Page:The aborigines of Australia.djvu/120

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CAPTURE OF BINNELONG AND COLE-BE.
l07

presented with some suitable gifts in the shape of a hatchet and some other articles of less value, with which he departed, highly pleased with his interview.

The name of Binnelong has been already mentioned more than once in the course of these sketches, in connection with the early colonization of the country. His name is now introduced in conjunction with that of another aboriginal of Port Jackson, a black named Cole-be, who, although a chief of one of the tribes, while Binnelong was only a common man, did not occupy so prominent a position in his day, and has not been rendered so celebrated as the latter. The names of these two men, however, stand most conspicuous among the aborigines who figured in those days, and it will, perhaps, therefore be interesting to know something of their history and their fate. When the first colonists arrived it was at once deemed advisable, for several reasons, to cultivate the fellowship and goodwill of the aboriginal inhabitants. The first step towards this end would be, of course, to become acquainted with their language, and impart to them a knowledge of the language of the colonists. Owing to the timidity of the blacks, however, as well as their impatience of restraint, and their indisposition to remain among the colonists for any lengthened period, it was found impossible to carry out the plan proposed by the means at first adopted. These means consisted in enticing the blacks to the settlement by presents, and afterwards seeking to induce them to remain, by kind