Hobart Town, From The Census Of 1835,
Contained 13,826 Inhabitants, And The Whole Of Tasmania 36,505.
All the aborigines have been removed to an island in
Bass's Straits, so that Van Diemen's Land enjoys the great
advantage of being free from a native population.
This
most cruel step seems to have been quite unavoidable, as
the only means of stopping a fearful succession of robberies,
burnings, and murders, committed by the blacks; and which
sooner or later would have ended in their utter destruction.
I fear there is no doubt, that this train of evil and its
consequences, originated in the infamous conduct of some of
our countrymen. Thirty years is a short period, in which to
have banished the last aboriginal from his native island, -
and that island nearly as large as Ireland. The correspondence
on this subject, which took place between the government
at home and that of Van Diemen's Land, is very interesting.
Although numbers of natives were shot and taken prisoners
in the skirmishing, which was going on at intervals for several
years; nothing seems fully to have impressed them with
the idea of our overwhelming power, until the whole island,
in 1830, was put under martial law, and by proclamation the
whole population commanded to assist in one great attempt
to secure the entire race. The plan adopted was nearly similar
to that of the great hunting-matches in India: a line was
formed reaching across the island, with the intention of
driving the natives into a _cul-de-sac_ on Tasman's peninsula.
The attempt failed; the natives, having tied up their dogs,
stole during one night through the lines. This is far from
surprising, when their practised senses, and usual manner
of crawling after wild animals is considered. I have been
assured that they can conceal themselves on almost bare
ground, in a manner which until witnessed is scarcely credible;
their dusky bodies being easily mistaken for the blackened
stumps which are scattered all over the country. I was
told of a trial between a party of Englishmen and a native,
who was to stand in full view on the side of a bare hill; if the
Englishmen closed their eyes for less than a minute, he
would squat down, and then they were never able to distinguish
him from the surrounding stumps. But to return to
the hunting-match; the natives understanding this kind of
warfare, were terribly alarmed, for they at once perceived
the power and numbers of the whites. Shortly afterwards
a party of thirteen belonging to two tribes came in; and,
conscious of their unprotected condition, delivered themselves
up in despair. Subsequently by the intrepid exertions
of Mr. Robinson, an active and benevolent man, who
fearlessly visited by himself the most hostile of the natives,
the whole were induced to act in a similar manner. They
were then removed to an island, where food and clothes
were provided them. Count Strzelecki states, [6] that "at the
epoch of their deportation in 1835, the number of natives
amounted to 210.
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