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THE LAST OF THE TASMANIANS.
a skeleton would not have been permitted to remain in the grave, and possibly no opposition would have been made to its removal, had it been taken by those best entitled to hold it in the interests of the public and of science, and without any violation of decency. Besides the Royal Society, it seems that there were others who desired to secure "Billy Lanné's" skeleton, and who were determined to have it in spite of the positive orders of the Colonial Secretary. The dead-house at the hospital was entered on Friday night, the head was skinned and the skull carried away, and with a view to conceal this proceeding, the head of a patient who had died in the hospital on the same day, or the day previously, was similarly tampered with, and the skull placed inside the scalp of the unfortunate native, the face being drawn over so as to have the appearance of completeness. On this mutilation being discovered, the members of the Council of the Royal Society were greatly annoyed, and feeling assured that the object of the party who had taken the skull was afterwards to take the body from the grave, and so possess himself of the perfect skeleton, it was resolved to take off the feet and hands and to lodge them in the Museum, an operation which was carefully done. The funeral then took place as above described. On the mutilation of the bodies in the dead-house becoming known, a letter was addressed by the Colonial Secretary to Dr. Stokell, requiring a report upon the case, and we have it upon the very highest authority that Dr. Stokell reported the circumstances much as they are described above, informing the Colonial Secretary that the only persons who had been present in the dead-house during Friday night were a surgeon, who is one of the honorary medical officers, his son, who is a student, and the barber of the institution, and neither of those persons were seen to remove anything from the hospital. It is believed, however, that the skull was thrown over the wall at the back of the dead-house with a string attached to it, and that it was secured by a confederate stationed in the creek on the other side. These reports occasioned a very painful impression among those present at the funeral, and a deputation consisting of Messrs. Colvin, McArthur, and Bayley, waited upon Sir Richard Dry in the evening, and requested that steps should be taken to have the grave watched during the night Sir Richard at once acquiesced in the proposal, and instructions were given to the police, but in some way they miscarried, possibly owing to the fact that they were not communicated through his Worship the Mayor, and the consequence was that the grave was found disturbed yesterday morning, when Constable Mahony reported that the earth had been removed, that a skull had been found lying on the surface, that a part of the coffin was visible, and that the ground surrounding the grave was saturated with blood. During the morning this report spread through the city,
