and its Decay in Australasia. 105 



for making even a slight covering for themselves. The 

 Tasmanian he places even lower than the Australian, pro- 

 ducing absolutely nothing beyond one or two primitive 

 weapons. Regret is expressed concerning the Tasrnanian,for 

 the small interest generally manifested towards collecting 

 such relics as could have been recently, and such as might 

 yet be obtained for preservation in museums ; and especially 

 as one last remaining female survivor is all that now 

 remains of this once relatively numerous people. Allusion 

 is made to the deceased king Billy, who was the last male 

 of the Tasmanian native race, and to the unseemly proceedings 

 attending his demise ; and two highly typical and accurate 

 life-size busts of Wanroddy, and Treginney his wife (parents 

 of King Billy), were exhibited in illustration of remarks 

 concerning the mode in which the Tasmanian native was 

 made to retreat before the footsteps of the white man. It 

 was stated how Wanroddy and Treginney became instru- 

 ments towards this end, decoying their own people and 

 betraying them into the hands of the Government autho- 

 rities, and how a small pension was the reward for this base 

 service. Mr. Pain explained further how the whole residual 

 Tasmanian race, thus handed over, was shipped off and con- 

 centrated in Flinder's Island, and how, thus localized, they 

 have rapidly diminished and are now in the last act of 

 dying out, leaving the scantiest vestiges in evidence of their 

 career. 



Mr. Pain's paper concluded with a few hints concerning 

 a scheme for collecting and preserving a museum of high 

 class native art, which he proposed should be . attached to 

 this Society ; concerning which proposition it may be 

 remarked that there is at least one other institution in 

 Melbourne in which such a collection has been already com- 

 menced, and moreover that the acquisition and care of an 

 ethnological art-series is certainly at present beyond the 

 scope of this Society's business. 



