MISSIONARY EXPLORATIONS 679 



itself among the aboriginal tribes inhabiting the eastern shores 

 of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The tribesmen had not yet become 

 sophisticated through contact with civilised man and there was 

 no Government supervision to interfere with the freedom of con- 

 tract. A complete understanding between employer and employed 

 must have been impossible from the lack of a common language. 

 It was therefore inevitable that the natives, tempted on board 

 by presents and promises, were at times inadequately informed 

 of the nature of their duties or the duration of their term of 

 service. Again, in some instances, women were induced to board 

 the luggers, having been " sold " by the old men of the tribes for 

 such cheap considerations as appeal to the cupidity of savages. 

 It was not long before complaint, friction, violence, sudden death 

 and reprisal began to be heard of. From time to time parties of 

 prospectors and diggers invaded the Peninsula from the south, 

 and white men were cruelly slain by the natives. 



About the year 1890 the HONOURABLE JOHN DOUGLAS, who 

 was Premier of Queensland when I arrived in 1877, was Government 

 Resident at Thursday Island. The relations existing between the 

 natives and their white, or coloured, employers had for some time 

 given him deep concern, and he had obtained the use of the 

 steamer " Albatross " for patrol work among the " fishers " and 

 in the coastal districts. Occasionally parties of native police, 

 under white inspectors, were landed with the object of inquiry 

 or redress, but on the whole Mr. Douglas thought the position very 

 unsatisfactory. One of his ideas was the establishment of a chain of 

 MISSION STATIONS all along the west coast of the Peninsula, and 

 1891 found him, together with two Presbyterian clergymen, 

 Messrs. Hardie and Robinson, looking out for a suitable spot for 

 the first experiment. The site selected was near CULLEN POINT 

 and just inside of PORT MUSGRAVE, the land-locked estuary at the 

 mouth of the BATAVIA RIVER. (SEE MAP B.) 



The first mission to the aborigines of the Peninsula was estab- 

 lished in 1896 at CAPE BEDFORD, 16 miles north of Cooktown, under 

 charge of the Moravian Brother, Fleirl. 1 (SEE MAP E.) An 

 out-station is situated 6 miles to the north. The mission is still 

 in operation. 



A Lutheran Mission established a station on the BLOMFIELD 

 RIVER, 30 miles south of Cooktown, in 1887. (SEE MAP G.) It 

 was extant in 1896, when Mr. Meston wrote his report, but has 

 since been abandoned. 



The Church of England established a mission named YARRABAH 

 at CAPE GRAFTON, near Cairns. (SEE MAP G.) It was opened 

 in 1892 by the late REV. J. B. GRIBBLE and is now conducted by 

 his son, the REV. ERNEST GRIBBLE. 



1 Report on the Aborigines of Queensland, by Archibald Meston, Special Commissioner 

 under Instructions from the Government. Brisbane, by Authority, 1896. 



