Page:Australia an appeal.djvu/53

Rh of virtues of no ordinary kind. It was the husband the father, the patriot—determined, unsupported, to sacrifice his life in defence of his wife, his children, and his country.

History contains few instances of courage more striking than that recently displayed by Yagan, when, presenting himself at head quarters, and brandishing his spear in the presence of numbers, he warned Mr. Watson of the consequences of again threatening to shoot him. This occurred in your own presence, Sir, in the street in front of The Gazette office, in the very midst of the capital of the settlement. Is conduct such as this "cowardly, cunning, and like that of the secret assassin?" Let assassinating Italy, the favourite resort of the fashionables of Europe, and which no doubt stands high in the estimation of your correspondent, blush at the recital.

I was one of the earliest arrivals in the settlement. Leaving my servants at the embouchure of the river, I set out almost immediately after landing, quite alone, and pushed into the forest. After penetrating along the right bank to the distance of about thirty miles, I lost my way. To add to the comfort of my reflections I was totally unarmed—arms I never carry—and wandered about till all at once I found myself on the verge of a native encampment and the chief of Mooro approaching me. His tribe stood behind him, his arm was raised, and the spear, poised and ready to heave, was quivering in his hand. There was only a moment between me and death. But the instant he recognised the symbol of peace, he dropped his spear, behaved with the greatest kindness, and conducted me out of the thicket in which I was bewildered. Had I fallen into the hands of white savages, under similar circumstances, my life, I am satisfied, would have been the forfeit of my temerity.

I once saw a party of these people throw down their spears, rush to the bank of the river, seize two men who had fallen into it, and haul them out, their countenances showing at first the deepest concern, and afterwards the liveliest joy, evincing the pleasure they felt in saving their lives. As your correspondent seems to be one of those ignorant sceptics who either affect incredulity, or whose narrow intellects will not allow them to believe any thing that occurs beyond the limited circle in which they move, he may see the two men, Henry Bourne and Richard Thacker, both of whom are now in Perth, and learn the tale from their own lips.

In humanity, their white brethren would do honor to themselves by following their example. At an interview held with them at Woburn Park, at which I was present, Mr. Bull was about to shoot a bird for them; but, notwithstanding their continual want of food, and the interest they take in witnessing the