Aborigines, appears in some recent instances to have been misapprehended; and, in order to remove the possibility of any future misunderstanding on this important subject, His Excellency has directed it to be distinctly notified, that nothing can be more opposed to the spirit of the above-named Order, and to all that of the different Proclamations and Orders which preceded it, than to offer any sort of violence or restraint to such of the aboriginal Natives as may approach the European inhabitants with friendly views:—the reward was offered for the capture of such Natives only as were committing aggressions on the inhabitants of the Settled Districts, from which it was the object of the Government to expel them with every degree of humanity that was practicable, when all efforts for their conciliation had proved abortive.
"It was His Excellency's most particular desire, and most peremptory Order to all persons employed under the Government, that no violence or restraint shall be offered to the inoffensive Natives of the remote and unsettled parts of the Territory, and that all such as may approach the Settled Districts, and offer to hold intercourse with the inhabitants in a friendly manner, may be encouraged to do so, and permitted to depart whenever they desire it; and if, after the promulgation of this Notice, any wanton attack or aggression against the Natives becomes known to the Government, the offenders will be immediately brought to justice and punishment."
The best criticism upon this extraordinary Order is found in the captures being nearly all made in the outlying districts, and that two months afterwards the Governor himself conducted an expedition against all the Natives in the settled districts.
Among the Leaders of Parties the name of John Batman stands out in relief.
Though only one of the ordinary Leaders of Parties after the Aborigines, yet, as the most prominent of these, the most esteemed by the Governor, and the most approved of by the Blacks, a separate notice might be given of his part in the war. There is an additional reason for bringing him thus to the front, because of the great work he was the means of accomplishing in 1835—the colonization of Port Phillip—and thus becoming the Founder of the prosperous Colony of Victoria.
