to the necessity of protecting their property and their lives; and did not take into account the massacres, the cruelties of every description, which had been at one time encouraged, or at least not condemned by the general voice.  The casuistry of the human heart, in most instances, concealed the true state of the case, and many, if not the majority, felt the virtuous indignation which some only affected.  At any rate, they set about the hunting down and capture of the aborigines, as a duty which they owed to themselves and their families.  Government, with the best intentions, lent them every assistance in its power.  The whole colony rose to a man; and military operations on a most extensive scale were undertaken.  Cordons were established, marches and countermarches performed, complicated manoeuvres planned and executed, and every method resorted to, which in a different country and against a different enemy must have been rewarded with complete success.  But in this instance, the impenetrable forests of Tasmania baffled the generalship and the tactics that were displayed; and an expedition attended with immense expense, and carried on with the greatest enthusiasm, ended in the capture of a single native.

REMOVAL OF ABORIGINES TO FLINDERS ISLAND.

It was now evident that means of another character must be tried, and the plan which Mr. Robinson had laid before Government for the capture of the natives in the meshes of persuasion was adopted.  This enterprising person, accordingly, went alone and unattended among the aborigines, endured great privations, ran much risk, but finally, partly by his eloquence, partly by stratagem, contrived to bring in the tribes one by one, and to transport them quietly to the islands in the eastern entrance of Bass Strait.  Mr. Bateman, commanding the colonial brig, Tamar, who took them across, describes them as reconciled to their fate, though during the whole passage they sat on the vessel’s bulwark, shaking little bags of human bones, apparently as a charm against the danger to which they felt exposed.

They were first taken to Swan Island, but that not being found convenient, they were landed on the west side of Flinders Island, under the superintendence of Mr. Robinson.  This place, also, was discovered to be ill-adapted for a permanent settlement; and a removal again took place to Vansittart or Gun-carriage Island, at the eastern extremity of Franklin Channel, where a number of sealers had been resident for some years; as, however, they could not show any title to the land they cultivated, except that of original occupancy—­a title which I think should be respected, as it is the only true basis of the right of property—­they were obliged to vacate, leaving their huts and crops to be laid waste.  In the course of a few weeks, when considerable mischief had been effected, this position, likewise, was abandoned, and a location made once more on the west side of Flinders, about sixteen miles to the northward of Franklin Inlet.