omed.
Besides, the poor child had suffered considerably by the accident that
befel her while with the party of Englishmen, and she seemed to prefer
their mode of living so much, that her mother at length despaired of
being ever able to instruct her thoroughly in the mysteries of killing
and eating snakes, lizards, rats, and similar food. The widow had been
long enough with Europeans to learn how much more her sex was respected
by civilised men than by savages; and it was with feelings of this
nature, probably, that she entrusted her child to them, under the
immediate care, however, of a native woman, the wife of Piper, the
guide who had accompanied them through all the journey. A match was
subsequently made between Turandurey and king Joey, one of the native
chiefs, by which the good woman gained a handsome and comfortable
settlement for an Australian. The child Ballandella was a welcome
stranger to the Major's own children, among whom she remained,
conforming most willingly to the habits of domestic life, and showing a
very promising aptness of understanding, until she was transferred, at
the removal of the family to England, to the care of a friend; and the
last mention made of Ballandella is, that she was able to read as well
as any white child of the same age.

_Miago._--This last sketch of native character may serve to place in a
striking, yet fair light, the perplexing situation of the half-civilised
blacks, the strong inducements for them to relapse into barbarism again,
and, consequently, the difficulty that stands in the way of their being
thoroughly reclaimed. It is impossible to do this better than in the
very words of Captain Grey.[81] "The officers of the _Beagle_ took away
with them a native of the name of Miago, who remained absent with them
for several months. I saw him on the north-west coast, on board the
_Beagle_, apparently perfectly civilised; he waited at the gun-room
mess, was temperate, (never tasting spirits,) attentive, cheerful, and
remarkably clean in his person. The next time I saw him was at Swan
River, where he had been left on the return of the _Beagle_. He was then
again a savage, almost naked, painted all over, and had been concerned
in several murders. Several persons here told me,--'You see the taste
for a savage life was strong in him, and he took to the bush again
directly.' Let us pause for a moment and consider.

[81] Grey's Western Australia, vol. ii. p. 370.

"Miago, when h