Note 49 — SECTION III.

In 1835, the English of Van Diemen’s Land undertook to get rid altogether of the natives. A regular battue was organised in the whole island, and in a short time all Tasmanians, without distinction of age or sex, were exterminated, with the exception of two hundred and ten individuals, who were transported to the little isle, Flinders (or, Fourneaux), in Bass’s Straits. This was all the remnant of a race which, before the arrival of the English, had occupied a territory nearly as large as Ireland. This dreadful massacre produced a profound horror in the English Parliament, but it was not thought of to send these unfortunates back again to their native soil. Measures were, however, taken to treat them humanely in the isle of Flinders, and to provide them abundantly with victuals; they were also instructed in religion. The island is about thirteen leagues in length by seven in breadth; the refugees had thus no want of space. Nevertheless, of these two hundred and ten individuals, most of them adults, perished rapidly, and Count Strzelecki, who visited them in 1842, found only fifty-four. Within seven years and a few months, only fourteen children wore born. (Strzelecki, Physical Description of New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land, pp. 353-357, London, 1845.)