XXI AUSTRALIAN AND POLYNESIAN RACES 473 



Mr. Curr, who for more than forty years was in constant 

 communication with them, and having been for many 

 years " Protector of the Aborigines " in Victoria had 

 excellent opportunities for observation, thus describes 

 them : " The black, especially in his wild state, is quicker 

 in the action of his mind, more observant, and more self- 

 reliant than the English peasant Socially the 



black is polite, gay, fond of laughter, and has much bon- 

 homie in his composition. . . . Touching the moral 

 feelings of the blacks, observation has convinced me that 

 they are not without them, though they are much blunted 

 by constant repression, and that they discriminate between 

 right and wrong." 



It has been observed that the natives are very strict in 

 obeying their laws and customs, even when alone among 

 Europeans, where the offence would be unnoticed, and 

 even under great temptation. The horror of marrying a 

 woman within the prohibited degrees of relationship, the 

 extreme grief they manifest at the death of children or 

 relatives, and sometimes even for white men, as illustrated 

 by the native boy who was the sole companion of the un- 

 fortunate Kennedy when he was murdered, are sufficient 

 to indicate that they possess affections and a sense of right 

 and wrong not very different from our own. 



(The photograph on the next page (Fig. 76) of a family 

 group at their ordinary occupations, with the two children 

 watching their father at work, may serve to illustrate the 

 foregoing observations as to their character and family 

 affections.) 



Australians and other Eastern Caucasians. 



The preceding account was written about the year 

 1892, at which time I had seen no good photographic 

 portraits of the best types of Australians, the majority of 

 travellers appearing to select the most hideous old people 

 they could meet with as illustrations of the race. Having 

 now had the opportunity of examining the fine series of 

 photographs obtained by Professor Spencer for his work 

 on Central Australia, and others from the collection of the 



