SEMI-CIVILISED ABORIGINES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4916, 23 December 1876, Page 2 (Supplement)

SEMI-CIVILISED ABORIGINES.

(From the Queen slander.) ' The report of the discovery of a semicivilised tribe of blacks in the far interior is repeated in such a circumstantial manner that it would seem aB if there may be some foundation for it. It is certainly possible that it may be a good deal embellished, and if the author of it had not considerable experience of the aborigines, we might think that he had been misled by ignorance of their habits. The blacks in the interior are in the habit of covering their jrunyahs with grass or thatch in the place of bark, which is not to be got on the large plains, and the gunyah3 at favorite camping places, to which the tribe frequently resort, are often larger and more permanent than those which they, erect when camping in Bmall gullies or in bad country. The fclacks in the interior also live principally on nardoo, roots found on the plains, and fish, but we have never heard of a tribe destitute of native weapons, as these are ■aid to be, and we scarcely think that such a tribe could exist in a country accessible to other blacks. The locality, however, which this tribe is said to inhabit is in such close proximity to our outside settlements, that a very small amount of trouble and expense would be sufficient to set all doubt at rest, and wo think that the reports which have been received would justify the Government in making Borne investigation of the matter. The river on which it is said that these blacks reside is only 150 miles beyond our most western stations on the Diamantina, and the police officer in oharge of that district could easily visit the place a».d report. > If it should turn out to bo true that these natives have habits or customs more approaching to those of civilized men than other blacks have, it is an absolute certainty that they must have acquired them from the teaching of the whites. The improvement in their mode of living must be of comparatively recent origin, for otherwise some trace of it would certainly have been imparted to the neighboring tribes. The fair presumption is that if any difference exists between the habits of this newly_ discovered tribe and those of other aboriginals, «• that difference is due to the teaching of white men, and, in all probability, from white men belonging to Leichardfs party. On this account alone it is worth while for our Government to inquire into the «truth of the reports that have come in, and to search closely for any traces of white men that may be found amongst these blacks. The place in which they are said to exist is on the line which Leicnardt would have been most likely to follow on his last unfortunate expedition. The last trace of him that has been discovered up to this time is a tree marked "L," on the Barcoo, just below Enniskillen station, and the same course by which he arrived there from Jimbour, would, if followed up, bring him somewhere into the vicinity of the place where these civilised blacks are said to exist. "With the experience of the interior of Australia which we have gained since he went out, we are now aware that it is not at all probable that his whole party would perish for want of water, although it is quite possible that they might lose their animals and some of their number, and the survivors be unable to get hack to the settlements. The result of Burke s expedition has taught us that it is not at all improbable that whites left destitute in the interior might be received amongst the blacks, »nd if they survived for some years they would very probably teach their protectors many ways of ameliorating their condition, which might permanently improve their mode of living. We have not hitherto given much credence to the story told by Hume some years ago, about bis meeting with a white man amongst the blacks in this direction, but if there Bhould be any truth at all in the reports ■which have now come to hand, we may perhaps have injustly discredited him. We beg to suggest to the Colonial Secretary that he should at once make inquiry into the oririn of the statements which have now been made about the existence of these civilised blacks, and if he finds there is any substantial foundation for them, he should instruct the Inspector of Police on the Thomson to proceed immediately to the spot, and to make a most careful inquiry and search for any relics or traces of white men in that locality. If it should prove true that a tribe of blacks do exist there, located permanently in one camp or village, and maintaining themselves by cultivation and fishing, we feel confident that the Minister for Lands will at once take the necessary steps to prevent them from being disturbed, by reserving from occupation the piece of country on which they are settled. At the same time it may be observed that the story which has come in from the Barcoo bews a strong family likeness to many other stories of extraordinary tribes of blacks in the interior, told from time to time during the last twenty years ; but we heartily wish it were true, as the tribe would likely become a nucleus to which the other tribes of the interior might be attracted, and it might be possible to put off from them the fate which, up to the present time, has waited on the Australian aboriginal since he came in contact with the white. .