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