Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 1.djvu/235

AND THE NATIVES. 131 they wera not by nature incapable of being civilised — so far, 1788-98 at least, as any savage race can be civilised at all — ^is now generally admitted. Prom the time — just two centuries ago* — ^when Dampier pronounced them " the miserablest People in the World," they remained for many years after the occu- pation of the country under that stigma; but it has long since been rejected as unfounded and unjust. Sir George Grey Grey, considered them ^'as apt and intelligent as any other race of men I am acquainted with";t aiid many other well-qualified observers have expressed similat opinions. In the journals of Australian explorers may be found many tributes to their intelligence and fidelity, as well as to their wonderful facul- ties as bushmen. They have been described/' said Sir T. L. Mitchell, ^'as the lowest in the scale of humanity, yet I found Miteheu. those who accompanied me superior in penetration and judg- ment to the white men composing my party. . • . It would ill become me to disparage the character of the abo- rigines, for one of that unfortunate race has been my ' guide, companion, councillor, and friend,' on the most eventful occji.- sions during this last journey of discovery .J No one has spoken more emphatically in their favour than Edward John • "The 4th day of January, 1688, we fell in with the land of New Hol- land, in the latitude of 16** SC."— Dampier, vol. i, p. 462. t JoumalB, vol. ii, p. 374. — Grey*8 pages furnish abundant evidence in support of this statement. X Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia, 1845, pp. 412-4. This passa^^ contains a strong confirmation of the opinion which Mitchell had formed of them ten years previously. He said fiien : — ** My experience enables me to speak in the most favourable terms of the abori- gines, whose degraded position in the midst of the white population affords no just criterion of their merits. The quickness of apprehension of those in the interior is very extraordinary, for nothing in all the complicated adap- tations we carried with us either surprised or puzzled them. They are never awkward ; on the contrary, in manners and general intelligence they appear superior to any class of white rustics that I £ftve seen. Their powers of mimicry seem extraordinary, and their shrewdness shines even thrdugh the medium of imperfect language, and renders them, in general, very agree- able companions. — ^Three ^p^itions, 1838, vol. ii, p. 334. In the same volume (p. 346) the author said : — " Some adec^uate provision for their civilisation and maintenance is due on our part to this race of men, were it only in return for the means of existence of which we are depriving theoL The bad example of the class of persons sent to Australia should be counteracted by some serious efforts to civilise and instruct these aboriginal inhabitants." Digitized by Google