Aborigines of Van Diemen's Land, 1830-1840 - Page 110
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[Page 110]
The character and disposition of the Aborigines of Van Diemens' Land have been variously described. Some charge them with treachery and ingratitude and call them bloody thirsty and revengeful, and certainly not without reason. Others again have represented them as a persecuted race who have are fallen victims to the violence, avarise, and lust of the Whites. It may however be probable that what we term ingratitude was a certain want of discrimination. I shall confine myself to facts, and leave the reader to judge for himself. In 1826 Mr Thomson had a stock tent on the Shannon near the junction of the Shannon and the Ouse, in which resided some of the gentlemen's Shepherds and other servants. One day a tribe of the Blacks came down, and one or two of the servants gave some of the black women blankets and sugar. When however the females returned with their wages of their sin, the white men followed and robbed the poor