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The Perth Gazette and Independent Journal of Politics and News (WA : 1848-1864) (about)
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Cite: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3170469
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Annual Reports of the Protectors of
Aborigines.
Perth, January 9, 1848.
.* a K., vuiuuury v, iOVS.
Six,-As Protector of Aborigines, I have the honor to submit, for the information of His Excellency the Governor, my report for the year 1818. In the southwest districts, comprising the Murray, Leschenault, Vasse, and Augusta, the aggressive acts of the native population have been con- fined, during the above period, to cattle-spearing-acts which, however reprehensible, may in most cases be ac- counted for by the custom of the settlers in allowing their cattle to wander unherded for months over districts located only by tribes of roving aborigines. In the present dearth I of labor, and the depressed state of the farming interests,
such a custom may in some degree be unavoidable ; but it is still very reprehensible, by placing an almost iriesistible temptation daily before the eyes of the hungry savage. At
this time but one warrant remains unexecuted iu the above
districts.
At the Vasse, in April last, some excitement prevailed among the natives in consequence of an aggravated assault committed by a settler of the name of Gurriere upon the person of an aboriginal woman. It appears that Gurriere confined the woman for three days to the post of his verandah, pro- posing thereby to induce her husband to bring in a stray cow. The unfortunate woman died almost immediately after her release: a severe attack of influenza under which she was laboring being doubtless aggravated by her illegal de- tention, and the fact of her being near the time of her ac- couchement. I immediately instituted a strict investigation of the case, and committed Gurrier for trial at the July ses- sions ona charge of manslaughter. This bill being ignored, a new bill for an aggravated assault was subsequently found, and the defendant pleading guilty, was fined £5, and severely reprimanded. The court, in pronouncing so lenient a sen- tence, considered the high character of the prisoner, and the total absence of malicious intent. The Court suggested that
the fine be appropriated for the benefit of the relatives of
the deceased.
I regret to state that the tranquility of the Swan district has oflate been disturbed not only by the petty thefts of provisions from the houses of the settlors, but also from the spearing of nativo herdsmen, either from motives of
revenge, or in pursuance of some superstitious native ob-
servance.
It is but right for mo to observe, that in more thon one of these thefts, the act is scarcely matter of surprise, hating been committed in cottages very imperfectly secured, and left for many hours of the day wholly unprotected; while to
the more serious aggressions above mentioned I trust that J an effectual check will be afforded, not only by the prompt and severe punishment of the offendors, but By the recent determination of the Government to take cognizance of nil aggravated cases of assault committed even by bush natives inter te. The recent apprehension of the most notorious of these delinquents will, I hopo, permit that district to relapse into its usual tranquility. While reporting the state of crime in my oten district, I am reluctantly compelled to advert to one novel and moat serious, feature in the general calendar of native offendors-viz., the comparative increase of acts of assault with intent to commit rape by natives on. the persons of European females principally of, tender age. Offences of this description merit tho most severe punishment, more particalaiiy when we consider that many of the laboring classes are compelled to employ their children in occupa- tions necessitating their absence fçr hours from, home in the
solitude of the bush.
I now turn with pleasure to detail the various attempts which have been made during the past year to develop the capabilities, and thereby increase the utility, of the abori ginaipopulation. In May last, an intelligent native was ap- pointed mounted assistant to the chief constable of Police in the southwest district, who reports most favorabh' ol' his good conduct and efficiency ; I however beg to ealj fiis Ex- cellency's attention to the fact that this efficiency can ne- cessarily bo at best but of a very limited nature, inasmuch, as this man can never venture to act safely as an aid-de- camp, except under the immediate supervision and guidance of his white superior. Aware of the urgent necessity for economy, but also that the Resident Magistrate and the set- tlers at the Vasse aro unanimous in urging the neceslity of an increase to the police force, I submit (I confess with some regret) to His Excellency the expediency of cancelling, the above appointment, and nominating in lieu an European 1 constable especially for the Vasse district. Wore the ser-
vices of a soldier procurable for this post, uo ostra expenso would be incurred, while the efficiency of the individual and the advantage to, the polico force would bo increased ten- fold. Even were this impracticably, the small additional expense in the shape of salary to a civilian would be amply repaid by the benefit certain to accrue. I have np hesita- tion in pressing this, and all other matters connected with
the greater efficiency of the police, most strongly on the I attention of His Excellency and the Local Government ; flrmjy believing, from the experience of the last nine years, that the Protectors are most effectually advancing the best interests of their sable clients, by identifying themselves equally with those of the Bettlers, by protecting them from the aggressions of the aborigines, and thereby not only pro- moting a mutual reciprocity of good feeling, but obviating the necessity of retalia I i vo measures on the part of the na- tives-measures which, if once commenced, it would be ex- tremely difficult to check, and which in other colonies have
engendered acts of the most brutalizing and sanguinary
description.
Another interesting experiment has also, within the last j four montliB, been in course of trial-viz., the selection of four natives as letter-carriers between Fremantle and Bun bury-a distance of 100 miles. These men have hitherto executed their trust with regularity and faithfulness, and may thus possibly become the originators of a cheap''and moie frequent postal communication throughout the colony.
During the past season, a native has been regularly engn ged as one of the bay-whaling crew at Fremantle. Two of the Rottnest prisoners have been placed in the pilot-boat, two in that of the Harbor Master at Fremantle, and five shipped on board the colonial sehr. Champion, where their capabilities for the duties of a seamen's, hie are to.be duly
tested.
The Rev. G. King, minister at Fremantle, has volunteered the maintenance, education, aud furthering in after life, of an intelligent native lad, long a pupil, in the Government school, and who, delighted with the proposal, will embark shortly for Kew Zealand with his adopted father.
In the present dearth of labor, the services of the abori- ginal population continue to bo much appreciated. In the vicinity of Perth and the more densely populated districts,
the aborigines earn an easy and ample subsistence, in return i for small services conferred on the white inhabitants, and, independently of their most valuable assistance as herdsmen in all parts or the colony, I hove good reason for asserting that many an acre of grain would be lost to tho farmer but for the cooperation of our sable reapers. It is computed that above 600 natives have been this year regularly or casu olly in the employ of the colonists-» fact which, considering their desultory habits and innate distaste for systematic la- bor, is alike confirmatory of their kind and, equitable treat*
ment by the settlers, ana of their steady advancing progress
in civilization.
It remains for me to notice another experimentwhich has now been more than a twelvemonth in operation-viz., tlie removal of the majority of the native convicts from Rottnest, for the purpose or rendering their labor more productivo by their employment on the roads in and about the town of Perth. By this arrangement, which is literally drawing off the surplus labor of Rottnest, much work has be«n effected,
and many permanent improvements effected. The rations !
allowed are on the samo liberal scaltj as those of the Euro- pean prisoners, and the general appearance of the men be- tokens robust health and cheerfulness. In fact, the removal from the isolation of Hottuest to the bustle uud excitement of the town of Peri h, mid the consequent opportunities of beholding and exchanging occasional intercourse with their
friends, are deemed no trilling boons in the estimation ol'
theso men.
It would have been unreasonable to suppose that the com- ! parative liberty enjoyed by this native gang, while nt work, would not bo hable to abuse, and accordingly out of the 42 prisoners who during the last twelvemonth nave been enga- ged in road-labor, 13 have at various periods absconded ,8 of whom have been subsequently recaptured.
I beg earnestly to suggest the necessity of adopting for the future most stringent precautionary measures effectually to check a practice so detrimental to our sj'stem nf convict management, and so subsersive of our moral and physical influence over the aborigines generally.
In our native schools, both at Fremantlo and Waneroo, little worthy of record has occurred during the past year ;
but if no very striking improvement is perceptible at either j establishment, yet we have to congratulate ourselves on tho
much less frequeut absconding of the lads into the bush, j and apparently the gradual subsiding of the restless habits
and inclinations of savage life into something more approx- I
imating to tho quiet and subdued decorum of a civilized
community.
In July last, I attended tho marriages of two couples, in- j
mates ol our Wonneroo institution, and on the 27th of this , last month the Lord'Bishop of the Diocese united four other couples at the Church at Fremantle, who aro still toremuin under the control aud supervision, und be maintained at the
expense, ol' the Government and the Wesleyan Society. i
I need at present but hint at certain arrangements being in contemplation with reference to the management of our native schools, which, if carried out, will tend greatly to in- crease their utility, and strengthen their means of advancing the civilization ot the rising aboriginal population. There
are at proseui 13 males and 12 females, also S females at the
Fremantle school.
The convict establishment on the Island of Eottnest has undergone some changes during the past year. While tho repeated drafts of most of the young able-bodied men, and such as bore the best character, to the mainland, have sen- sibly weakened the streugth of the establishment, the aboli- tion of the offlc3 of the white overseer of the working gang has tended materially to render less effective the labor of
the remaining prisoners.
The occasional absence of the Superintendent from the | gang v/hen engaged in the field-work, is unavoidable, and during sue!; periods the men trifle away their time-on some occasions haie absconded, ana iu ono* instance were disco- vered in the «ct of making spears. Since the recent foi-ma tion of a pilot station on tho island, tho characters of the couvicts nave manifestly undergone a great change for the worst. The fact of boal3 being now (for the first timo sinco the formation of the establishment) permanently attached to the station, and the consequent hope of escape which it has engendered in the minda of the convicts, appears to have rendered them restless, moody, and intraeticaWo. About 2 months since a large bundle of spears was didcoverod hidden in the bu3ii, evidently manufactured for some clandestine purpose, and on the night of ihe 8th Dec, a party of 8 men, having worked their way through the «olid foundation of their cell, seized the whaleboat and effected their escape to the mainland. Two of theso have sinco .been captured. There are ut present 21 prisoners on the island. The result of the late harvest lias been more favorable than was antici- pated. The Super.ntendent expects to realise 250 bushels wheat and 350 of bailey. The vineyard has been unavoid- ably much neglected, owing to the time of the Superinten- dent being so wholly devoted to the actual supervision of
theprisonors while at work.
Having hovrnver made the present state of tho Rottnest establishment the subject of a separate report to His Excel- lency, I shall not here enter into any further details-but have the honoi' to subscribe myself,
Sir, your very obeaient servant.
CflAKr.rs SYMMONS,
Protector of Natives.
To the Hon. the Colonial Secretary.
York, January 34,1849.
Sin,-During the short period which has elapsed since I received the appointment of Protector for this District, I
am happy lo state that with one exception, no charge of a serious nature has been brought against the natives. The offence alluded to was that of a during robbery committed by Bowalert, one of the prisoners who had escaped from Fremantle, who entered the hut of Mr. Viveash, broke open a box, and, after abstracting various articles, threw a spear at a Chinese servant. Bowalwert who, however, luckily ar- rested on the same day and recommitted to prison. Somo of the articles found upon him, with tbe description given by the Chinese, have since fully established his identity with the robbery- I regret to say that complaints have been made by the natives against the settlers or gross misusage, contrary not only to the general good feeling which has so long been manifested, but I believe to the general good treatment of the parties themselves. The penalty which has been inflicted will, I trust, prevent a recurrence of such conduct, and serve at the same time to confirm the natives
in the confidence with, which they look to the law for
protection.
Although no efforts have hitherto been mude by the Home or Local Government, or Missionary Societies of the mother country, for the conversion and civilisation of the aborigines on this side the Darling Range, I conceive that very many considerable advances have pt «dually and ailentlv, been mak- ing towards this desirable object from their continued inter- course with the settlers, as many of them have remained for several, some as long, as live and seven, years on the farms. Almost all the young men in the settled ¿¡stricta speak the English language with move or less fluency, mid with the occupations of rural industry, aro becoming familiar with the idea of o Supremo Being. I am strongly of opinion that from the preparatory training they have undergone, the young generation are ripe for a chas je, and that the time has come when the labors of missiona y teachers might be expected to be accompanied with success.
The charms, however, of a life of unrestrained froodom, in this fine climate, where the very pursuit itself of food is a source of the highest enjoyment : the plsasure of living toge- ther in public ; of associating for the purposes of huntiugas of hostile invasion of other tribes : and of mooting at their fires in the evening to recount the occurrences of the day ; must ever operate powerfully against the adoption of the
laborious habits and comparative solitariness of civilized
life.
Tlie dogs in their possession are daily becoming more nu- merous and troublesome ; but, besides'the losses they occa- sion in tho flocks of the settlers, the facility with which the natives are thus enabled to procure game, begins to render them more averse than formerly to assist in the labors of agriculture, and a check,is consequently giren to the pro- gress of civilisation. The law respecting the destruction of unlicensed docs is a dead letter, on thjs side the hills ; it will be necessary, howevor, to take steps to enforce it, in order to stop this growing evil. The benefit arising from this would be two-fold-the nativos wnuld be induced moro readily to seek their support from agricultural pursuits, and the settler would-acquire o welcome supply of labor in the present scar-
city of that necessary ingredient.
The new regulations which His Excellency has issued for repressing the savagery of the men and of putting a stop to the effusion of blood in their quarrels among themselves, by the punishment of the offender according to our laws, is be ginning to produce a beneficial effect : but it would be desi- rable that the misconduct of the women, from which many of these outrages proceed, should not be overlooked.
The feed for stock has been destroyed to a great extent this season by bush-fires, which is attributable chiefly to the unusual abundance and luxuriance of the grass, consequent on the protracted rains of last year. The fire was thus spread from farm to farm unchecked. It is to be regretted that the feed which, under present circumstances, was of such essen tial consequence to the settlers for the support of their flocks, should have been thus consumed : but however careless the natives may be in the use of fire in their
various pursuits, there appears to be no intention to injure
the settler.
The disease which has boen prevalent among the natives for some years hns again broken out with fresh virulence.
In conclusion, I am happy to state that, whilst the natives fully appreciate tho protection they receive, they are becom- ing more accustomed to acknowledge the supremacy of the law ; aud instances are. not rare of their voluntarily coming to vindicate themselves from unmerited charges, or to sub? mit to the punishment which their offences deserve.
I have the honor to be, &o.,
WALKINSHAW COWAN
Protector of Natives. To the Hon. the Colonial Secretary.