THE ABORIGINALS OF AUSTRALIA.

Hot Lakes Chronicle, Issue 116, 20 February 1895, Page 4

THE ABORIGINALS OF AUSTRALIA.

That which ha 3 happened wherever the .all-conquering 'white man has established himself, is happening in Australia—tho native possessors of tiiß soil aro fast dying "out. In the old days, before the advent of the pale-face, internecine war. no doubt, kept down the population to a low level, but it is pretty safe to assert that the introduced vices of civilisation have been quite as deadly. The Aborigines Protection Board of New South "Wales, which, since its inception in 18S3, has evinced an active interest in its special work of preservation, finds that, notwithstanding ail State-aided efforts, the d«cimation proceeds apace, and expresses the fear that 'the heavy moi'-'ity has been due mainly to drunkenness, and to causes arising from the uce of intoxicating driDks.' Whether or not the Australian aboriginals are fairly placed in the lowest scale of humanity, the wii-'ders of tho boomerang and the wp.ddy are an interesting race, and from ethnolrgical considerations alone it is not surprising that there should be a keen desire to conserve the fast-waning remnant. But there is higher ground than this. 'lt has always been admitt'd, - ' we aro gravely told, ' that tho origin,- 1 owners of the country had claims.' In how far those claims were acted upon, is quite another matter. There would be some terribly blood-stain'-J pages if the history of ihe ' blackfellows ' were to bo minutely written, setting down in plaiu, un varnished fashion how the invader shot them down, and how he utilised the tracking skill and ferocious instincts of some for the euphemistically phrashed ' dispersal ' of the others. In spite of the philanthropy of recent years the doomed race continues a rapid decay. A careful census made in ISS2 gave the population as 6,540 full'blooded adults nnd 1,51-0 full-blooded children. In 1893 there could be found.only 2,888 adults and 1,144 children. Meanwhile, the half-castes are rapidly approaching in number the full-bloods, the returns showing that while among the latter there is an average annua! decrease of 8G among the half-cast6B. The conservation of the aboriginals, then, is ever, more difficult a problem than is presented in the case of the fauna and dora.