162 THE ABORIGINES 



The aborigines are not Eond of travelling in the wet, nor 

 will they do so except in eases of necessity. They show 

 the Bame reluctance to travelling in the dark. As soon 

 as it is dusk they take care to remind you that it is time 

 to crackney, that is, to rest. It is well known that in 

 their wild state they hardly ever encamped for two 

 nights together in the same place, in consequence of 

 their aversion to the dirt which accumulates about a 

 cam]). The number of fires which this custom has given 

 rise to is perhaps one of the causes that the number of 

 these people lias been so greatly over-rated. I was sur- 

 prised to remark their susceptibility of fatigue in going 

 long distances. It does not appear that they have been 

 in the habit of making long or forced marches. Each 

 tribe confining themselves generally to a district seldom 

 exceeding twenty to thirty miles in its widest extent, 

 this peculiarity may be easily accounted for. Their 

 principal journeys were those made in the summer season 

 to the highlands from the lower tracts (the haunt of the 

 game), which were their resort in the winter ; and these 

 journeys did not generally require any extraordinary 

 expedition. 



This short excursion has given us a further oppor- 

 tunity of estimating the character of the aborigines ; 

 and the favourable opinion we had previously formed of 

 their disposition, and especially of their capabilities for 

 improvement, is more than ever confirmed. They re- 

 quire to be treated with much discretion and forbearance. 

 They are more easily led than driven ; for, though they 

 are very tractable and accessible to kindness, it is easy 

 to perceive that they consider themselves a free people. 

 If they do service for others, they do it through 

 courtesy. There is nothing that is servile or abject in 

 their character when they are not under the influence of 

 fear. We are perpetually reminded that in their taste 

 for amusement, and in some respects in their capacities, 

 they are children, though more tractable than the 

 generality of children ; but, in many things that occur 

 within the range of their knowledge and acquirements, 

 they show a quickness of perception and powers of 

 reflection that prove them to be a race far from deficient 

 in intellect, and highly susceptible of improvement. 

 From anything I have been able to learn, the 



Dorigines do not seem to have any notion of a superior 



