Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 1.djvu/224

 120 PHILLIP 1788 time to mix more with them, every means shall be used to recon- cile them to live amongst us, and to teach them the advantages they will reap from cultivating the land. Although he never succeeded in teaching them to culti- vate the land, he contrived to reconcile some of them at least to living amongst the white men. This result was owing His plans, largely, if not entirely, to his own example. Finding it im- possible to cultivate friendly relations with them in the ab- sence of an interpreter, he determined to secure one of them for the purpose of training him ; and accordingly a young Arabanoo. man named Arabanoo was captured in December, 1788. The experiment promised to be successful, the native having taken kindly to the ways of the white men. Phillip's method of teaching him may be gathered from the little sketch which Captain Hunter gives of his tea-table in the following month of May : — As soon as the ship was secured, I went on shore to wait on the Governor, whom I found in good health ; he was sitting by the PhiUip at fire, drinking tea with a few friends, among whom I observed a native man of this country, who was decently cloathed, and seemed to be as much at his ease at the tea-table as any person there ; he managed his cup and saucer as well as though he had been long accustomed to such entertainment.^ The poor fellow did not live long enough to realise the hopes that were entertained of him : — Five or six days after my arrival poor Arabanoo was seized with Smaii-pox. the small-pox, and although every possible means for his recovery were used, he lived only to the crisis of the disease. Every person in the settlement was much concerned for the loss of this man. dinner-party on New Year's Bay, 1789 : — ** To-day, being New Year's Day, most of the officers were invited to the Governor's table. Manly [Arabanoo was so named by Phillip because he was captured at Manly Cove, his native name not being then known], dined heartily on fish and roasted pork ; he was seated on a chest near a window, out of which, when he had done eating, he would have thrown his plate, had he not been prevented. Dunns dinner-time, a band of music played in an adjoining apartment ; and after the cloth was removed, one of the company sang in a very soft and superior style ; but the x>ower8 of melody were lost on Manly, which dis- appointed our expectations, as he had before shown pleasure and readiness Digitized by Google
 * Journal, p. 132. Tench gives us a similar picture of the Gk>venior*a