A Half-caste Tasmanian. 9 



Regardinfr the first of these questions it may be stated that 

 the few authors who have made any scientific observations 

 whatsover upon this unhappy race, as well as those, who, from 

 personal contact with its then living representatives have been 

 in the best position to judgfe, are all ao^eed as to the ^eat an- 

 tiquity of the Tasmanian aborig-inal. 



Bonwick, whose excellent description of the Tasmanian 

 aboriginal hais already been quoted, has no doubts upon this 

 point, for he says (5) : — 



•■ That the Tasmaniiuas .... are of high antiquity, 

 even as regards other inhabitants of the world, can admit of 

 little doubt. A strong argument for their remote age may be 

 gathered from their ignorance of navigation." And, again, the 

 same author says, " No race presents itself to us of a greater 

 relative antiquity (than the Tasmanian). They lived throughout 

 history." 



Tylor, in his preface to Roth's " The Aborigines of Tas- 

 mania " (12), says: — 



■' If there have remained anywhere up to modern time.s men 

 who>e condition has changed little since the early stone ;vj:e. 

 the Tasmajnians seem to have been such a people. They stand 

 before us as a branch of the Negroid race, illustrating the cmi- 

 dition of man near his lowest known level of culture .... 

 it appears that the aborigines of Tasnumia .... by the 

 workmanship of their ^tone implements rather represent the 

 condition of Palaeolithic M;\.n. ' Ihe same author (Tylor l-'^) 

 has elsewhere pointed out that the Tasmanians were representa- 

 tives of the stone age development, and were in a stage lower 

 than that of the (^Kiaternary period of Europe, and hence the 

 distinction may be claimed for them ni beinii" the lowest of 

 modern nomad tribes.'" 



Howitt (1-i), too, bears witness to the same idea, for he says: 

 — "In considering all the facts before me bearing upon the ques- 

 tion of the origin of the Tasmanians and the Australians, I have 

 been much impressed by the immense periods of time which 

 seem to be essential to any solution of the problem," and, again. 

 "I have said before, and desire to repeat, thait the conclusions 

 to which I have been led as to the origin of the Tasmanians 

 and Australians necessarily demand a vast antiquity on the 



