For the sake of humanity I would hope that such unheard of atrocities
cannot really have existed. That the bare suspicion even of such crimes
should have originated and gained currency in more than one district
of Australia, is of itself a fearful indication of the feeling
among the lowest classes in the colonies, and of the harrowing
deeds to which that might lead.
Extract from South Australian Registe, 10th of July, 1841, after the
return of Major O'Halloran and a party of sixty-eight individuals, sent
up the Murray to try and rescue property stolen by blacks. "In the mean
time we cannot but think that the DISAPPOINTMENT SO GENERALLY
EXPRESSED, because Major O'Halloran has returned 'WITHOUT FIRING A SHOT,'
is somewhat unreasonable, seeing that in his presence the natives DID
NOTHING TO WARRANT AN EXTREME MEASURE, and that there were no means of
identifying either the robbers of Mr. Inman, or the murderers of Mr.
Langhorne's servants. It is quite clear that a legally authorised English
force could not be permitted to fire indiscriminately upon the natives AS
SOME PERSONS THINK they ought to have done, or to fire at all, save when
attacked, or under circumstances in which any white subject of the Queen
might be shot at. We KNOW that many overland parties HAVE NOT HESITATED
TO FIRE AT THE NATIVES WHEREVER THEY APPEARED; and it is possible that
the tribes now hostilely disposed may have received some provocation."]
The following extract from a letter addressed by the Chief Protector of
the Port Phillip district, Mr. Robinson, to his Honour the Superintendent
at Melbourne, shews that officer's opinion of the feeling of the lower
class of the settlers' servants, with regard to the Aborigines in
Australia Felix.
"Anterior to my last expedition I had seen a large portion of this
province; I have now seen nearly the entire, and, in addition, have made
myself thoroughly acquainted with the character of its inhabitants.
"The settlers are, for the most part, a highly respectable body of men,
many, to my knowledge, deeply commiserating the condition of the natives;
a few have been engaged in the work of their amelioration; these,
however, are but isolated instances; the majority are averse to having
the natives, and drive them from their runs.
"Nothing could afford me greater pleasure than to see a reciprocity of
interest established between the settler and aborigine, and it would
delight me to see the settlers engaged in the great work of their
amelioration; and though on the part of the settlers, a large majority
would readily engage, I nevertheless feel persuaded that, until a better
class of peasantry be introduced, and a code of judicature suited to the
condition of the natives, its practicability, as a general principle, is
unattainable.
"In the course of my wanderings through the distant interior, I found it
necessary, in order to arrive at a correct judgment, to observe the
relative character of both classes, i. e. the European and the Aborigine.
The difficulty on the part of the Aborigine by proper management can be
overcome; but the difficulty on the part of the depraved white man is of
far different character, and such as to require that either their place
should be supplied by a more honest and industrious peasantry, or that a
more suitable code of judicature be established, to restrain their
nefarious proceedings with reference to the aboriginal natives.
