Note 50 — SECTION III.

A few months before the extermination of the Tasmanians, an inhabitant of Hobart Town wrote a letter to Rienzi, copied by him in Océanie, p. 558. The author foresaw that a conflict was inevitable. He observes, “Several of the children have been sent to the schools of Hobart Town. When once arrived at the age of puberty, an irresistible instinct compels them to return to their solitudes.” We know of no other particulars regarding the attempts made by the English to civilise the natives. This fact, similar to those of Australia, comes from a source which cannot be suspected, since the writer of the letter, as well as M. Rienzi, are well disposed towards the natives.