1788

to his duty, and there the matter ended. It may well be supposed, however, that it did not end so far as the principal figures in the little drama were concerned. Phillip was not at all inclined to submit quietly either to personal affronts, or to official acts evidently intended to make him. feel that the Governor-in-Chief was dependent on the military for assistance in carrying on the government. Feeling that the safety of the settlement was at stake in every stage of the conflict, he refrained from taking any step which might have borne the appearance of retaliation, and allowed Major Ross to pursue his own course until the proper time arrived for checking it. When it came, Phillip disposed of him not only without any display of temper or resentment, but, on the contrary, with every appearance of Diplomacy. confidence in his discretion-by sending him to Norfolk Island with a commission as Lieutenant-Governor.

Selfrestraint.

nothing could be gained by holding a Court of Inquiry, seeing that such a proceeding is of value only as a preliminary to a trial by Court-martial. It answers the same purpose as an investigation before a Grand Jury or a magistrate in the ordinary Courts; the province of the Court of Inquiry being to "determine, on such evidence as can be brought before them, whether there is or is not sufficient cause for bringing particular persons to trial for the offence or crime before a General Court-martial."-Tytler, 341.

PHILLIP AND THE NATIVES.

1788

THE temper in which Phillip was disposed to rule the little community placed under his charge may be seen in the line of conduct he adopted towards the native race. The lively interest he took in it forms one of the most conspicuous features of his despatches. It was not merely because he had been instructed "by every possible means to open an intercourse with the natives and to conciliate their affections," that he took every opportunity for doing so. He evidently felt a personal pleasure in the task. It was the first time in his life in which he had found himself in con- An interesting study. tact with "the Indians"; and the study of their character, customs, and language was full of interest for him. For that, quite as much as for any official reason, he entered in his journal every little incident that occurred in the course of his communications with them. The Home Secretary, let us hope, fully appreciated the very elaborate information in his despatches with respect to the aboriginals; smiling, perhaps, to find him so much absorbed in his inquiries as to their peculiar customs-as, for instance, that of cutting off Customs of the two first joints of the little finger on the left hand of their women. But matters of this kind, trivial as they may seem nowadays, serve to show that he was at least sincere in professing anxiety to promote their welfare by every means in his power.

the natives.

The natives have ever been treated with the greatest humanity and attention, and every precaution that was possible has been His policy. taken to prevent their receiving any insults; and when I shall have

1788

time to mix more with them, every means shall be used to reconcile them to live amongst us, and to teach them the advantages they will reap from cultivating the land.

Although he never succeeded in teaching them to cultivate the land, he contrived to reconcile some of them at least to living amongst the white men. This result was owing His plans. largely, if not entirely, to his own example. Finding it impossible to cultivate friendly relations with them in the absence of an interpreter, he determined to secure one of them for the purpose of training him; and accordingly a young Arabanoo. man named Arabanoo was captured in December, 1788. The experiment promised to be successful, the native having taken kindly to the ways of the white men. Phillip's method of teaching him may be gathered from the little sketch which Captain Hunter gives of his tea-table in the following month of May

Phillip at tea.

:

As soon as the ship was secured, I went on shore to wait on the Governor, whom I found in good health; he was sitting by the fire, drinking tea with a few friends, among whom I observed a native man of this country, who was decently cloathed, and seemed to be as much at his ease at the tea-table as any person there; he managed his cup and saucer as well as though he had been long accustomed to such entertainment.*

The poor fellow did not live long enough to realise the hopes that were entertained of him :

Five or six days after my arrival poor Arabanoo was seized with Small-pox. the small-pox, and although every possible means for his recovery were used, he lived only to the crisis of the disease. Every person

in the settlement was much concerned for the loss of this man.

*

Journal, p. 132. Tench gives us a similar picture of the Governor's dinner-party on New Year's Day, 1789 :-" To-day, being New Year's Day, most of the officers were invited to the Governor's table. Manly [Arabanoo was so named by Phillip because he was captured at Manly Cove, his native name not being then known], dined heartily on fish and roasted pork; he was seated on a chest near a window, out of which, when he had done eating, he would have thrown his plate, had he not been prevented. During dinner-time, a band of music played in an adjoining apartment; and after the cloth was removed, one of the company sang in a very soft and superior style; but the powers of melody were lost on Manly, which disappointed our expectations, as he had before shown pleasure and readiness

1789

The loss must have been keenly felt by Phillip, whose hopes of friendly communication with the natives were then, for the time at least, extinguished. But his first experiment having been so far a success, he determined to make another; and in November of the same year two natives were seized and brought up to the settlement. Their names were Coalby Coalby and and Bennilong; but both of them made their escape before they had been many weeks in captivity, and rejoined their friends in the bush. They were afterwards induced to pay friendly visits to the settlement:

Bennilong.

visits.

As the Governor and every other person in the settlement had ever been kind to them, they were inclined to depend on the Governor's promise, and did come to Sydney; were kindly received, went from house to house, and saw all their old acquaintances; Friendly they received many little presents, and returned to their friends when they thought proper. This confidential visit from two men, who appeared to have some influence among their countrymen, soon brought about a more general intercourse, and the next visit from those men brought the same favour from their wives and families, whose example was followed by many others; so that every gentleman's house was now become a resting or sleeping open place for some every night; whenever they were pressed for hunger, they had immediately recourse to our quarters.*

It was by these means that Phillip endeavoured to establish a good understanding with the natives, and as far as it was possible for him to succeed in such a matter, he may be said to have succeeded. But it was not possible for him to make everyone else follow his example, or even obey his

in imitating our tunes."-Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson, p. 13. Their musical capacity was noticed by Tench while the ships were at Botany Bay :-"The Indians, though terrified at the report (of the gun), did not run away; but their astonishment exceeded their alarm, on looking at the shield which the ball had perforated. As this produced a little shyness, the officer, to dissipate their fears and remove their jealousy, whistled the air of Malbrooke, which they appeared highly charmed with, and imitated him with equal pleasure and readiness. I cannot help remarking here, what I was afterwards told by Monsieur De Pérouse, that the natives of California, and throughout all the islands of the Pacific Ocean, and in short wherever he had been, seemed equally touched and delighted with this little plaintive air."-Narrative, p. 58.

* Hunter, p. 205.

houses.

1788

War of

races.

orders; the savages, friendly at first, were provoked from time to time by the convicts, and of course retaliated; every act of retaliation increased the ill-feeling on both sides, and at last led the way, in after times, to open violence and bloodshed.+

So far as his own efforts were concerned, Phillip appears to have been peculiarly fortunate in his intercourse with the natives, seldom failing to make friends of them at once whenever he met them. A passage in Lieutenant King's Journal, in which he relates his adventure with the natives King and the at Botany Bay on the day the Sirius arrived there, furnishes an illustration on this point. King and his party had met several of them and endeavoured to gain them over :

natives.

to retreat.

I advanced before them, unarmed, presenting some beads and ribbands; two of the natives advanced armed, but would not come close to me; I then dropped the beads and baize which I held out for them, and retreated; they took it up and bound the baize about their heads. They then in a very vociferous manner desired us to begone; and one of them threw a lance wide of us, to show how far they could do execution.

King, who was accompanied by Lieutenant Dawes and Compelled three marines, thought it judicious to beat a retreat, and accordingly did so, the natives following them up; but— they were ten times more vociferous, and very soon after a lance was thrown amongst us, on which I ordered one of the marines to fire with powder only, when they ran off with great precipitation. I embarked, and Governor Phillip joined me from the south side of the bay, where he had found the natives very sociable and

* The difficulty experienced by Phillip in enforcing obedience to his reiterated orders on this subject may be seen in the fact, previously noted, that, in March, 1789, a party of convicts actually set out in pursuit of the natives for the purpose of avenging the death of a man whom they had killed.

"At Swan River, the natives are extremely inimical to the Europeans. They have murdered several persons, besides destroying a great number of sheep. When I was there, soon after the formation of the settlement, we found them friendly and quiet, nor did I hear of a single act of aggression on their part; the only way, therefore, of accounting for the bad feeling which now exists between them and the settlers, is by supposing they must have been ill-used, or that some misunderstanding has taken place."-Lieutenant Breton, Excursions in New South Wales, 1834, p. 166.

MS. in the possession of the Hon. Philip Gidley King, M.L.C.