xlii PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. I think it has been now proved that the Aborigines of Australia are not altogether in a hopeless case. We may hope that the Gospel of Christ will be the means of saving a remnant from extinction. I am sure that if such a result is likely to be brought about, it will rejoice the hearts of many of their kind-hearted friends in these colonies. Weak and insufficient as the instrumentality employed has beenand I have often wondered why it was used, and why some abler servant of Christ had not been chosenyet, feeble as it has been, surely the end proves that the excellency of the power was of God. The writer would take this opportunity of gratefully acknowledging the generous assistance which he has received during the fourteen years of his missionary work from the various honorary officers of the Aborigines’ Friends’ Association of this colony. He feels that he cannot too highly estimate the value of the aid which their wise counsel and sympathy have afforded him. Great credit is also due to the Aborigines’ Department of the South Australian Government for the humane consideration which it has always shown for the wants of the natives. The writer would also acknowledge the valuable help which he has received from the Rev. F.W. Cox, who kindly revised the following pages, and to whom it is to be attributed that they contain no greater defects than appear thereon. GEO. TAPLIN. POINT MACLEAY, March 31, 1873.
