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CHAPTER X.
Misunderstanding between the Settlers and Natives—Unfortunate occurrences—Death of Dr. Wood—Malay Proas visit the Settlement—Extracts from the Medical Report of Dr. Davis—Observations on Melville Island and Raffles Bay, by Captain Laws, R.N.—Proofs of the healthiness of the Climate.
By the preceding accounts, it appears that hostilities soon commenced. There can be no doubt that the natives, by exercising their pilfering habits, were the aggressors. The whale boat was stolen[1] and broken in pieces for the sake of the iron; and, whenever the Aborigines appeared afterwards, the sentries fired at them without ceremony. This was not the best way to gain their confidence, or to teach them better
- ↑ This may appear very culpable. It is far more excusable, however, in these untutored beings, than the same crime when committed by those calling themselves civilized. Several instances of civilized delinquency are within my knowledge, one of which I may cite:—The master of a government colonial brig, picked up a canoe belonging to the natives, and without hesitation took it on board, and rigged it for his own use; thereby robbing a whole family of the principal means of gaining their subsistence. Yet this action was never imagined to be in the slightest degree dishonest; and the mate, from whom I heard the anecdote, seemed surprised that any one should consider the captain's conduct reprehensible, more particularly as the natives stole all the canoes they had from the Malays.
