66 THE TASMANIAN ABORIGINES. 



Even after the aborigines were imprisoned on Flinders, 

 wlien sucli opportunities lay close to tlie hand of Dr. 

 Milligan and others, it is sad to reflect how little was 

 done. A vocabulary by Milligan, a paper by Davies, 

 and some observations collected by Backhouse and others, 

 are almost the sum total. 



G. A. Robinson was probably the only man who 

 thoroughly understood the aborigines. He could have 

 supplied valuable information as to their tribal usages 

 and ways of thinking, yet, so far as I know, he has not 

 left behind him even the briefest account of the people 

 for whom he ran such risks, though there are still pre- 

 served in the Chief Secretary's office very voluminous 

 reports of his expeditions. Robinson told my father 

 many years ago that he had a large quantity of MS. 

 respecting the aborigines, which he intended to publish. 



I have in my possession a letter dated from Prahran, 

 Widcombe Hill, Bath, England, March 19, 1864, written 

 by Robinson to the late Mr. Witcomb, in which he 

 says : — " I am now arranging my papers (the vocab- 

 ulary included) for publication." The papers were 

 never published. Robinson died at Bath, somewhere 

 before 1870, I think ; and there is, I suppose, not the 

 least hope of recovering a MS., which would be highly 

 interesting. 



The information which has been preserved respecting 

 our native tribes is scattered through scores of books 

 and articles, including casual references in voyages, 

 histories, public documents, and transactions of scientific 

 societies. Many of these works are scarce, some of them 

 almost impossible to obtain. The time and labour re- 

 quired to explore these various sources would be greater 

 than any one but an enthusiast could afford. It is true 

 that West has given an excellent condensed account of 

 the natives in his " History of Tasmania," but it is im- 

 perfect, and he cites no authorities. Mr. Bonwick's two 

 books " The Last of the Tasmanians" and " The Daily 

 life of the Tasmanians," deserve more than a passing 

 mention. In these two works the author has collected a 

 great mass of information respecting the history and 

 customs of the aborigines. Every one must recognise 

 the immense service he has done in preserving so much 

 that would otherwise have been irretrievably lost, But 



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