pursuit had to be made, during
which he was overtaken. He is a stupid idiotic sort of man, so that the
natives have not deemed him worthy of receiving the honours of their
ceremonies, and still call him a boy, or youth, although he is an oldish
man.

"On another occasion, when an uninhabited hut, with some wheat in it, had
been broken into by some unknown natives, a party went in search of the
offenders. It was night when they came on a camp, on the opposite side of
the lake to where the hut stands; the natives, acting upon the first
impulse, and warned by frequent examples, ran away, when two of the party
snapped their pieces, but providentially both guns missed fire. The
natives, however, soon took confidence, and returned, when it was found
that two of the most orderly and useful men would have been shot if the
guns had gone off. The party took upon themselves to make one of them
prisoner, but of course did not venture to bring him before the
magistrate.

"These facts incontestably prove, that, notwithstanding the Aborigines
are called British subjects, and in spite of the so-called protection
system, there is no shadow of protection for them, while they are
debarred from the first and most important of all liberties, namely, that
of being heard in a Court of civil Justice.

"Several instances have occurred during my residence in this district, in
which natives have been arraigned before the administrators of the law,
although I was morally convinced of their innocence; in other cases, they
have sought redress through me, for wanton attacks on their person and
lives, without being listened to.

"Only a few weeks ago a native was very nearly being taken up, on the
charge of having thrown a spear at Mr. Smith's shepherd, without,
however, any felonious intent, the distance being too great. This
circumstance saved the man, or else he would, no doubt, have been tried
and found guilty on the shepherd's evidence, who would not allow that he
could be mistaken in the individual, although the accused native came
boldly into town and court (a circumstance that has never before occurred
since I have known these natives), although he was an intimate friend of
the shepherd and his wife; and although all the other natives could prove
where he had been at the time of the attack on the flock, and state who
were the guilty parties.

"For those who have had an opportunity of observing the Aborigines in
their original state, it