T A S 



90 



T A S 



the * direction. The great ditt. i the 



\hu-li is stiaight or curled in th 

 woolly in thcTasiiiaiiiaii. /'<!/"/" 



Baio |. In language and customs the resem- 



blance it equally apparent. Tasinan. in the brief account 

 published in -Harris's Collection of 

 mentions his observing on the 



shores of Van P. emeu's Laud liecs which had -a kind of 



steps cut in the bark, in order to climb up to the buds' 



... wen- the distance of live feet 



from each other, so that we must conclude, that cither 

 these people are of a prodigious size, or that tlu-v have 

 way of climbing trees that we are not used to.' 

 Tin- difficulty here suggested by Tasinan has been since 

 . ed : ' I'lie natives of Australia climb trees by cutting 

 notches in the bark, by means of a small stone hatchet. 

 and with each hand alternately. Hv long acquired habit 

 a native can supixirt himself with his toes on very small 

 notches, not only in climbing, but while he cuts oilier 

 notches for his further ascent with one hand, the other 

 arm embracing the tree.' (Major Mitchell 1 ! TravtU in 

 ,1/iu. vol. ii., p. 338.) In this singular custom the 

 esofVan Diemen's Land and of Kastern Australia 

 agree. The eorroborec dance [SWAN KIVKR] is common 

 to both, and the offensive weapons of both people arc 

 precisely the same. Major Mitchell expresses a decided 

 opinion that the natives of both countries are derived 

 from a common stock Tract-Is, vol. ii.. p. 341), in which 

 other travellers have concurred. The natives of Tas- 

 mania, according to the accounts of early colonists, ami 

 of Cook and 1) Kntrecasteaux. appear to have been more 

 intelligent and friendly than those of New Holland 

 when first approached. M. Ijibillardierc. the historian 

 and naturalist of the expedition of Admiral D'Kntn- 

 iiix. speaks of their music, their knowledge of plants, 

 and their general acuteness, in terms by no means con- 

 temptuous: while he highly praises tin- humane and 

 confiding disposition which they evinced towards their 

 French visitors. Dr. Ross, the Editor of the ' Van Diemen's 

 Land Annual,' to whom we are indebted for the best 

 records of the early history of the colony, after many 

 years' opportunities of intercourse with the aborigines, thus 

 refers to them : 'During all the intercourse 1 have had 

 with this interesting people, I not only found no waul of 

 sense or judgment among them, but, on the contrary, much 

 to admire in them as thinking men, as endued not only 

 with much ingenuity and penetration, but with the tcu- 

 upathicsofthe heart, and all the nobler passions 

 that elevate man in the scale of being.' 



Original hannlessness of character has not however pre- 

 served the Tasmanians from the usual consequences ot 

 European contact expatriation or extinction. The his- 

 tory o I the events which have nearly extinguished this 

 race is briefly as follows: Van Piemen's Land was colo- 

 ni/ed in the first instance by the most abandoned crimi- 

 nals. These men had no wives ; no regular system of dis- 

 cipline was adopted in reference to them, but they were 

 dispersed in small bodies over the territory, while others. 

 escaping from control, pursued a predatory life. The wives 

 of the natives were seduced by criminals, which excited 

 the animosity of the men. and during several years indis- 

 criminate warfare subsisted between the aboriginal and 

 the colonizing population. At length, in 1830, the local 

 government systematically interfered, and the free and 

 convict inhabitants of the colony were enrolled for the 

 purpose of killing or capturing the- aborigines. Very 

 limited success attended this modi- of proceeding after il 

 had been in operation for a considerable period, when Mr. 

 Robinson, an individual of remarkable courage and self- 

 possession volunteered, with the assistance of some friendly 

 natives, to bring the rest to terms of pacification. |{y fan- 

 promises to the natives he accomplished a victory which 

 could not be obtained by an expenditure of upwards of 

 36.000/. (/'.! Dinnfn'1 Land AnniKil for 1KW, differently 

 directed, and the natives put themselves in the power of 

 the government. This triumph, obtained by moral in- 

 fluence, and which might have been ma, u-nt to 

 the good of both races consistently with theaborign 

 maining on their native soil, was converted to their ruin. 

 They wen- ttansportcd to an unfavourable spot (Flindcis' 

 id. in lia-s's Straits), where a miserable remnant of 

 about eight v individuals were all that survived in IKKJ of 

 a population of three or four thousands, the estimated abori- 



ginal population of Van Diemen's I..iml when enloni/ation 

 ih.-re. I'uti /' -nit .liitltlttl f'lr IKiS. pp. 



The courage which faced the aborigines unarmed 



in a time of warfare, was no evidence that the individual 

 who dared to do this possessed the qualities essential lor 

 the successful treatment of an uncivilized nice with a v icw 

 to its improvement. However thai coinage was rewarded 

 by the appointment of Mr. Robinson to the office i,f -cm- 

 h/ing' the Tasmanians at Flinders' Island. It won;, 

 tedious to detail the features of the civ ili/ing ' system 

 pursued there : it is sufficient to mention that every habit 

 and amusement peculiar to the aborigines has been 

 couraged ; the cumbrous and uncongenial forms and in- 

 cidents of advanced civilization have been enforced in 

 every-day life; the native language has been as much as 

 possible suppressed : native names have been made to 

 yield to those of the (Jii-sars. the Hannibals, and the 

 Scipios; a disposition to indulge in the pleasures of the 

 chace has been recorded as a delinquency ; and the verbal 

 repetition of the Commandment* and the Catechism i- al- 

 leged as the evidence of religions progress, and a confuta- 

 tion of all disbelief as to the capacity of uncivilized 

 to appreciate the doctrines of ( 'hristiaiiity. (M/7 ij tin' 

 ('iiiii/ri<iinttt/it <if Flintier*' Islitinl ; J'tirliaiiii'ntary Pujjfrf, 

 1830.) 



An intelligent witness of the experiment carried on at 

 Flinders' Island has thus reported upon it: 'The com- 

 mandant has an establishment of thirty-two eonvi. 

 wait on the aborigines, and supply the deficiencies of thei." 

 own labour, and is rewarded by a great deal of reading, 

 writing, singing, rehearsal of the c;.1eehism. tailoring, sub- 

 mission, attachment, decorum, tranquillity, everything, in 

 a word, which gratifies superficial examination; and he 

 persuades himself that he is eminently successful with 

 them : but they have no free agency, and are mere children 

 at school, and they cannot escape from their prison, they 

 cannot subsist at a distance from it. they must not break 

 its rules, it must be a place of excessive riiiuii to them : as 

 moral agents they are lower now than when savages; and 

 they die the faster, I fear, for much of this kindness. The 

 commandant imputes the mortality among them to the 

 situation and climate, and wishes to transport them to flu 

 south coast of New Holland ; but in six months 1 am per- 

 suaded they would be, on this plan, happy savages in tin- 

 bush.' .U.S. Letter.) 



TASSIK, JAMKS. was born of humble parentage, in or 

 about the year \1'.>. in the neighbourhood of Glasgo" 

 was brought up as a country stone-mason, (ioing to < 

 gow on a fair-day to enjoy himself with his companions, 

 he visited the collection of paintings exhibited by the 

 brothers Foulis, who were then endeavouring to establish 

 an academy for the fine arts in that city. [ Furi.is, % 

 p. :is;t.] Feeling a strong desire to become a painter. 

 Tassie removed to (!la.sgow. and studied drawing in Foulis' s 

 academy, but continued to practise his business. Though 

 poor, he was frugal, industrious, and persevering; and, 

 hoping at least to become a statuary, if not a painter, he. 

 in 17tfci, went to Dublin, where he was employed for 

 some time as a sculptor and modeller. Then- he be, 

 acquainted with Dr. Quill, who was making experiments 

 in the beautiful art of imitating engraved gems by means 

 of coloured glass, or pastes, and who engaged him as 

 his confidential assistant. Having succeeded in el 

 ing gnat improvements in the art by their joint la; 

 Titssie was encomagcd by his patron to remove to Lon- 

 don, and to follow it as a profession. He accordingly 

 -1 London in \"i(M : and although, owing to his dif- 

 fidence and modesty, he had to struggle with many diffi- 

 culties, he gradually emerged from obscurity, obtained a 

 comfortable competence, and established such a reputation, 

 that the principal cabinets of Europe were thrown open to 

 him. Among his earliest patrons in the metropolis were 

 tin- Society of Arts. who. in 17<>7. awarded him the sum of 

 ten guineas for imitations of anticnt onyx. In 177") Tasme, 

 who then resided in Compton Street. Suho, published a 

 catalogue of the antieiil and modern gemsiu his collection, 

 of which he sold pastes or sulphur impressions at very 

 moderate prices. 1'he collection then amounted to more 

 than three thousand articles: but it v\as subsequently 

 much extended, and in 17!H appeared a new catalogue, 

 containing fifteen thousand eight hundred articles, and 

 forming two quarto volumes. This work, which is not 

 confined to a dry description of the gems, but contains 



