ATTEMPTED CAPTURE OF NATIVES. 465 



It was not until exasperation, on either side, 

 rose to its highest, that measures were taken to 

 prevent the complete destruction of the aborigines. 

 The first method selected was not characterized by 

 prudence ; being the result of the passionate coun- 

 sels of the great body of colonists, who were smart- 

 ing under evils entailed upon them by their own 

 violent conduct. As is natural in all these cases, 

 they looked only to the necessity of protecting 

 their property and their lives ; and did not take into 

 account the massacres, the cruelties of every descrip- 

 tion, which had been at one time encouraged, or at 

 least not condemned by the general voice. The 

 casuistry of the human heart, in most instances, con- 

 cealed the true state of the case, and many, if not the 

 majority, felt the virtuous indignation which some 

 only affected. At any rate, they set about the hunt- 

 ing down and capture of the aborigines, as a duty 

 which they owed to themselves and their families. 

 Government, with the best intentions, lent them 

 every assistance in its power. The whole colony 

 rose to a man ; and military operations on a most 

 extensive scale were undertaken. Cordons were 

 established, marches and countermarchesperformed, 

 complicated manoeuvres planned and executed, and 

 every method resorted to, which in a different 

 country and against a different enemy must have 

 been rewarded with complete success. But in 

 this instance, the impenetrable forests of Tasma- 



VOL. II. 2 H 



