CHAPTER II.

AMONG THE ABORIGINES.

A Fire-Water Festival.—At Tea with the Aborigines.—“Black Fellow all Gone!”—The Poison-Gift and Civilization.—The “Scattering” of the Blacks.—The “Brute-in-human-shape” Theory.—The Testimony of Nora.—Nathaniel Pepper and their “Gods.”—Smooth Stone Idols.—Rites and Ceremonies.—“Too much Devil-Devil.”—The Quest for Idols.—Visit to Nora in the Camp.—Independent Testimonies.—Nora’s own Letters.—The Aborigines in Settlements.

Detained for nearly a week at Balmoral by the break-down of the coach on these dreadful roads, I telegraphed to Hamilton for a conveyance; and the Superintendent of the Sunday School, dear Mr. Laidlaw, volunteered, in order to reduce expenses, to spend one day of his precious time coming for me, and another driving me down. While awaiting him, I came into painful and memorable contact with the Aborigines of Australia. The Publicans had organized a day of sports, horse-racing, and circus exhibitions. Immense crowds assembled, and, amongst the rest, tribe after tribe of the Aborigines from all the surrounding country. Despite the law prohibiting the giving of strong drinks to these poor creatures, foolish and unprincipled dealers supplied them with the same, and the very blankets which the Government had given them, were freely exchanged for the fire-water which kindled them to madness.

Next day was Sabbath. The morning was hideous with the yells of the fighting Savages. They tore about on the Common in front of the Church, leading gentlemen having tried in vain to quiet them, and their wild voices without jarred upon the Morning Service. About two o’clock, I tried to get into conversation with them. I appealed to them whether they were not all tired and hungry? They replied that they had had no food all that day; they had fought since the morning! I said,—

“I love you black fellows. I go Missionary black fellows far away. I love you, want you rest, get food. Come all of you, rest, sit round me, and we will talk, till the _jins_ (= women) get ready tea. They boil water, I take tea with you, and then you will be strong!”

By broken English and by many symbols, I won their ear. They produced tea and _damper_, _i.e._, a rather forbidding-looking bread, without yeast, baked on the coals. Their wives hasted to boil water. I kept incessantly talking, to interest them, and told them how Jesus, God’s dear Son, came and died to make them happy, and how He grieved to see them beating and fighting and killing each other.

When the tea was ready, we squatted on the green grass, their tins were filled, the “damper” was broken into lumps, and I asked the blessing of God on the meal. To me it was unpleasant eating! Many of them looked strong and healthy; but not a few were weak and dying creatures. The strong, devouring all they could get, urged me to be done, and let them finish their fighting, eager for the fray. But having gained their confidence, I prayed with them, and thereafter said,—

“Now, before I leave, I will ask of you to do one thing for my sake, which you can all easily do.”

With one voice they replied,—

“Yes, we all do whatever you say.” I got their leaders to promise to me one by one. I then said,—

“Now you have got your tea, and I ask every man and boy among you to lie down in the bush and take a sleep, and your wives will sit by and watch over your safety!”

In glum silence, their war weapons still grasped in their hands, they stood looking intently at me, doubting whether I could be in earnest. I urged them,—

“You all promised to do what I asked. If you break your promise, these white men will laugh at me, and say that black fellows only lie and deceive. Let them see that you can be trusted. I wait here till I see you all asleep.”

One said that his head was cut, and he must have revenge before he could lie down. Others filed past showing their wounds, and declaring that it was too bad to request them to go to sleep. I praised them as far as I could, but urged them for once to be men and to keep their word. Finally they all agreed to lie down, I waiting till the last man had disappeared; and, being doubly exhausted with the debauch and the fighting, they were soon all fast asleep. I prayed that the blessed Sleep might lull their savage passions.

Before daylight next morning, the Minister and I were hastening to the scene to prevent further fighting; but as the sun was rising we saw the last tribe of the distant Natives disappearing over the brow of a hill. A small party belonging to the district alone remained. They shouted to us, “Black fellow all gone! No more fight. You too much like black fellow!”

For three days afterwards I had still to linger there; and if their dogs ran or barked at me, the women chased them with sticks and stones, and protected me. One little touch of kindness and sympathy had unlocked their darkened hearts.

The Aborigines of Australia have been regarded as perhaps the most degraded portion of the human race, at least in the Southern Hemisphere. Like the Papuans of our Islands, they rank betwixt Malay and Negro in colour and appearance. Their hair, coarse, black, curly, but not woolly; eyes, dark and yellowish, with very heavy eyebrows; nose flat, with hole bored through septum, in which ornament is hung; small chin, thick lips, large mouth, and lustrous teeth; high cheek bones, with sunken eyes and well-developed brow. Like all Savages in their natural state, they were nearly nude, filthy, and wretched; especially in winter, when covered with kangaroo and opossum skins, which they hung around themselves loosely by day, and under which they slept at night. They sometimes daubed their bodies all over with paint, mud, charcoal, or ashes. Their women are generally of a slender build. All these features and notes are true of many of our South Sea Islanders too; but they, again, are decidedly of a higher type. On many of the Islands, faces, though dark, are as pleasant and as well formed as amongst Europeans. Besides, the Islanders are not nomadic; they live in settled villages, and cultivate the land for their support.

Having read very strong statements for and against the Aborigines, in my many journeys twenty-four years ago I resolved to embrace every opportunity of learning their customs and beliefs directly from themselves. I have also seen their disgusting “Corrobbarees,” and know by facts how demoralizing these Heathen dances are. I know also what strong drink has done amongst them.

Who wonders that the dark races melt away before the _whites_? The pioneers of civilization _will_ carry with them this demon of strong drink, the fruitful parent of every other vice. The black people drink, and become unmanageable; and through the white man’s own poison-gift an excuse is found for sweeping the poor creatures off the face of the earth. Marsden’s writings show how our Australian blacks are destroyed. But I have myself been on the track of such butcheries again and again. A Victorian lady told me the following incident. She heard a child’s pitiful cry in the bush. On tracing it, she found a little girl weeping over her younger brother. She said,—

“The white men poisoned our father and mother. They threaten to shoot me, so that I dare not go near them. I am here, weeping over my brother till we die!”

The compassionate lady promised to be a mother to the little sufferers, and to protect them. They instantly clung to her, and have proved themselves to be loving and dutiful ever since.

In Queensland itself, the Native Police, armed and mounted—accompanied by only _one_ white officer, that no tales might be told—were reported to be regularly sent out to “scatter” the blacks! That meant, in many a case, wholesale murder. But in 1887, the humane Sir Samuel Griffiths, premier, had these blood-stained forces disbanded for ever. The _Sydney Morning Herald_, 21st March, 1883, contains stronger things than were ever penned or uttered by me as to the wholesale destruction of the Aborigines. The watchword of the white settlers, practically if not theoretically, has been, “Clear them out of the way, and give us the soil!”

Though amongst the lower types of the human race, the Aborigines have made excellent stock riders, bullock drivers, fencers, and servants in every department. And they have proved honest and faithful, especially when kindly treated. Australians are sometimes bitter against them, for a reason that ought rather to awaken sympathy. They take Aboriginal boys or girls into their service, they train them just till they are beginning to be useful, and lo! they go back to their own people. But in almost every case of that kind, the reason is perfectly clear. They are only taught so far as to make them useful tools. Their minds were not instructed, nor their hearts enlightened in the fear of God and the love of Jesus. They were not on an equality in any way either with children or with servants. They grew up without equals and without associates. They saw their parents and tribesmen treated with contempt and abuse. They instinctively felt that the moment they were unable to serve the self-interest of their employers, they themselves would be thrust out. They had not the spirit of the slave, though kept in the rank of a slave; and they yearned for satisfaction of these instincts, which the supply of their mere animal necessities could not assuage. Among the whites, they felt degraded and outcast; amongst their own people, they had the honour and esteem that were within reach of their kindred, and they might weave around their poor lot the mysterious and ever-blessed ties of family and home. And here and there, doubtless, flashed in the heart of some Native boy a gleam of that patriotism that led Moses to escape from Pharaoh’s court, and refuse to be identified with the despisers and oppressors of his own enslaved race,—divine in the Aboriginal as in the Hebrew, though each might give a very different account of its origin!

A book once fell into my hands, entitled,—“Sermons on Public Subjects,” by Charles Kingsley. I knew him to be a man greatly gifted and greatly beloved; and hence my positive distress on reading from the eighth sermon, page 234, “On the Fall,” the following awful words:—[1]“The Black people of Australia, exactly the same race as the African Negro, cannot take in the Gospel.... All attempts to bring them to a knowledge of the true God have as yet failed utterly.... Poor brutes in human shape ... they must perish off the face of the earth like brute beasts.”

I will not blame this great preacher for boldly uttering and publishing what multitudes of others show by their conduct that they believe, but dare not say so. Nor need any one blame me, if, knowing facts and details which Kingsley could never know, I turn aside for a few moments, and let the light of practical knowledge stream in on this and all similar teaching, come from whatsoever quarter it may.

While I was pondering over Kingsley’s words, the story of Nora, an Aboriginal Christian woman, whom, as hereafter related, I myself actually visited and corresponded with, was brought under my notice, as if to shatter to pieces everything that the famous preacher had proclaimed. A dear friend told me how he had seen Nora encamped with the blacks near Hexham in Victoria. Her husband had lost, through drink, their once comfortable home at a Station where he was employed. The change back to life in camp had broken her health, and she lay sick on the ground within a miserable hut. The visitors found her reading a Bible, and explaining to a number of her own poor people the wonders of redeeming love. My friend, Roderick Urquhart, Esq., overcome by the sight, said,—

“Nora, I am grieved to see you here, and deprived of every comfort in your sickness.”

She answered, not without tears, “The change has indeed made me unwell; but I am beginning to think that this too is for the best; it has at last brought my poor husband to his senses, and I will grudge nothing if God thereby brings him to the Saviour’s feet!”

She further explained, that she had found wonderful joy in telling her own people about the true God and his Son Jesus, and was quite assured that the Lord in His own way would send her relief. The visitors who accompanied Mr. Urquhart showed themselves to be greatly affected by the true and pure Christian spirit of this poor Aboriginal, and on parting she said,—

“Do not think that I like this miserable hut, or the food, or the company; but I am and have been happy in trying to do good amongst my people.”

For my part, let that dear Christlike soul look out on me from her Aboriginal hut, and I will trample under foot all teachings or theorizings that dare to say that she or her kind are but poor brutes;—they who say so blaspheme Human Nature. “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.”

Recall, ere you read further, what the Gospel has done for the near kindred of these same Aboriginals. On our own Aneityum 3,500 Cannibals have been led to renounce their heathenism, and are leading a civilized and a Christian life. In Fiji, 70,000 Cannibals have been brought under the influence of the Gospel; and 13,000 members of the Churches there are professing to live and work for Jesus. In Samoa, 34,000 Cannibals have professed Christianity; and, in nineteen years, its College has sent forth 206 Native teachers and evangelists. On our New Hebrides, more than 12,000 Cannibals have been brought to sit at the feet of Christ, not to say that they are all model Christians; and 133 of the Natives have been trained and sent forth as teachers and preachers of the Gospel. Had Christ been brought in the same way into the heart and life of the Aborigines by the Christians of Australia and of Britain—equally blessed results would as surely have followed, for He is “the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.”

It is easy to understand, moreover, how even experienced travellers may be deluded to believe that the Aborigines have no idols and no religion. One must have lived amongst them or their kindred ere he can authoritatively decide these questions. Before I left Melbourne, for instance, I had met Nathaniel Pepper, a converted Aboriginal from Wimmera. I asked him if his people had any “Doctors,” _i.e._, sacred men or priests. He said they had. I inquired if they had any objects of Worship, or any belief in God? He said, “No! None whatever.”

But on taking from my pocket some four small stone idols, his expression showed at once that he recognised them as objects of Worship. He had seen the sacred men use them; but he refused to answer any more questions. I resolved now, if possible, to secure some of their idols, and set this whole problem once for all at rest.

At Newstead, on another occasion, I persuaded a whole camp of the Aborigines to come to my meeting. After the address, they waited to examine the idols and stone gods which I had shown. Some of the young men admitted that their “doctors” had things like these, which they and the old people prayed to; but they added jauntily,—

“We young fellows don’t worship; we know too much for that!”

No “doctors” were, however, in that camp; so I could not meet with them; but I already felt that the testimony of nearly all white people that the blacks had “no idols and no worship,” was quickly crumbling away. Besides, my ever-dear friend, Andrew Scott, Esq., had informed me that when he first went out among the blacks,—almost alone, and one of the first white men they had ever seen,—he saw them handling, and going through ceremonials with just such “smooth stones” as I had brought from the Islands, without for a moment dreaming that they were idols. Yet such is the actual fact; very much as it was in the ancient days when Isaiah (ch. lvii. 6) denounced thus the “sons of the sorceress,” who were “inflaming themselves with idols.” “Among the smooth stones of the stream (or valley) is thy portion; they, they are thy lot; even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, hast thou offered a meat offering (or oblation).”

Yet again, R. Urquhart, Esq., Tangery, informed me that he also had seen the Aborigines engaged in religious observances. First of all, a vast multitude of men and women joined in a great Corrobbarree, or Heathen festival and dance. Thereafter each marched individually towards the centre of a huge ring, and after certain ceremonies, bowed as if in worship towards two manlike figures cut in the ground. Our life amongst the heathen had taught us that Worship was there.

The rite of circumcision was practised also amongst the blacks of Australia as well as amongst our New Hebrideans. Boys, on attaining what was looked upon as early manhood, were thus initiated into their privileges as men; and the occasion was accompanied with feasting, dancing, and what they regarded as religious ceremonies.

Some tribes in Australia, as on our Islands also, indicate the rank or class to which a man belongs by the barbarous custom of knocking out the two front teeth! This is done on reaching a certain age; with feasts and dancings held at midnight, and during full moon, in connection with sacred spots, which no one but a priest will be found daring enough to approach.

Hence there is no doubt in my mind as to the character and meaning of such “mysterious figures” as those so much discussed, carved on the flat rocks at Middle Harbour, or on the South Reef promontory at Cape Cove. They are found also at Point Piper, at Mossmans, at Lane Cove, and at many other places throughout Australia, representing the human figure in almost every attitude, the kangaroo, the flying squirrel, the shark, the whale, etc., etc.,—all of which I believe to be sacred objects, and these rocks and cliffs to be sacred places. Some of the fish carved there are twenty-seven feet long. The Aborigines would give no explanation of their origin, except that they were “made by black fellows long, long ago;” and that the blacks would not live near them, for “too much devil-devil walk about there.” The Balmoral blacks informed me that their sacred men carried about such objects as I showed them, and “that they were devil-devil,”—which is their only word for God or Spirit, when they talk to you in broken English.

The 18th of February, 1863, was a day worthy of being chronicled and remembered. I visited the Wonwonda Station in the Wimmera district of Victoria, and there beheld a great camp of the Aborigines on the plain near by. Securing the company of the following witnesses, I proceeded to the camp, and found that part of them had already seen me at Balmoral. Two of them spoke English fairly well. I managed to break through their reticence, and in course of time they told us freely about the customs and traditions of their people. They took us to their “doctor,” or Sacred Man, who was lying sick in his hut. Half concealed among the skins and clothes behind him, I observed several curious bags, which I knew at once would probably contain the little idols of which I was in quest. I urged the witnesses to take special notice of everything that occurred, and draw up and sign a statement for my future use. The following is their attested report:—

“Mr. Paton, having carefully explained to the blacks that he would like to see some of the sacred objects which they said made the people sick and well, assured them that his aim was not to mock at them, but to prove to white people that the blacks had objects of worship and were not like pigs and dogs. He offered them a number of small pieces of silver to get bread and tea for the “doctor,” if they would open these little bags and let us see what was in them. After a good deal of talk amongst themselves, he took some of the Island stone-gods from his pocket, saying, ‘I know that these bags have such things in them.’ An Aboriginal woman exclaimed, ‘You can’t hide them from that fellow! He knows all about us.’ Mr. Rutherford offered to kill a sheep, and give them sugar and tea to feast on, if they would open the little bags, but they refused. After consulting the Sacred Man, however, he took the silver pieces and allowed them to be opened before us. They were full of exactly such stones and other things as Mr. Paton had brought from the Islands, to prove to white people in Melbourne that they were not like dogs, but had gods; he offered the Sacred Man more money for four of the objects he had seen. After much talk among themselves, he took the money; and in our presence Mr. Paton selected a stone idol, a piece of painted wood of conical shape, a piece of bone of human leg with seven rings carved round it, which they said had the power of restoring sick people to health, and another piece of painted wood which made people sick; but they made him solemnly promise that he would tell no other black fellows where he got them. They were much interested in Mr. Paton’s conversation, and said, ‘No Missionary teach black fellow.’ They then showed us square rugs, thread and grass bags, etc., all neatly made by themselves, as proofs that if they were taught they and their wives could learn to do things and to work just like white people; but they said, ‘White man no care for black fellow.’ All this, we, whose names follow, were eye-witnesses of:—G. Rutherford, (Mrs.) A. Sutherland, (Mrs.) Martha Rutherford, Jemima Rutherford, Ben. B. Bentock, tutor of the Rutherford family.”

On returning to Horsham, I informed my dear friends, Rev. P. Simpson and his excellent lady, of my exploits and possessions. He replied,—

“There is a black ‘doctor’ gone round our house just now to see one of his people who is washing here to-day. Let us go and test them, whether they know these objects.”

Carrying them in his hand we went to them. The woman instantly on perceiving them dropped what she was washing, and turned away in instinctive terror. Mr. Simpson asked,—

“Have you ever before seen stones like these?”

The wily “doctor” replied, “Plenty on the plains, where I kick them out of my way.”

Taking others out of my pocket, I said, “These make people sick and well, don’t they?”

His rage overcame his duplicity, and he exclaimed, “What black fellow give you these? If I know him I do for him!”

The woman, looking the picture of terror, and pointing to one of the objects, cried,—

“That fellow no good! he kill men. No good, no good! Me too much afraid.”

Then, looking to me, she said, pointing with her finger, “That fellow savy (knows) too much! No white man see them. He no good.”

There was more in this scene and in all its surroundings, than in many arguments; and Mr. Simpson thoroughly believed that these were objects of idolatrous worship.

On a later occasion I showed these four objects to Aborigines, with whom I got into intercourse far off in New South Wales. They at once recognised them, and showed the same superstitious dread. They told me the peculiar characteristics and the special powers ascribed to each idol or charm. This I confirmed by the testimony of five different tribes living at great distances from each other; and it is morally certain that amongst all the blacks of Australia such objects are so worshipped and feared in the place of God.

And now let me relate the story of my visit to Nora, the converted Aboriginal referred to above. Accompanied by Robert Hood, Esq., J.P., Victoria, I found my way to the encampment near Hexham. She did not know of our coming, nor see us till we stood at the door of her hut. She was clean and tidily dressed, as were also her dear little children, and appeared glad to see us. She had just been reading the _Presbyterian Messenger_, and the Bible was lying at her elbow. I said,—

“Do you read the _Messenger_?”

She replied, “Yes; I like to know what is going on in the Church.”

We found her to be a sensible and humble Christian woman, conversing intelligently about religion and serving God devotedly. Next Sabbath she brought her husband, her children, and six blacks to Church, all decently dressed, and they all listened most attentively.

At our first meeting I said, “Nora, they tell me you are a Christian. I want to ask you a few questions about the blacks; and I hope that as a Christian you will speak the truth.” Rather hurt at my language, she raised her right hand, and replied, “I am a Christian. I fear and serve the true God. I always speak the truth.”

Taking from my pocket the stone idols from the Islands, I inquired if her people had or worshipped things like these. She replied, “The ‘doctors’ have them.”

“Have you a ‘doctor’ in your camp?” I asked. She said, “Yes, my uncle is the Sacred Man; but he is now far away from this.”

“Has he the idols with him now?” I inquired.

She answered, “No; they are left in my care.”

I then said: “Could you let us see them?”

She consulted certain representatives of the tribe who were at hand. They rose, and removed to a distance. They had consented. Mr. Hood assured me that no fault would be found with her, as she was the real, or at least virtual head of the tribe. Out of a larger bag she then drew two smaller bags and opened them. They were filled with the very objects which I had brought from the Islands. I asked her to consult the men of her tribe whether they would agree to sell four or five of them to me, that I might by them convince the white people that they had gods of their own, and are, therefore, above the brutes of the field; the money to be given to their Sacred Man on his return. This, also, after a time was agreed to. I selected three of the objects, and paid the stipulated price. And the undernoted independent witness attests the transaction:—

“I this day visited an encampment of the Hopkins blacks, in company with Rev. Mr. Paton, Missionary, and was witness to the following. Mr. Paton being under the impression that many of the superstitions and usages, common to the South Sea Islanders were similar among the Aborigines of Australia, began by showing some idols, etc., of the former, and asking if they had seen any like them. This inquiry was made of a highly civilized woman, named Nora, who can read and write, and has great influence with her tribe. She answered: Oh yes, the ‘doctors’ have them.

“On Mr. Paton expressing great anxiety to see some of them, she, after consulting some time with the other blacks, said she had some belonging to King John, her uncle, who was absent, and had left them in her care. After considerable reluctance shown on the part of the other blacks, who were off when they saw Mr. Paton knew all about them, a bag was produced, in which there were kangaroo tusks or bears’ tusks, pieces of human bone, stones, charred wood, etc., etc. She described the virtues attributed to the different articles. If any evil was wanted to befall one of another tribe, the ‘doctor,’ after muttering, threw such a stone in the direction he was supposed to be, wishing he might fall sick, or might die, etc. The spirit from the idol entered into his body, and he was sure to fall sick or die. Another piece of charred wood, that the ‘doctor’ rubbed on the diseased part of any sick person, made the pain come out to the spirit in the wood, and the ‘doctor’ carried it away. All this time the other blacks were in evident dread of the things being seen and handled, repeating, ‘No white man ever see these before!’ Mr. Paton got three specimens from them, viz., an evil and a good spirit, and a piece of carved bone. Robert Hood, J.P., Hexham, Victoria, Merang, 28th February, 1863.”

Mr. Hood asked Nora how he had never heard of or seen these things before, living so long amongst them, and blacks constantly coming and going about his house. She replied,—

“Long ago white men laughed at black fellows, praying to their idols. Black fellows said, white men never see them again! Suppose this white man not know all about them, he would not now see them. No white men live now have seen what you have seen.”

Thus it has been demonstrated on the spot, and in presence of the most reliable witnesses, that the Aborigines, before they saw the white invaders, were not “brutes” incapable of knowing God, but human beings, yearning after a God of some kind. Nor do I believe that any tribe of men will ever be found, who, when their language and customs are rightly interpreted, will not display their consciousness of the need of a God and that Divine capacity of holding fellowship with the Unseen Powers, of which the brutes are without one faintest trace.

The late Mr. Hamilton, of Mortlake, wrote me in 1863 as follows:—

“During a residence of twenty-six years in New South Wales and Victoria, from constant intercourse with Australian Aborigines I am convinced that they are capable of learning anything that white people in an equally neglected condition could learn. In two instances I met with females possessing a greater amount of religious knowledge than many of our white population. The one was able to prompt the children she was attending as a servant in the answers proper to give to the questions I put to them regarding the facts and doctrines of Christianity. This was in New South Wales. The other was Nora Hood, baptized and married to an Aboriginal. I conversed with her according to the usage of the Presbyterian Church, and I believe her to be a sincere and intelligent Christian. I baptized her children without hesitation; while I felt it to be my duty in many cases to withhold the privilege from white parents, on account of their being unable to make a credible profession of their faith in Christ and obedience to Him. Under God, she owes her instruction and conversion to Mrs. MacKenzie. William Hamilton, Minister.”

William Armstrong, Esq., of Hexham Park, wrote in 1863:—

“The Aborigines of Australia certainly believe in spirits, and that their spirit leaves the body at death and goes to some other island, and they seem to have many superstitious ideas about the dead.... I believe they would have been as easily influenced by the Gospel as any other savages, if they had been taught; but intoxicating spirits, and the accompanying vices of white people have ruined them. William Armstrong.”

But let Nora, one of the “poor brutes in human shape,” who was “incapable of taking in the Gospel,” and must “perish like brute beasts,” now speak to the heart of every reader in her own words. In February, 1863, she wrote to me as follows:—

“Dear Sir,—I received your kind letter, and was glad to hear from you. I am always reading my Bible, for I believe in God the Father and in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen. I often speak to the blacks about Jesus Christ; and some of them believe in God and in Jesus. I always teach my children to pray to God our Father in Heaven.... Colin will try not to drink any more. He is always praying to God. Them blacks that come with me, I will tell about God and about their sins; but they are so very wicked, they won t listen to me teaching them. Sir, I shall always pray for you, that God may bless and guide you. O Sir, pray for me, my husband, and my children! Your obedient servant, Nora Hood.”

In her second letter, she says:—“Your kind letter gave me great comfort. I thank God that I am able to read and write. Mrs. and Miss MacKenzie taught me; and through them I came to know Jesus Christ my Saviour. Our Lord says, ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ ‘Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters!’ Sir, I will tell Joe and King John, and I have been always telling Katy and all the rest of them about Jesus Christ our Saviour. Please, Sir, I would like you to write to me, that I may show them your letters,” etc., etc.

In a third letter, also dated 1863, she says:—“Dear Sir, Colin and I were glad to hear from you. I am telling the blacks always about God our Saviour and the salvation of their souls. They are so very wicked. They go from place to place, and don’t stop long with me. I am always teaching my children to pray, and would like to send them to School if I could.... I hope you will go home to England safely, get more Missionaries, and then go back to your poor blacks on the Islands. I will be glad to hear from you. May the Lord God bless you, wherever you go! Your affectionate, Nora Hood.”

Poor, dear, Christian-hearted Nora! The Christ-spirit shines forth unmistakably through thee,—praying for and seeking to save husband and children, enduring trials and miseries by the aid of communion with thy Lord, weeping over the degradation of thy people and seeking to lift them up by telling them of the true God and of His love to Mankind through Jesus Christ. Would that all white Christians manifested forth as much of the Divine Master’s Spirit!

Alas, in reading Marsden’s “Life,” and other authorities, one shrinks with a sickening feeling at the description of the butcheries of the poor blacks! Imagine 1830, when the inhabitants were called out to join the troops, and nearly three thousand armed men gloated in the work of destruction from the 4th of October till the 26th November. Read of one boasting that he had killed seven blacks with his own hand; another, that he had slain, and piled up in a heap, thirty men, women, and children; and a third, a _gentleman_, of whom Lieutenant Laidlaw tells, exhibiting as a trophy over his bookcase the skull of a poor black, pierced by the bullet with which he had shot him! And their sin, their crime? Oh, only seizing a sheep, in the frenzy of hunger, which fattened on the lands where once grew their food and from which the white man had pitilessly hunted them. Retribution comes, but sometimes slowly, and is not recognised when she appears; but Australia suffers to-day from the passions then let loose against the blacks. The demons have come home to roost.

During my last Mission tour, in 1888, through Victoria and part of New South Wales, I visited all Stations of the Aborigines that could be conveniently reached. There the few remnants of a once numerous race are now assembled together. They try hard to constrain themselves to live in houses. But the spirit of the wanderer is in them. They start forth, every now and again, for an occasional ramble over their old hunting grounds, and to taste the sweets of freedom. In Victoria, the Government now provide food and clothing for the Aborigines who will remain at the appointed Stations, so that in regard to temporals the survivors are not badly off. Their religious training and spiritual interests are left entirely to the Churches. The Government provides a Superintendent at each Station; and where he is a Christian man, and takes any interest in the religion and morals of the tribes, contentment reigns. At Ramayeuk, for instance, the Superintendent is Rev. F. A. Haganeur; and he and his excellent wife regularly instruct the blacks. Nothing can be more delightful than the results. The faces of the people were shining with happiness. Their rows of clean and neat cottages were a picture and an emblem. In their Church, a Native woman played the harmonium and led the praise. I never had more attentive Congregations. On two occasions they handed me £5, collected at their own free will, for our Island Mission. Their School received from the Government examiners one of the highest percentages. Many at this Station have, after a consistent Christian life, died in the full hope of Glory together with Jesus.

At all the other Stations in Victoria the outward comforts of the Natives are attended to, but Superintendents ought to be appointed, in every case, to care for their souls as well as their bodies. For strong drink and other vices are rapidly sweeping the Aborigines away; and Australia has but short time to atone for the cruelties of the past, and to snatch a few more jewels from amongst them for the Crown of Jesus our Lord.

At my farewell meeting in Melbourne, Sir Henry Barkley presiding, I pleaded that the Colony should put forth greater efforts to give the Gospel to the Aborigines; I showed the idols which I had discovered amongst them; I read Nora’s letters, and, I may, without presumption, say, the “brute-in-human-shape” theory has been pretty effectually buried ever since.