It Is Certain
That Instead Of Burying They Sometimes Burn The Corpse; But The Cause
Of Distinction We Know Not.
A dead body, covered by a canoe, at whose side
a sword and shield were placed in state, was once discovered.
All that
we could learn about this important personage was that he was a 'Gweeagal'
(one of the tribe of Gweea) and a celebrated warrior.
To appreciate their general powers of mind is difficult. Ignorance,
prejudice, the force of habit, continually interfere to prevent dispassionate
judgment. I have heard men so unreasonable as to exclaim at the stupidity
of these people for not comprehending what a small share of reflection
would have taught them they ought not to have expected. And others again
I have heard so sanguine in their admiration as to extol for proofs
of elevated genius what the commonest abilities were capable of executing.
If they be considered as a nation whose general advancement and acquisitions
are to be weighed, they certainly rank very low, even in the scale of savages.
They may perhaps dispute the right of precedence with the Hottentots
or the shivering tribes who inhabit the shores of Magellan. But how inferior
do they show when compared with the subtle African; the patient watchful
American; or the elegant timid islander of the South Seas. Though suffering
from the vicissitudes of their climate, strangers to clothing, though feeling
the sharpness of hunger and knowing the precariousness of supply from that
element on whose stores they principally depend, ignorant of cultivating
the earth - a less enlightened state we shall exclaim can hardly exist.
But if from general view we descend to particular inspection, and examine
individually the persons who compose this community, they will certainly rise
in estimation. In the narrative part of this work, I have endeavoured
rather to detail information than to deduce conclusions, leaving to the reader
the exercise of his own judgment. The behaviour of Arabanoo, of Baneelon,
of Colbee and many others is copiously described, and assuredly he who shall
make just allowance for uninstructed nature will hardly accuse
any of those persons of stupidity or deficiency of apprehension.
To offer my own opinion on the subject, I do not hesitate to declare
that the natives of New South Wales possess a considerable portion
of that acumen, or sharpness of intellect, which bespeaks genius.
All savages hate toil and place happiness in inaction, and neither the arts
of civilized life can be practised or the advantages of it felt without
application and labour. Hence they resist knowledge and the adoption
of manners and customs differing from their own. The progress of reason
is not only slow, but mechanical. "De toutes les Instructions propres
a l'homme, celle qu'il acquiert le plus tard, et le plus difficilement,
est la raison meme." The tranquil indifference and uninquiring eye
with which they surveyed our works of art have often, in my hearing,
been stigmatized as proofs of stupidity, and want of reflection. But surely
we should discriminate between ignorance and defect of understanding.
The truth was, they often neither comprehended the design nor conceived
the utility of such works, but on subjects in any degree familiarised
to their ideas, they generally testified not only acuteness of discernment
but a large portion of good sense.
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