HABITS. 9 in their manner; and, while they freely ask for what they want, take it, when granted, as from equals. Amongst themselves there is a great deal of a sort of courtesy. They live in their camps without much disagreement. Custom is rigidly observed, and this contributes to maintain peace amongst the members of the tribe. Of course quarrels will arise, and bad men and women try to domineer and act unjustly, but yet not so much as might be expected. The Aborigines have suffered from the advent of Europeans perhaps more than they have gained. Their country has been occupied, and the game nearly exterminated. The reeds of which they used to build their houses, and the grass on which they used to sleep, have in many cases been made useless to them. The skins with which they used to make rugs, and the bark with which they made canoes, have been almost destroyed. Their present condition, therefore, is not to be taken as a fair representation of what they were in their natural state; and we must not expect to find amongst their broken and scattered tribes many of those good qualities which they used to possess as savages. There are now three classes of nativesthe old blacks, who hold fast all the customs of the tribes; the natives who have imitated the worst vices of Europeans and become drunkards and gamblers (these have neither religion nor morality, and are utterly lawless); and, lastly, the Christian natives, who are every year increasing in numbers, and are the healthiest of their race. The Narrinyeri exhibit no signs of becoming extinct just yet.* There are plenty of children amongst them; and the tendency of Christian civilisation, when adopted in its entirety, is to make them more vigorous and long-lived.
- In 1840 the Narrinyeri, according to the most trust-worthy evidence, numbered
about 3000 souls. At the time this is written there are living about 600 of all ages. 1877. There are still living 613 souls of the Narrinyeri tribe. Since 1869 I have recorded 150 births and 162 deaths at Point Macleay. But it must be borne in mind that while many natives have been brought here from a distance to die, the births have been the offspring of residents in the place.
