THE LAST MAN. 461 



£50. had been offered for their apprehension, on 

 account of some depredations they were said to have 

 from time to time committed. A countrywoman 

 of their own, the wife of one of the sealers, was 

 instrumental in their capture. Pretence was made 

 that the boat would carry them to some good hunt- 

 ing ground ; but when they were all afloat, and 

 prostrated by sea-sickness, the sealers made sail for 

 the Company's station at Point Woolnorth, with a 

 freight more valuable than seal-skins. These were 

 supposed to be the last of the aboriginal inhabitants 

 of Tasmania ; though a report at one time prevailed 

 that a solitary young man had been left behind. If 

 this be the case, his position must be truly lament- 

 able. Alone of all his race on that vast island, 

 belonging to a people against whom the deepest pre- 

 judices are entertained, who have been hunted 

 down like wild beasts by the new population, pro- 

 fessing' a reliction which should teach them to act 

 otherwise towards their brethren, no resource must 

 have been left to him but to fly to the most inacces- 

 sible fastnesses, to hide in the gloomiest forests and 

 darkest caverns, and to pass the remainder of his 

 miserable life in constant struggles to prolong it, 

 and in ceaseless endeavours to stave off' that final 

 consummation which could alone ensure him peace, 

 and safety, and rest. Whether or not the report of 

 the existence of this Last Man was true I cannot 

 say; but, certainly, his story, imaginary or real, 

 suggests numerous reflections, and opens a wide 



