Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/88

 62 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY ' The Builders Governor Hindmarsh in Adelaide were greatly alarmed when they met the family in the bush. They stood side by side with muskets ready to shoot and " die like men " as the narrator, Mr. J. W. Hull, says. Eight warriors of the family came forward, and Mr. Allen (subsequently the maniiger of the Adelaide Botanical Gardens) for some time " addressed the blacks' leader, repeating that they (the whites) had landed to introduce Mr. Wakefield's principles of colonisiition. and that they begged to ajjologise for the intrusion on their country." As, of course, the natives did not understand English, and knew less of colonising principles, Mr. Allen's speech was either a very poor joke, or was ludicrous in its silliness. The natives approached the white men, placed their fingers on their faces to sej^ if any pigment came off, examined their hats and garments, and opened their waistcoats ftnd shirt-fronts to discover if they were white all over — "at which Mr. Allen expressed gre^japger, saying he had never been treated in such a manner before ! " Altogether, the whites about Adelaide were undisturbed by the blacks. Statue of Venus, North Terrace. Presented to the Corporation of Adelaide by W. A. Horn, Esq., M.P.