cowardice, and the dread of the
settler's fire-arms, he would have been as great a ruffian as ever
traversed the bush. But though he was at heart a thorough scoundrel, and
pretty generally known to be so, he was kept in check by a wholesome
dread, not of the visitation of the law (which, in the remote parts,
never could be sufficiently powerful to protect the settlers from the
depredations or assaults of the blacks), but of a retribution from the
whites; which they took it upon themselves to inflict, when they
conceived it necessary. Thus, though Dugingi was peaceable, it was only
the quiet of the subdued tiger, which merely required time and
opportunity to develope its real nature. The plate, which he wore round
his neck, was given to him upon the disbandment of the force; and on the
strength of it and his civilized acquirements, he arrogated to himself
the chiefship of his tribe; thus proving, that in his case at least,
"knowledge was power."

Jemmy Davis, on the other hand, was a very different character. He had
been taken from his tribe, when young, by a settler, who called him
after himself, and kept him almost constantly about his person and
premises. He taught him reading and writing, both of which Jemmy
acquired admirably; and he spoke English as fluently, and even more so,
than many Englishmen. Some years after his domestication, and some
little time before the date of our narrative, Mr. Davis visited England,
and took with him his Australian namesake; keeping him constantly by his
side during the whole of a tour through the greater part of Europe. The
effects of this would be imagined to have been the entire eradication of
his aboriginal nature, and a perfect conversion to civilisation. So
thought his master, but he was deceived; and so have been all those who
have attempted to naturalize the blacks to an industrial mode of life.
Jemmy Davis, as soon as he returned with his master to Australia and the
station, took his departure from the comforts of the whites; denuding
himself of his clothes, which he had so long accustomed himself to wear;
and joined his tribe in the state we have seen him.

The case of Jemmy Davis is by no means a singular one in the aborigines
of Australia. The attempt has frequently been made to induce them to
assimilate their ways to those of the whites, but, with very rare
exceptions, with the same result; nor, when we analyze the feelings that
actuate their return to savage life, need