d to have increased a thousand-fold. In despair,
rabbit commissioners were appointed in each colony to enforce the
building of high rabbit-proof wire fences, and now thousands of miles of
wire fences have been built so as to enclose ranges and farms. By means
of the fences and by the use of various methods of destroying the pests,
they are now kept in check after causing millions of dollars of damage,
and at an enormous annual expense to the colonists. In the meantime it
was discovered that the flesh of the rabbit was excellent food, and the
slaughter of millions to be preserved has been a noticeable check to
their increase.

Unlike the American Indians, the aboriginal peoples of Australia were
never troublesome to the European settlers, and although apt to be
thievish they were not inclined to warlike acts when the European
settlements were new. The "bushrangers," as they are called, somewhat
resemble the negro peoples, and are thought to be a part of the black
race that is found in the island near New Guinea. They are classed as
Negroids, or Negritos, and they bear a considerable resemblance to the
African pygmies, with whom at least one authority classes them. They are
materially larger and taller than the pygmies, however, though below the
average stature of Europeans. At all events they are among the lowest
type of human beings.

The bushrangers have no fixed habitation; they do not build houses nor
live in villages; they have no domestic animals except the dingo, and
they do not cultivate the soil. They live nominally by hunting and
fishing, but their food consists of about anything that requires no
weapons beyond the fish-net and the boomerang. They rarely molest larger
game, though some of the tribes employ a net in which to entrap the
kangaroo.

Of all the weapons used by savage tribes the boomerang is the most
interesting. In shape it is a flat strip of hardwood having an angle, or
else slightly curved in the middle. The interesting feature about it is
the fact that when skilfully thrown it will return to the thrower unless
intercepted. A bushranger may be skilful enough to throw the boomerang
ahead of him so that in its return it will kill a small animal back of
him.

The bushrangers were only too ready to adopt the vices of Europeans, but
they have not been able to withstand the changes wrought by
civilization. Their numbers have steadily diminished. In 1880 they were
thought to be about eighty thousand