The Aborigines of Australia

by R.N. Richard Sadleir

“The only idle persons were one decrepid old man, and a white-haired woman. The men were putting up a strong fence of rails and posts, and did sixteen panels a day. Lime-burning had been introduced, by which they were enabled to whitewash their houses.

“The children in the choir were sixteen girls and eleven boys, and they have a brass band in progress. The men enjoy cricket as a pastime, and the school is progressing. To some of these poor creatures the mission is like a paradise.”

The subjoined brief account of Poonindie mission, originated by the Right Rev. Dr. Hale, who for years devoted himself to the aborigines’ cause, as well as Mrs. Hale, will show how capable these people are of civilization under Christian culture.

The Rev. R.L.K. thus describes his visit in 1874:⁠—“After a toilsome ride and wading through much scrub, we reached the station. It was pleasant, too, to chat with the married women about the age and the number of the teeth, &c., of their babies, and to stroke the little heads. They were as black as you please, but evidently perfectly clean and wholesome. I was also introduced to a little boy, about eleven years of age, the first boy in the Colony of Victoria who had passed the examination required by the late Government regulations, and whom dear Mr. H. evidently took a pleasure in addressing as ‘a man, by Act of Parliament.’

“The picnic party consisted of about forty-five blacks of different ages. About forty more were enjoying their holiday elsewhere. Several were on the river fishing. One I afterwards met in her own house. On our return to the station, I visited the different buildings—the church, with its harmonium, at which one of the black women (an importation from the institution at Adelaide) presides—the barracks, where the unmarried sleep—the school, as well as the common garden, which, unlike some gardens, was wholly free from weeds. But what I think pleased me most was the house of one of the married couples. The only one at home was the wife, a half-caste (such are generally the most difficult to deal with), who had been very wild when she first came. When I saw her, she was evidently in ‘her right mind,’ and was also, as her kind instructors said, giving every evidence of genuine piety, ‘sitting at the feet of Jesus.’ Her house was a model of neatness and order. The garden at the back was in good keeping, a fine crop of arrowroot bearing testimony to careful cultivation. As I returned from the garden through the house, I was attracted by some photographs hanging on the fire-place, and going to examine them, I found a collecting card, inviting subscriptions for the Presbyterian mission vessel. (The station is supported by the Presbyterian Church, though the missionaries themselves are Moravians.) The good woman seemed much pleased when my brother, who had now joined me, put down his name, with mine, for a small contribution. It was to this cottage that Mr. Trollope was taken, when he visited Raumiac. ‘Oh,’ said he, ‘this is the show cottage. I want to see another.’ He went into the next, but the woman there was sick; so he went on to the third. ‘Ah,’ he said, ‘I see they are all alike. I am quite satisfied.’

“There are about forty-five blacks constantly resident at Raumiac, and about forty men not yet regularly attached to it. They belong to several different tribes, speaking different dialects; but they are all taught in English.

“They are contributing to the maintenance of the station by their herd of cattle and their cultivation, principally of arrowroot. It is hoped, ere long, the station may become self-supporting. The amusement of an evening is generally chess, at which the blacks are great proficients.

“I did not see Mr. Hagenauer’s assistant. He was away with his family on a fishing excursion, the day being a holiday.

“Mr. Hagenauer and his wife seem eminently qualified for their work. It was really refreshing to hear the terms of Christian affection in which Mrs. H. spoke of her charge. I cannot doubt that love has been a very important instrument in the success which has attended her own and her husband’s efforts to rescue some of those wandering sheep, and fit them to sing the praises of our common Redeemer. To Him shall be all the glory.

“We returned as we had come—the canoe, the marsh, the thistle, the leaps, &c., &c.—and reached our hospitable quarters at Clydebank at about 8 p.m. The next morning, after welcoming the New Year, in a glass of ‘Poor man’s wine’ (a good old Scotch custom, as I was informed), we started homewards, and reached Nambrok in the afternoon, after a hot, dusty drive, agreeably interrupted by a lunch at Mr. W. Pearson’s.