623 
“In conclusion, I would distinctly wish it to he understood that I have not lost 
sight of the bearing the relative antiquity of the Tasmanian Aborigines has on this 
Buhiect. The former geological connection of Australia and Tasmania now appears 
to he a generally accepted fact. The late Mr. James Bonwich regarded* the Tasmanians 
as an older race than the Australians, although emanating from a common centre, and 
dispersed over a then existing continent of which our present Australia and Tasmania 
formed portions If such be the case, how vast a period of time must have elapsed 
since then, allowing for the formation of the channel we now know as Bass Straits ; 
and herein lies one of the strongest proofs of Man’s early existence on the Island 
Continent of Australia. Notwithstanding this, however, there remains the undoubted 
fact that we still lack trustworthy geological information of the approximate date of 
his first advent in Australia.” 
Professor Ealph Tate, on the other hand, would assign to Man in Australia 
an age as far back as Pliocene. Speaking of the volcanic district of the south-eastern 
portion of South Australia (Mount Oamhier, &e.), he saysf 
“ The Pliocene sands and loess of this place are of terrestrial origin ; they contain 
remains of Diprotodon, Phascolomys pliocenm, McCoy ; and leaves of Oasuarina and 
BanTcsia are imprinted on the under surfaces of the superimposed ash layer. 
“ Did Man witness the showers of ashes and the glow of the internal fires of these 
cones refiected from the clouds? Probably, Yes ! . . . The dingo (Ch«?s d%o) was 
the contemporary of the Diprotoion, whose remains are buried beneath the ashes of the 
Mount Gambior volcano, as proved by their remains occurring together in the Gisborne 
and 'Wellington Caves. 
“ Now, the dingo is an alien ; he forms no part of the Australian fauna ; and his 
introduction by Man, as a companion and assistant in the chase, can only satisfactorily 
explain his presence in this continent. Man and dog may have pursued together the 
Diprotoion, and in later times have been awed by the volcanic outbursts. Indeed, no 
other cause of extirpation of the huge mammals has suggested itself to the mind of 
Professor Owen, save that of human agency. He says, ‘ To a race of men, depending, 
like the blackfellows, for subsistence on the chase, the largest and most conspicuous 
kinds of wild beasts first fall a prey.’ ” _ _ 
I am-qiiite willing to admit that the Dingo is an “ alien” ; but it is open to 
question whether the agency of Man was the only possible means of effecting his 
introduction into this islanrl. The Dingo is a wily animal, full of resource and self- 
reliance, and very different in this respect from the dome.sticated dog, which appears to 
have to some extent lost the habit of independent action, as it is well known that many 
dogs will suffer agonies of thirst rather than go to the nearest water, unless their 
ma.stcrs take them out “ for a walk.” The Dingo, as we know him to-day, is capable of 
takinfr care of himself, and he or his ancestors may have arrived in Australia by some 
chance means of conveyance without assistance, or may have simply walked overland. 
It is quite possible, therefore, that he may have been contemporary with the Diproiodon, 
and have witnessed the ash showers of Mount Gambier without having had his emotions 
shared by a human companion. J 
» J. Bonwiok. Daily Life and Origin of the Tasmanians, 1870, p. 2.59. 
+ Anniversary Address to the Royal Society of South Australia, for 1878-9. rnnDT, 
t There is not a fragment of evidence to show that the arrival of Man wa.s coeval with that of the Dingo. 
Dn the oontr.ary the absence of authenticated remains of the former with those of either the mprotodon or 
DWo iZfs rlther way. It is not even certain that the bones of the Dingo have been found m 
he Wellington Caves. On the other hand, the late E. Brough Smyth states that the remains of the Dingo 
favc been found under “volcanic ash some thirty or forty feet in thickness.” If my memory does not 
ieceive me this was at Towcrhill, Warrnambool. Junr.) 
