Abaroo became well, and firmly believed that she owed
her cure to the treatment she had received. Are not these, I say, links,
subordinate ones indeed, of the same golden chain? He who believes in magic
confesses supernatural agency, and a belief of this sort extends farther
in many persons than they are willing to allow. There have lived men
so inconsistent with their own principles as to deny the existence of a God,
who have nevertheless turned pale at the tricks of a mountebank.
But not to multiply arguments on a subject where demonstration
(at least to me) is incontestable, I shall close by expressing my firm belief
that the Indians of New South Wales acknowledge the existence
of a superintending deity. Of their ideas of the origin and duration
of his existence; of his power and capacity; of his benignity or maleficence;
or of their own emanation from him, I pretend not to speak. I have often,
in common with others, tried to gain information from them on this head;
but we were always repulsed by obstacles which we could neither pass by
or surmount. Mr. Dawes attempted to teach Abaroo some of our notions
of religion, and hoped that she would thereby be induced to communicate hers
in return. But her levity and love of play in a great measure defeated
his efforts, although every thing he did learn from her served to confirm
what is here advanced. It may be remarked, that when they attended at church
with us (which was a common practice) they always preserved profound silence
and decency, as if conscious that some religious ceremony on our side
was performing.
The question of, whether they believe in the immortality of the soul
will take up very little time to answer. They are universally fearful
of spirits.* They call a spirit 'mawn'. They often scruple to approach
a corpse, saying that the 'mawn' will seize them and that it fastens upon them
in the night when asleep.** When asked where their deceased friends are
they always point to the skies. To believe in after existence is to confess
the immortality of some part of being. To enquire whether they assign
a 'limited' period to such future state would be superfluous. This is one
of the subtleties of speculation which a savage may be supposed not to have
considered, without impeachment either of his sagacity or happiness.
[* "It is remarkable," says Cicero, "that there is no nation, whether
barbarous or civilized, that does not believe in the existence of spirits".]
[**As they often eat to satiety, even to produce sickness, may not this be
the effect of an overloaded stomach: the nightmare?]
Their manner of interring the dead has been amply described. 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.
