, 
_ to the confidence of many of their members, accounted is 
_ wonderful revelations made by some of the blacks with ~— 
“their re on, whi described by Mr. Manning in his Ya) 
ut ich, as descri y he Nee i 
170 ~—s NOTES TES ON THE ABORIGINES OF NEW HOLLAND. — : 
~ 
a tribe. One of these couriers would often tra’ . 
bush a distance of 100 miles. On the arrival at Pies Ein 
Ses Discussion. 
‘In answer to a question from the President, Mr. Manning 
related an interview he had with Goethe, the great German poe 
poet, fifty-one years ago, and just eight months before he died, at the 
age of eighty-five. "At that interview the question of foreign — 
missions had been brought up, in which Goethe showed | 
well informed, but concerning which his guest had but little know- _ 
ledge 
life to gather information concerning the religious belief of the 
aborigines of New Holland. 
Mr. J. F. Mann gave very interesting reminiscences of his inter- 
. course with native tribes in the Colony, he havi ing spent about thirty 
years of his life inthe bush. He had taken a great interest in their 
customs and mode of life, but he had never met.one aborigine, not — 
withstanding the paper read, who had any true belief ina Supreme 
Being. They sometimes spoke of a god, but upon cross-examine 
tion admitted that what they told the auditor they had learned 
m a missionary or some resident in the district. With all 
they carried the news i. tribe to tribe, and some of the ee : 
ane fully developed imaginative powers, the stories lost ne i: 
the telling. From missionaries and residents they ob ot c 
dim insight into the Christian religion, and by this fact some” — 
those who had associated with the tribes and had been ie i 
= Looking in that direction I saw a blackfellow coming i ie 
: through the forest, He gradually advanced to the camp” 
