"  Bad  blood  created  in  the  first  settlement  of  new
countries  is  scarcely  possible  to  be  neutralised.  No
colonist  can  deny  that  the  Aborigines  have  been  bar-
barously maltreated  by  certain  classes  of  our  country-
men, claiming  to  be  ranked  amongst  civilized  beings,
but  whose  unjustifiable  conduct  entitled  them  rather
to  the  epithet  of  *  worse  than  savages/  Their  sins
have  been  retaliated  upon  the  harmless  and  unofiend-
ing.  Stock  and  hut  keepers  are  necessarily  well
armed  and  permitted  to  keep  their  packs  of  kangaroo
dogs,  when  located  at  out-stations,  fiur  away  from  the
eye  of  their  more  humane  masters.  Strongly  opposed  to
the  visits  of  the  native-  tribes,  even  upon  their  own
legitimate  and  traditional  hunting-grounds,  they  in-
variably, when  finding  them  on  their  employers'  stock
runs  have  made  midnight  raids  upon  the  unfortunate
wretches  while  peacefully  sleeping  in  their  gipsy  en-
campment, shot  their  dogs,  stolen  their  rugs  and
kangaroo  skins,  and  destroyed  every  spear,  waddie,  or


A  TRIP   THBOUGH  THE   BUSH.  117

tomahawk^  they  could  lay  their  hands  upon ;  together
with  all  their  little  worldly  possessions,  valuable  to  none
but  themselves.  We  can  scarcely  wonder,  then,  at  the
desire  of  the  Aborigines,  ungifted  with  reasoning
powers,  to  exterminate  the  white  man."

**  Ah !  good  mercy-loving  friend.  Lakeland,"  re-
joined Stanmore ;  '^  to  turn  the  other  cheek  is  a  grace
but  rarely  to  be  met  with — at  least,  I  am  free  to  con-
fess, not  in  erring  mortals  like  myself.
