i 78 Proceedings. 



been determined to be a resin, it would probably be found to differ from that of 

 " Torbane Hill," in Linlithgowshire, Scotland, descriptions of which had been 

 quoted from the Witness newspaper, as it had been distinctly stated that in this 

 latter no trace of organic matter could be discovered. 



Mr. Barnard read the following paper by E. H. Bland, Esq., of Melbourne : — 

 Ontlie Character, Sahits, and Customs of theAhorigines of Western Australia: — ■ 



" Sketches and anecdotes illustrative of the habits and customs of the aborigines 

 of Australia are interesting, particularly now that the race is rapidly disappearing, 

 and the habits of the remainder materially altering, owing to then* intercourse 

 with their more civilized neighbom's. 



" The aboriguies of Western AustraHa shortly after the settlement of that colony 

 in 1829 shoAved themselves very hostile to the settlers, and in a few months a 

 system of bush warfare commenced, which lasted for several years, causing much 

 loss of life and great interruption to the settlement of the country. 



" The leaders in this warfare on the side of the Blacks were two men named 

 " Midgegaroo" and " Yagan," father and son, men of courage and determination, 

 far above the rest of then' tribe. The former was captured, and shot at the jaU. 

 door, Perth : the latter, who, though extremely treacherous hunself, placed the 

 most implicit reliance on the word of the white man, was proclaimed an outlaw, and 

 a reward oifered for his apprehension, a circumstance of which he was perfectly 

 aware. I regret to say he was afterwards shot by treachery, his head taken off, 

 and sent to England, where it probably enriches the shelves of some Miiseum. 

 The boy who shot him was in tm'n killed by the blacks nnmediately after while 

 attempting to escape. 



" The Murray tribe were vei*y hostile to the whites, and were not reconciled to 

 then" presence imtil a considerable number were shot in an encounter vAXla. the 

 poUce and soldiers who accompanied the Governor on a torn- in that district. This 

 discomfiture and loss completely broke the spirit of the tribe. 



" The York tribe were also very troublesome, and took every opportunity of 

 attacking any unarmed settlers that fell in their way : as might have been expected, 

 the lives of many blacks were taken in retaliation. This system of retaUation 

 continued imtU the murder by the blacks of a woman and child, under pecuharly 

 revolting eu'cimistances, induced the Government to use additional efforts to 

 apprehend and bring the perpetrators to justice, when two of the principals were 

 taken and convicted, and sentenced to be hung in chains upon the spot where the 

 murder was committed, — a piece of Avell-timed severity which had a most 

 salutary effect, as from that day to the present there is suiEcient reason to 

 believe that not one ease of premeditated murder has been committed by the 

 blacks in that or the neighboiu-ing districts ; a result partly dependent on circum- 

 stances that we were not aware of at the time, — namely, that the blacks of that 

 colony have a dread of then' remains lying luabvu-ied, and being of opinion that if 

 then* bodies are exposed as a prey to the birds and wild dogs, they can have no 

 prospect of an existence in a future state ; the extent of their belief in which, how- 

 lev&r. so far as I have been able to make out, amounts to little more than the notion 



