The Murray tribe, as well as the tribes from the south, frequently visit their friends near the capital, and on such occasions some scene of violence or dispute generally ensues. Frequently the abduction of a lubra, or of an unmarried female of another tribe, brings about a quarrel, and on such occasions some angry fighting is sure to follow; and so long as that custom remains, there is little hope of improvement amongst them. The subject of ameliorating their condition is, however, one of great difficulty, because it cannot be done without violating those principles of freedom and independence on which it is so objectionable to infringe; but when a great ultimate good is to be obtained, I cannot myself see any objection to those restraints, and that interference which should bring it about. There is nowhere, not even in Sydney, more attention paid to the native population than in South Australia, and if they stand a chance of improvement it is there. Whilst every kindness is shewn to the adult portion, the children are under the direct care of the Government. There is, as I have elsewhere stated, a school, at which from thirty to forty boys and girls attend. Nothing can be more regular or more comfortable than this institution. The children are kindly treated, and very much encouraged, and really to go into it as a visitor, one would be disposed to encourage the most sanguine expectations of success. As far as the elementary principles of education go, the native children are far from deficient. They read, write, and cypher as well as European children of their own age, and, generally speaking, are quiet and well behaved; but it is to be regretted that, as far as our experience goes, they can advance no farther; when their reason is taxed, they fail, and consequently appear to be destitute of those finer qualifications and principles on which both moral feeling and social order are based. It is however questionable with me whether this is not too severe a construction to put on their intellect, and whether, if the effect of ancient habits were counteracted, we should find the same mental defect.
At present, the native children have free intercourse with their parents, and with their tribe. The imaginations of the boys are inflamed by seeing all that passes in a native camp, and they long for that moment, when, like their countrymen, they will be free to go where they please, and to join in the hunt or the fray. The girls are told that they are betrothed, and that, at a certain age, they must join their tribe. The voice of Nature is stronger even than that of Reason. Why therefore should we be surprised at the desertion of the children from the native schools? But it will be asked--What is to be done? The question, as I have said, is involved in difficulty, because, in my humble opinion, the only remedy involves a violation, for a time at all events, of the natural affections, by obliging a complete separation of the child from its parents; but, I must confess, I do not think that any good will result from the utmost perseverance of philanthropy, until such is the case, that is, until the children are kept in such total ignorance of their forefathers, as to look upon them as Europeans do, with astonishment and sympathy. It may be argued that this experiment would require too great a sacrifice of feeling, but I doubt this. Besides which, it is a question whether it is not our duty to do that which shall conduce most to the benefit of posterity. The injury, admitting it to be so, can only be inflicted on the present generation, the benefit would be felt to all futurity. I have not, I hope, a disposition for the character of an inhuman man, and certainly have not written thus much without due consideration of the subject, but my own experience tells me we are often obliged to adopt a line of conduct we would willingly avoid to ensure a public good.
It will not then, I trust, be thought that I have ventured to intrude this opinion on the public, with any other views than those which true philanthropy dictates. I am really and sincerely interested in the fate of the Australian Aborigine, and throw out these suggestions, derived from long and deep practical experience, in the ardent hope that they may help to produce the permanent happiness of an inoffensive and harmless race.
MR. KENNEDY'S SURVEY OF THE RIVER VICTORIA.
Whilst I was endeavouring to penetrate into the heart of the Australian Continent, there were two other Expeditions of Discovery engaged in exploring the country to the eastward of me. Dr. Leichhardt, an account of whose successful and enterprising journey from Moreton Bay to Port Essington is already before the public, was keeping the high lands at no great distance from the coast, and Sir Thomas Mitchell, the Surveyor-General of New South Wales, was traversing the more depressed interior, between my own and Dr. Leichhardt's tracks. The distance at which Dr. Leichhardt passed the extreme westerly point gained by me was 600 geographical miles, and his distance from my extreme easterly one was 420 miles; Sir Thomas Mitchell's distance from my extreme west, being about 380 miles, and that from my last position, (on Cooper's Creek), about 260. He had been traversing a country of great richness and fertility, a country, indeed, such as he had never before seen, and in a despatch addressed to the Governor of New South Wales, thus describes it and the river he discovered on the occasion:--
"On ascending the range early next morning, I saw open downs and plains with a line of river in the midst, the whole extending to the N.N.W., as far as the horizon. Following down the little stream from the valley in which I had passed the night, I soon reached the open country, and during ten successive days I pursued the course of that river, through the same sort of country, each day as far as my horse could carry me, and in the same direction again approaching the Tropic of Capricorn. In some parts the river formed splendid reaches, as broad and important as the river Murray; in others it spread into four or five branches, some of them several miles apart. But the whole country is better watered than any part of Australia I have seen, by numerous tributaries arising in the downs.
"The soil consists of rich clay, and the hollows give birth to numerous water-courses, in most of which water was abundant. I found at length that I might travel in any direction, and find water at hand, without having to seek the river, except when I wished to ascertain its general course, and observe its character. The grass consists of Panicum and several new sorts, one of which springs green from the old stem. The plains were verdant indeed, the luxuriant pasturage surpassed in quality, as it did in extent, any thing I had ever seen. The Myall-tree and salt bush, (Acacia pendula and salsolae), so essential to a good run, are also there. New birds and new plants marked this out as an essentially different region from any I had previously explored; and although I could not follow the river throughout its long course at that advanced season, I was convinced that its estuary was in the Gulf of Carpentaria; at all events the country is open and well watered for a direct route thereto. That the river is the most important of Australia, increasing as it does by successive tributaries, and not a mere product of distant ranges, admits of no dispute; and the downs and plains of Central Australia, through which it flows, seem sufficient to supply the whole world with animal food. The natives are few and inoffensive. I happened to surprise one tribe at a lagoon, who did not seem to be averse that such strangers were in that country; our number being small, they seemed inclined to follow us. I crossed the river at the lowest point I reached, in a great southerly bend in long. 144 degrees 34 minutes east, lat. 24 degrees 14 minutes south, and from rising ground beyond the left bank, I could trace its downward course far to the northward. I saw no Callitris (Pine of the colonists) in all that country, but a range, shewing sandstone cliffs appeared to the southward, in long. 145 degrees and lat. 24 degrees 30 minutes south. The country to the northward of the river, is, upon the whole, the best, yet, in riding ninety miles due east from where I crossed the southern bend, I found plenty of water, and excellent grass, a red gravel there approaches the river, throwing it off to the northward. Ranges extending N. N. W. were occasionally visible from the country to the northward."
Sir Thomas Mitchell's position at his extreme west was more than 460 miles from the nearest part of the Gulf of Carpentaria; he was in a low country, and on the banks of a river which had ceased to flow. Whatever the local appearances might have been, which led the Surveyor-General to conclude that it would reach the northern coast, I do not know, but notwithstanding the favourable report he made of it, I never for a moment anticipated that this river would do so; I felt assured, indeed, that however promising it might be, it would either enter the Stony Desert or be found to turn southward, and be lost amongst marshes and lagoons. The appearance of Cooper's Creek might have justified my most sanguine expectations, but I was too well aware of the character of Australian rivers, and had seen too much of the country into which they fall, to trust them beyond the range of sight. My natural course on the discovery of Cooper's Creek would have been to have traced it downwards, but I was not unmindful that I should keep it between myself and the track on which Mr. Browne and I had last returned from the north-west interior, in pursuing the northerly course I intended, and I consequently felt satisfied, after a little consideration, that if it continued northerly, I should strike it again; if not, that it would either spread over the Stony Desert, or fall short of it altogether.
On making this discovery, therefore, my hopes were centered in its upward, not its downward course, for judging that in crossing the Stony Desert, I had crossed the lowest part of the interior, my anticipations of finding any important river in the central regions of Australia were destroyed. My endeavour had been, not only to examine the country through which I was immediately passing, but to deduce from it, what might be its more extended features, and to put together such facts as I reasonably could, to elucidate the past and present state of the continent. In the course of my investigations, I saw grounds for believing that the fall of the interior was from north to south and from east to west. However much the more northerly streams might hold to the northward and westward, whilst in the hilly country, I felt assured, that as soon as they gained the depressed interior, they would double round to the southward, and thus disappoint the explorer. Sir Thomas Mitchell himself tells us, that every river he traced on his recent journey, excepting the Victoria, disappointed him, by turning to that point and entering a sandy country. It is evident, indeed, upon the face of Sir Thomas Mitchell's journal, that there are no mountains in that part of the interior, in which the basins of the Victoria must lie, or from which a river could emanate, of such a character, as to lead even the most sanguine to expect, that after having ceased to flow, it would continue onwards for another 460 miles through such a country. From the favour able nature of the Surveyor-General's report, however, it was deemed a point of great importance to ascertain the further course of the river, and Mr. Kennedy, a young and intelligent officer, who had accompanied Sir Thomas Mitchell into the interior, was ordered on this interesting service. Before I make any observations, however, on the result of his investigations, I shall give the following extract from his letter to the Colonial Secretary, on his return from the interior.