MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 
OF THE 
ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA. 
CHAPTER I. 
PRELIMINARY REMARKS — UNJUST OPINIONS GENERALLY 
ENTERTAINED OF THE CHARACTER OF THE NATIVE 
DIFFICULTIES AND DISADVANTAGES HE LABOURS UNDER 
IN HIS RELATIONS WITH EUROPEANS — AGGRESSIONS AND 
INJURIES ON THE PART OF THE LATTER IN GREAT 
DEGREE EXTENUATE HIS CRIMES. 
Upon bringing to a close the narrative of an 
Expedition of Discovery in Australia, during the pro- 
gress of which an extensive portion of the previously 
unknown parts of that continent were explored, I 
have thought it might not be uninteresting to intro- 
duce a few pages on the subject of the Aborigines of 
the country. 
It would afford me much gratification to see an 
interest excited on their behalf proportioned to the 
claims of a people who have hitherto been mis- 
judged or misrepresented. 
For the last twelve years I have been personally 
resident in one or other of the Australian Colonies, 
and have always been in frequent intercourse with 
the aboriginal tribes that were near, rarely being 
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