History of Australia and New Zealand from 1606 to 1890 — John Shaqi
History of Australia and New Zealand from 1606 to 1890Sutherland, Alexander
History
History of Australia and New Zealand from 1606 to 1890
Sutherland, Alexander
Australia -- History; New Zealand -- History
#6. New Norfolk.#--In 1807 the settlement of Norfolk Island had been
abandoned by the British Government, on account of its expense, and the
convicts, of whom many had there grown to be decent, orderly farmers,
were brought to Tasmania. They formed a new settlement on the Derwent,
about fifteen miles above Hobart Town, at a place which they called "New
Norfolk," in affectionate memory of their former island home.
#7. Bushranging.#--About this time the colony began to be greatly annoyed
by bushrangers. From twenty to forty convicts generally escaped every
year and betook themselves to the wild country around the central lakes
of Tasmania. There, among the fastnesses of the western mountains, they
led a desperate and daring life, sometimes living with the natives, whom
they quickly taught all the wickedness they themselves knew. Their
ordinary lives were wretchedly debased; and, in search of booty, or in
revenge for fancied injuries, they often committed the most savage
crimes. They treated their native companions like beasts, to be used for
a while, and then shot or mangled when no longer wanted; and it is not
surprising that the blacks soon became filled with intense hatred of all
the white invaders of their land. Frequently the aboriginal tribes
united to attack the lonely farm-house and murder all its inhabitants.
Hence, every settler in the country districts was well supplied with
arms, and taught all his household to use them; the walls were pierced
here and there with holes, through which a musket might be directed in
safety against an advancing enemy. The fear of bushrangers who might
attack them for the sake of plunder, and of natives who might massacre
them in revenge, kept the scattered settlers in constant terror and
trouble.
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