t from
a disease which we know in medicine under the name of _home-sickness_, a
disease which is very common to some Europeans, particularly the Swiss
soldiers and the Swiss peasantry: they are known to die from a disease
of the stomach, which comes on entirely from a desire to return to their
country."

[55] See Evidence of J. Barnes, Esq., in minutes of evidence taken before
the Select Committee on Transportation, Quest. 417-422, pp. 48, 49.

It may be difficult for the christian moralist to condemn altogether the
system of colonisation which has been practised; it cannot be denied
that the occupation of these vast and favoured regions by civilised and
christian nations is, in itself, a highly desirable object; yet the man
of right principles will surely hesitate before he approves, for the
sake of the good that is to follow, of the evil which has been done. In
this instance, as in many other evils to be seen under the sun, it is
more easy to perceive the mischief, than to point out the means of
avoiding or of remedying it. But, at least, it may be said, let those
who now hold the beautiful and frequently fertile lands, which once
belonged to the poor and helpless native, beware of having their hearts
lifted up with pride,--of forgetting themselves or their God. Past evils
are not to be prevented, but future events are still in their power. The
warning and reasoning of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, (Rom. xi.
17-24,) although upon quite another subject, are still not without
application here. Nor should the British colonist ever forget, while he
surveys the fruitful fields which he may now call his own, the emphatic
words of St. Paul: "If God spared not the natural branches, take heed
lest He also spare not thee."

[Illustration: NATIVES OF THE MURRAY ISLANDS IN BOATS.]

CHAPTER V.

MANNERS AND HABITS OF THE NATIVES.

The shyness which the savages of Australia frequently exhibit in their
first intercourse with Europeans is not at all surprising; indeed, it is
rather remarkable how soon they get over this feeling, if they are not
interfered with, and no unpleasant occurrences take place. As Captain
Flinders has very justly observed, "were we living in a state of nature,
frequently at war with our neighbours, and ignorant of the existence of
any other nation, on the first arrival of strangers, so different in
complexion and appearance to ourselves, having power to transport
themselves over, and ev