XXIV PROCEEDINGS, SEPTEMBER. 



little reason to doubt the fact. It appears, then, that Fanny was born 



at Flinders Island in 1834 or 1835, and is now about 55 years of age. 



Sarah was the name of her mother, and Eugene that of her father, 



and both were undeniably aboriginals. Sarah first lived with a sealer, 



and became the mother of four half-caste children ; and was subsequently 



married to Eugene (native name, Wicomanie), one of her own people, 



and had three children, of whom Fanny is the sole survivor and 



representative of the race. Lieut. Matthew Curling Friend, R.N., in 



a paper read before the Tasmanian Society, on March 10, 1847, "On 



the decrease of the Aborigines of Tasmania," in alluding to the curious 



theory propounded by Count Strzelecki, that the aboriginal mother of a 



half-caste can never produce a black child should she subsequently 



marry one of her own race, controverts this notion of invariable sterility 



by quoting two instances which came under his notice while visiting 



the aboriginal establishment at Flinders Island. I give his own words : — 



" One was the case of a black woman named Sarah, who had formerly 



four half-caste children by a sealer with whom she lived, and has had 



since her abode at Flinders Island, where she married a man of her own 



race, three black children, two of whom are still alive. The other, a 



black woman named Harriet, who had formerly by a white man with 



whom she lived two halt-caste children, and has had since her marriage 



with a black man a tine healthy black infant, who is still living." 



Commenting upon this doctrine of Strzelecki, West observes (Hist, of 



Tasmania, vol. 2, p. 75.), " A natural law by which the extinction of a 



race is predicted will not admit of such serious deviations." Some 



explanation may properly be expected from me for reviving a question 



which was supposed to be set at rest when Truganini was consigned to 



the tomb, and declared to be the last woman of her race. I will 



therefore mention the incident which has given me something of a 



personal interest in the matter. It is now nearly 40 years ago that I 



was accustomed occasionally to accompany my friend, the late Br. 



Milligan, the Medical Superintendent of the Aborigines, to the settlement 



at Oyster Cove, where I saw a good deal of t^e native people, at that 



time some 30 or 40 in number. Among these I have a distinct recollection 



of Fanny, who was then apparently about 17 years of age, slender and 



active, less dusky in colour, but rather more prepossessing in appearance 



than any of her kind ; and certainly at that time I never heard a 



doubt expressed of her not being a true aboriginal. There was one 



circumstance in particular which impressed her upon my remembrance, 



and that was on one occasion we crossed over in a boat from Oyster 



Cove to Bruni Island, rowed by four of the black men, and Fanny taking 



the steer-oar, which she handled with marvellous skill and dexterity. My 



visits to the settlement shortly after ceased, and from that time to the 



present, until a few weeks ago, when I was greatly surprised to receive a 



visit from this identical Fanny, who had become transformed into 



a buxom matron of considerable amplitude. By the courtesy of the 



Hon. P. 0. Fysh, Chief Secretary and Premier, I have been permitted 



access to the oflBcial records bearing upon the subiect of this investigation. 



The first documents brought under my attention were two letters under 



date June 23 and 26, 1882, embodying a report from the Police Magistrate 



of Franklin, the late E. A. Walpole, emphatically stating that Fanny 



" is a half-caste, born of an aboriginal woman, by a white man whose 



name is unknown, at Flinders Island on or about the year 1835." No 



authority beyond the expression of his individual opinion is adduced 



by Mr. Walpole in support of his statement. The next document was 



a letter by the late Dr. Milligan, Medical Superintendent of Aborigines, 



under date July 17, 1854, enclosing William Smith's consent to marry 



Fanny Cochrane, and describing her as an aboriginal girl belonging to 



the establishment at Oyster Cove. This aftords strong evidence in 



support of the opposite view of the case, as those who knew Dr, 



