considered as much the property of the tribe inhabiting,
or rather ranging on, its whole extent, as the flocks
of sheep and herds of cattle, that have been introduced
into the country by adventurous Europeans, are held
by European law and usage the property of their respective
owners. In fact, as the country is occupied chiefly
for pastoral purposes, the difference between the
Aboriginal and the European ideas of property in the
soil is more imaginary than real, the native grass
affording subsistence to the kangaroos of the natives,
as well as to the wild cattle of the Europeans, and
the only difference indeed being, that the former
are not branded with a particular mark like the latter,
and are somewhat wilder and more difficult to catch.
Nay, as the European regards the intrusion of any
other white man upon the
cattle-
run, of
which European law and usage have made him the possessor,
and gets it punished as a trespass, the Aborigines
of the particular tribe inhabiting a particular district,
regard the intrusion of any other tribe of Aborigines
upon that district, for the purposes of kangaroo hunting,
etc. as an intrusion, to be resisted and punished
by force of arms. In short, this is the frequent
cause of Aboriginal, as it is of European wars; man,
in his natural state, being very much alike in all
conditions—jealous of his rights, and exceedingly
pugnacious. It is true, the European intruders
pay no respect to these Aboriginal divisions of the
territory, the black native being often hunted off
his own ground, or destroyed by European violence,
dissipation, or disease, just as his kangaroos are
driven off that ground by the European’s black
cattle; but this surely does not alter the case as
to the right of the Aborigines.
“But particular districts are not merely the
property of particular tribes; particular sections
or portions of these districts are universally recognised
by the natives as the property of individual members
of these tribes; and when the owner of such a section
or portion of territory (as I ascertained was the
case at King George’s Island) has determined
on burning off the grass on his land, which is done
for the double purpose of enabling the natives to
take the older animals more easily, and to provide
a new crop of sweeter grass for the rising generation
of the forest, not only all the other individuals of
his own tribe, but whole tribes from other districts
are invited to the hunting party, and the feast and
dance, or corrobory that ensue; the wild animals on
the ground being all considered the property of the
owner of the land. I have often heard natives
myself tell me, in answer to my questions on the subject,
who were the Aboriginal owners of particular tracts
of land now held by Europeans; and indeed this idea
of property in the soil, for hunting purposes,
is universal among the Aborigines. They seldom
complain of the intrusion of Europeans; on the contrary,
they are pleased at their sitting down,