DETERMINED BRAVERY 29 



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from the bush, and, standing fully exposed on the rocks, 

 defied the landing of two boats' crews. What praise and 

 reward would be given to two European soldiers who 

 showed such determined bravery ! Time after time have 

 the natives displayed a bravery as firm as that of their two 

 heroic ancestors; and even after they had become aware 

 of the deadly nature of firearms, they often showed an 

 utter fearlessness in attacking police and soldiers. I do 

 not pose as the apologist of the native of Australia ; but 

 it is a fact which cannot be contradicted, that the first 

 settlers of the continent behaved with great brutality to 

 the native tribes, often shooting them down without the 

 slightest provocation — in a panic of unreasoning fear, it 

 would seem. This very naturally led to reprisals, which 

 unfortunately often fell upon innocent heads, and a 

 frightful state of revengeful murder was the consequence, 

 in which the white savage showed that he could be quite 

 as cruel and unrelenting as the black one. Happily this 

 state of things has passed away for ever, and there is not 

 in any other part of the world a large tract of land in 

 which the aboriginal population gives the usurper so little 

 trouble as in Australia. 



Generally, the blackfellow goes perfectly nude. Cloaks, 

 however, are occasionally worn by both sexes, those of 

 the men completely covering the back, while those of the 

 women come down to the knee, and not infrequently to 

 the ankle. The women also wear aprons, these and the 

 cloaks being made of kangaroo and wallaby skins ; but 

 some individuals show great taste in the making of these 

 articles of dress ; and I have seen very handsome cloaks 

 and aprons made of opossum and other small mammal 

 skins, and sometimes of the feathered skins of emus. Some 

 are even ornamented with the brightly coloured feathers 

 of parrots, cockatoos, and small birds. The native does 

 not, as a rule, wear a waist-cloth ; but I have seen such a 

 covering used by women, though the females generally 

 display but little sense of shame, and when at work, or 

 carrying heavy articles, go as naked as the men. 



Head ornaments are sometimes used. Those which 



