1,56 THE ABOttTGINES 



of Commandant from Sir John Franklin. Five years 

 Inter, in 1S47. there remained only 44 individuals, viz., 

 12 men, '2'2 women, and 10 children from 4 to 17 years 

 of age. Some of the children were half-castes. 



In the face of considerable opposition from the 

 colonists, the Government resolved to remove the few 

 survivors to Oyster Cove, in D'Entrecasteaux Channel. 

 Dr. .lames Milligan was appointed superintendent, and 

 under his care the transfer was effected. Among the 

 children thus removed was Fanny Cochrane (now Mrs. 

 Fanny Smith), who is still living on her farm at Port 

 Cygnet, the sole survivor of the Flinders Island settle- 

 ment. At Oyster Cove the blacks rapidly deteriorated. 

 A new phase of civilisation was here presented to them 

 in the shape of low whites and rum. The mortality was 

 accelerated by the drunken habits into which many of 

 them fell. A few lingered on — a disgraced and de- 

 grnded remnant. In 1854 there remained only three 

 men, eleven women, and two children — sixteen in all. 

 In 1865, Billy Lanne, the last male aborigine, died, and 

 only four women remained. Truganini, the last survivor 

 of her race, died in 1877. 



Such is the melancholy history of the native inhabi- 

 tants of Tasmania. 



