Boklier was sent to be executed at Port Dahymple as an example; tlie convict was sent to the Dei; went to undergo, the same fate. There were exteuiiatiiig ch'camstances vith| regard to the other soldiers, and Kin*]; commuted tlieir sentenceB to tranapoitation. Collins made the moat of his difticulties. He was iixj doubt about the names of places. Kini:; told him to adopt those ^iven by Cook, Fnrneaux, HayeSj, and Flinders^
- without entering into any dist^nisition how far a prior
discovery gives claim to occupancy . . . Van Diemeii'i Land is wholly included within the Briiisli limits," An unprovoked attack upon the natives at Risdon Covel laid the foundation of troubles, which were to end only w^ithl the absolute destruction of the whole race during the Ufe-J time of some Europeans then living. Lord Hobart hadj instructed Collins to compel all persons under bis govern- ment to treat the natives kindly, (ollins was to punish any act of violence against them. If Lord Hobart had not condoned the killing of peaceful boys at the Hawkesbury, Collins might perhaps have so impressed his instructions upon his settlement that the Tasmanian aborigines, found so frieiuUy by former visitors, would not have been made hostile. It is fair to Collins to state that the affi'ay took place at the settlement formed by Bo wen, and before Collins assumed control there. At the same time if he bad obeyed the order to assume the commajid liisdon would have been under his charge at the time. There was no ground for suspecting the natives of Van Diemen's Land of unfiiendliness. Cook's coadjutor, Furneaux, had visited the island in 1778 without colMsion, although the Frenchman, Marion du Fresne, had stricken them w^ithout provocation. In 1777 Coolc had found them friendly. In 1792 the French expedition, which included Labilbir- diere, spent much time in Van I)icmen*s Land, and under his guidance the natives were kindly treated and behaved hospitably in return. Good faith was not broken, and the savages on all occasions assisted Labillardicre in his excur- Hions. They guided, they supported the w^eary Frenchmen, and the description of tliem is a picture of Arcadian simpli- city and peace.
