James Bonwick Daily Life and Origin of the Tasmanians

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Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Tan departed race once lived and laughed in the world. There was a time when no thought of the Whites disturbed the rude joys of the Island Barbarians. They lived as others had done before them; ate the same food, built the same huts, wore the same ornaments, sang the same songs, trembled at the same fears, fought with the same weapons, and were buried or burnt by the tribe when dead. They knew no past, they wanted no future. But they lived no more independent of society than we live. Their characters were similarly moulded by parental training and the sentiment of their age. Their opinions were governed, as with ourselves, by the circumstances of their birth and the wisdom of their ancestors. As savages, they were content to be obedient to the rule of the elders, and would have been very scandalized at our Girl of the Period claiming the supremacy of her own sex. They were true Conservatives, and not only condemned innovation, but crushed it.