THE ABORIGINES AND THEIR TREATMENT 225 



moral and religious improvement of the natives by instructing them 

 in the elements of the Christian religion, and preparing them for the 

 reception of teachers whose peculiar province it would be to pro- 

 mote the knowledge and practice of Christianity among them. 

 Finally, he was to learn the language of the natives as soon as 

 possible, so as to be able to freely and familiarly converse with 

 them ; to be accountable for any provisions or clothing entrusted to 

 him for distribution to the natives ; and he was to obtain as much 

 information as possible for statistical purposes, and keep a record 

 of all important particulars in regard to the tribes in his charge. 



This general outline of duties, of which Lord Glenelg left the 

 details to be filled in by the local authorities, was based upon very 

 imperfect knowledge of the habits of the natives, and on the 

 assumption that they could be easily cured of their roving disposi- 

 tion, and gathered into settlements under civilised control. That 

 the Protectors should share in their wanderings until they could be 

 induced to settle down seems a somewhat absurd notion, as also 

 was the idea of four men giving up their time to the study of a 

 barbarous dialect for conventional, not for ethnographic, purposes. 

 It was regarded by the Protectors as a slight that they were only 

 authorised to prepare the way for that Christian teaching with 

 which more competent hands were afterwards to crown the edifice. 



In any case, the duties were such as would tax the full energies 

 of hardy, resolute, pioneering men ready to face both severe toil and 

 danger, and who should at least be inspired with humanitarian, if 

 not with missionary zeal. How far the chosen four came within 

 this category may be gleaned from the fact that they reached the 

 scene of their operations encumbered with the impedimenta per- 

 taining to four wives and twenty-two children. But even this 

 generous transportation of domestic joys did not compensate ; for 

 they were scarcely landed when they began to lift up their voices 

 against the hardness of their lot, the insufficiency of their pay, and 

 the impossibilities of the duties assigned to them. Sir George 

 Gipps was somewhat disgusted at the spirit in which the duties 

 were taken up, but he was determined the scheme should have a 

 fair trial, and to remove some of the discontent he allowed each of 

 the four assistants half a guinea a day in lieu of rations and forage. 



VOL. I. 15 



