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Rh sleeps—that they intended to call at other islands, and to take the females from the sealers, as also the boat belonging to John Smith, and to kill two half-caste children belonging to this man—to take his woman also."

We may smile at this harmless manifestation of the great Rebellion of Flinders; but it is certain that the fright did good for the Natives, for the Governor immediately despatched a suitable officer to rule them. This was Lieutenant Darling, a brother of the late Governor of Victoria.

He was the first Commandant of Flinders. Attached to the 63d Regiment, he combined the firmness and discipline of a military officer, with the intelligence and urbanity of a gentleman, and the benevolence and sympathy of a Christian. He arrived in March 1832, and immediately adopted such measures as tranquillized the minds of the excited savages, and disposed them to listen to their first lessons in civilization.

The primary difficulty was the want of water; this he relieved by digging in the Lagoon, and in the white sand of the shore. His policy, with respect to the sealers, was very decided. He ordered their absolute withdrawal from every part of the island, and put written notices on posts around the coast, warning them, under penalty, from approaching the place. Great irregularities must have been known, when the Launceston Advertiser, in an article, before the advent of Mr. Darling, while noticing the disgraceful conduct of a boat's crew at Green Island, asks whether the Aborigines are really to be treated as prisoners of war, or have an opportunity of being schooled into habits of industry.

Now came the humanizing processes. The Commandant, by his kind, persuasive manner, succeeded in effecting some change in the rough habits of his charge; while, by his determined character, he kept the turbulent in check, and shielded the gentle and weak. He sought to engage the men in employment, and the women in domestic cares. His solicitude about the elevation of the gins testified to the intelligence of his plans. In one of his earliest official communications, he said: "Good motherly women who could instruct the aboriginal women would be very useful." The encouragement is indicated in the assertion that "the greatest part of the females are young, and are willing and anxious to learn." Would that the counsel of this worthy young officer had been adopted! With the means at