’t hide them from that fellow! He
knows all about us.’ Mr. Rutherford offered to kill a sheep, and give
them sugar and tea to feast on, if they would open the little bags, but
they refused. After consulting the Sacred Man, however, he took the
silver pieces and allowed them to be opened before us. They were full
of exactly such stones and other things as Mr. Paton had brought from
the Islands, to prove to white people in Melbourne that they were not
like dogs, but had gods; he offered the Sacred Man more money for four
of the objects he had seen. After much talk among themselves, he took
the money; and in our presence Mr. Paton selected a stone idol, a piece
of painted wood of conical shape, a piece of bone of human leg with
seven rings carved round it, which they said had the power of restoring
sick people to health, and another piece of painted wood which made
people sick; but they made him solemnly promise that he would tell
no other black fellows where he got them. They were much interested
in Mr. Paton’s conversation, and said, ‘No Missionary teach black
fellow.’ They then showed us square rugs, thread and grass bags, etc.,
all neatly made by themselves, as proofs that if they were taught they
and their wives could learn to do things and to work just like white
people; but they said, ‘White man no care for black fellow.’ All this,
we, whose names follow, were eye-witnesses of:—G. Rutherford, (Mrs.)
A. Sutherland, (Mrs.) Martha Rutherford, Jemima Rutherford, Ben. B.
Bentock, tutor of the Rutherford family.”
On returning to Horsham, I informed my dear friends, Rev. P. Simpson
and his excellent lady, of my exploits and possessions. He replied,—
“There is a black ‘doctor’ gone round our house just now to see one of
his people who is washing here to-day. Let us go and test them, whether
they know these objects.”
Carrying them in his hand we went to them. The woman instantly on
perceiving them dropped what she was washing, and turned away in
instinctive terror. Mr. Simpson asked,—
“Have you ever before seen stones like these?”
The wily “doctor” replied, “Plenty on the plains, where I kick them out
of my way.”
Taking others out of my pocket, I said, “These make people sick and
well, don’t they?”
His rage overcame his duplicity, and he exclaimed, “What black fellow
give you these? If I know him I do for him!”
The woman, looking the picture of terror, and pointing to one of the
objects, cried,—
“That fellow no good! he kill men. No good, no good! Me too much
afraid.”
Then, looking to me, she said, pointing with her finger, “That fellow
savy (knows) too much! No white man see them. He no good.”
There was more in this scene and in all its surroundings, than in many
arguments; and Mr. Simpson thoroughly believed that these were objects
of idolatrous worship.
On a later occasion I showed these four objects to Aborigines, with
whom I got into intercourse far off in New South Wales. They at once
recognised them, and showed the same superstitious dread. They told me
the peculiar characteristics and the special powers ascribed to each
idol or charm. This I confirmed by the testimony of five different
tribes living at great distances from each other; and it is morally
certain that amongst all the blacks of Australia such objects are so
worshipped and feared in the place of God.
And now let me relate the story of my visit to Nora, the converted
Aboriginal referred to above. Accompanied by Robert Hood, Esq., J.P.,
Victoria, I found my way to the encampment near Hexham. She did not
know of our coming, nor see us till we stood at the door of her hut.
She was clean and tidily dressed, as were also her dear little
children, and appeared glad to see us. She had just been reading the
_Presbyterian Messenger_, and the Bible was lying at her elbow. I said,—
“Do you read the _Messenger_?”
She replied, “Yes; I like to know what is going on in the Church.”
We found her to be a sensible and humble Christian woman, conversing
intelligently about religion and serving God devotedly. Next Sabbath
she brought her husband, her children, and six blacks to Church, all
decently dressed, and they all listened most attentively.
At our first meeting I said, “Nora, they tell me you are a Christian.
I want to ask you a few questions about the blacks; and I hope that as
a Christian you will speak the truth.” Rather hurt at my language, she
raised her right hand, and replied, “I am a Christian. I fear and serve
the true God. I always speak the truth.”
Taking from my pocket the stone idols from the Islands, I inquired
if her people had or worshipped things like these. She replied, “The
‘doctors’ have them.”
“Have you a ‘doctor’ in your camp?” I asked. She said, “Yes, my uncle
is the Sacred Man; but he is now far away from this.”
“Has he the idols with him now?” I inquired.
She answered, “No; they are left in my care.”
I then said: “Could you let us see them?”
She consulted certain representatives of the tribe who were at hand.
They rose, and removed to a distance. They had consented. Mr. Hood
assured me that no fault would be found with her, as she was the real,
or at least virtual head of the tribe. Out of a larger bag she then
drew two smaller bags and opened them. They were filled with the very
objects which I had brought from the Islands. I asked her to consult
the men of her tribe whether they would agree to sell four or five of
them to me, that I might by them convince the white people that they
had gods of their own, and are, therefore, above the brutes of the
field; the money to be given to their Sacred Man on his return. This,
also, after a time was agreed to. I selected three of the objects,
and paid the stipulated price. And the undernoted independent witness
attests the transaction:—
“I this day visited an encampment of the Hopkins blacks, in company
with Rev. Mr. Paton, Missionary, and was witness to the following.
Mr. Paton being under the impression that many of the superstitions
and usages, common to the South Sea Islanders were similar among the
Aborigines of Australia, began by showing some idols, etc., of the
former, and asking if they had seen any like them. This inquiry was
made of a highly civilized woman, named Nora, who can read and write,
and has great influence with her tribe. She answered: Oh yes, the
‘doctors’ have them.
“On Mr. Paton expressing great anxiety to see some of them, she,
after consulting some time with the other blacks, said she had some
belonging to King John, her uncle, who was absent, and had left them in
her care. After considerable reluctance shown on the part of the other
blacks, who were off when they saw Mr. Paton knew all about them, a
bag was produced, in which there were kangaroo tusks or bears’ tusks,
pieces of human bone, stones, charred wood, etc., etc. She described
the virtues attributed to the different articles. If any evil was
wanted to befall one of another tribe, the ‘doctor,’ after muttering,
threw such a stone in the direction he was supposed to be, wishing he
might fall sick, or might die, etc. The spirit from the idol entered
into his body, and he was sure to fall sick or die. Another piece of
charred wood, that the ‘doctor’ rubbed on the diseased part of any
sick person, made the pain come out to the spirit in the wood, and
the ‘doctor’ carried it away. All this time the other blacks were in
evident dread of the things being seen and handled, repeating, ‘No
white man ever see these before!’ Mr. Paton got three specimens from
them, viz., an evil and a good spirit, and a piece of carved bone.
Robert Hood, J.P., Hexham, Victoria, Merang, 28th February, 1863.”
Mr. Hood asked Nora how he had never heard of or seen these things
before, living so long amongst them, and blacks constantly coming and
going about his house. She replied,—
“Long ago white men laughed at black fellows, praying to their idols.
Black fellows said, white men never see them again! Suppose this white
man not know all about them, he would not now see them. No white men
live now have seen what you have seen.”
Thus it has been demonstrated on the spot, and in presence of the most
reliable witnesses, that the Aborigines, before they saw the white
invaders, were not “brutes” incapable of knowing God, but human beings,
yearning after a God of some kind. Nor do I believe that any tribe
of men will ever be found, who, when their language and customs are
rightly interpreted, will not display their consciousness of the need
of a God and that Divine capacity of holding fellowship with the Unseen
Powers, of which the brutes are without one faintest trace.
The late Mr. Hamilton, of Mortlake, wrote me in 1863 as follows:—
“During a residence of twenty-six years in New South Wales and
Victoria, from constant intercourse with Australian Aborigines I am
convinced that they are capable of learning anything that white people
in an equally neglected condition could learn. In two instances I
met with females possessing a greater amount of religious knowledge
than many of our white population. The one was able to prompt the
children she was attending as a servant in the answers proper to give
to the questions I put to them regarding the facts and doctrines of
Christianity. This was in New South Wales. The other was Nora Hood,
baptized and married to an Aboriginal. I conversed with her according
to the usage of the Presbyterian Church, and I believe her to be a
sincere and intelligent Christian. I baptized her children without
hesitation; while I felt it to be my duty in many cases to withhold the
privilege from white parents, on account of their being unable to make
a credible profession of their faith in Christ and obedience to Him.
Under God, she owes her instruction and conversion to Mrs. MacKenzie.
William Hamilton, Minister.”
William Armstrong, Esq., of Hexham Park, wrote in 1863:—
“The Aborigines of Australia certainly believe in spirits, and that
their spirit leaves the body at death and goes to some other island,
and they seem to have many superstitious ideas about the dead.... I
believe they would have been as easily influenced by the Gospel as
any other savages, if they had been taught; but intoxicating spirits,
and the accompanying vices of white people have ruined them. William
Armstrong.”
But let Nora, one of the “poor brutes in human shape,” who was
“incapable of taking in the Gospel,” and must “perish like brute
beasts,” now speak to the heart of every reader in her own words. In
February, 1863, she wrote to me as follows:—
“Dear Sir,—I received your kind letter, and was glad to hear from you.
I am always reading my Bible, for I believe in God the Father and in
Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen. I often speak to the blacks about Jesus
Christ; and some of them believe in God and in Jesus. I always teach
my children to pray to God our Father in Heaven.... Colin will try not
to drink any more. He is always praying to God. Them blacks that come
with me, I will tell about God and about their sins; but they are so
very wicked, they won t listen to me teaching them. Sir, I shall always
pray for you, that God may bless and guide you. O Sir, pray for me, my
husband, and my children! Your obedient servant, Nora Hood.”
In her second letter, she says:—“Your kind letter gave me great
comfort. I thank God that I am able to read and write. Mrs. and Miss
MacKenzie taught me; and through them I came to know Jesus Christ my
Saviour. Our Lord says, ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest.’ ‘Ho, every one that thirsteth, come
ye to the waters!’ Sir, I will tell Joe and King John, and I have been
always telling Katy and all the rest of them about Jesus Christ our
Saviour. Please, Sir, I would like you to write to me, that I may show
them your letters,” etc., etc.
In a third letter, also dated 1863, she says:—“Dear Sir, Colin and I
were glad to hear from you. I am telling the blacks always about God
our Saviour and the salvation of their souls. They are so very wicked.
They go from place to place, and don’t stop long with me. I am always
teaching my children to pray, and would like to send them to School
if I could.... I hope you will go home to England safely, get more
Missionaries, and then go back to your poor blacks on the Islands. I
will be glad to hear from you. May the Lord God bless you, wherever you
go! Your affectionate, Nora Hood.”
Poor, dear, Christian-hearted Nora! The Christ-spirit shines forth
unmistakably through thee,—praying for and seeking to save husband and
children, enduring trials and miseries by the aid of communion with
thy Lord, weeping over the degradation of thy people and seeking to
lift them up by telling them of the true God and of His love to Mankind
through Jesus Christ. Would that all white Christians manifested forth
as much of the Divine Master’s Spirit!
Alas, in reading Marsden’s “Life,” and other authorities, one shrinks
with a sickening feeling at the description of the butcheries of the
poor blacks! Imagine 1830, when the inhabitants were called out to join
the troops, and nearly three thousand armed men gloated in the work
of destruction from the 4th of October till the 26th November. Read
of one boasting that he had killed seven blacks with his own hand;
another, that he had slain, and piled up in a heap, thirty men, women,
and children; and a third, a _gentleman_, of whom Lieutenant Laidlaw
tells, exhibiting as a trophy over his bookcase the skull of a poor
black, pierced by the bullet with which he had shot him! And their sin,
their crime? Oh, only seizing a sheep, in the frenzy of hunger, which
fattened on the lands where once grew their food and from which the
white man had pitilessly hunted them. Retribution comes, but sometimes
slowly, and is not recognised when she appears; but Australia suffers
to-day from the passions then let loose against the blacks. The demons
have come home to roost.
During my last Mission tour, in 1888, through Victoria and part of New
South Wales, I visited all Stations of the Aborigines that could be
conveniently reached. There the few remnants of a once numerous race
are now assembled together. They try hard to constrain themselves to
live in houses. But the spirit of the wanderer is in them. They start
forth, every now and again, for an occasional ramble over their old
hunting grounds, and to taste the sweets of freedom. In Victoria, the
Government now provide food and clothing for the Aborigines who will
remain at the appointed Stations, so that in regard to temporals the
survivors are not badly off. Their religious training and spiritual
interests are left entirely to the Churches. The Government provides
a Superintendent at each Station; and where he is a Christian man,
and takes any interest in the religion and morals of the tribes,
contentment reigns. At Ramayeuk, for instance, the Superintendent is
Rev. F. A. Haganeur; and he and his excellent wife regularly instruct
the blacks. Nothing can be more delightful than the results. The faces
of the people were shining with happiness. Their rows of clean and neat
cottages were a picture and an emblem. In their Church, a Native woman
played the harmonium and led the praise. I never had more attentive
Congregations. On two occasions they handed me £5, collected at their
own free will, for our Island Mission. Their School received from the
Government examiners one of the highest percentages. Many at this
Station have, after a consistent Christian life, died in the full hope
of Glory together with Jesus.
At all the other Stations in Victoria the outward comforts of the
Natives are attended to, but Superintendents ought to be appointed, in
every case, to care for their souls as well as their bodies. For strong
drink and other vices are rapidly sweeping the Aborigines away; and
Australia has but short time to atone for the cruelties of the past,
and to snatch a few more jewels from amongst them for the Crown of
Jesus our Lord.
At my farewell meeting in Melbourne, Sir Henry Barkley presiding, I
pleaded that the Colony should put forth greater efforts to give the
Gospel to the Aborigines; I showed the idols which I had discovered
amongst them; I read Nora’s letters, and, I may, without presumption,
say, the “brute-in-human-shape” theory has been pretty effectually
buried ever since.