Aborigines of Van Diemen's Land, 1830-1840 - Page 137
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[Page 137]
[Transcriber's note : of the three paragraphs on the page, the first and third are crossed through]
to trace the usual haunts of the tribes; but it has since come to Knowledge that the guides invariably led the parties astray, and would take them in a contrary direction to where they found the tracks of their countrymen. This however can only be considered an honorable failing on the part of the Natives.
Several Sydney Natives also joined the parties under Mr Batman. Great expectations were formed of their utility, they being at the time considered more acute than the Aborigines of this island, but after all they rendered very little Service.
By this time the Gazette offer a reward of £5 for any aborigines who should be taken alive except adults for which only £2 were offered. Whenever any of the guides eloped into the bush they found an difficulty no going straight to their own tribes and in very short time