Another story clearly exemplifying paternal affection, is told by Grey.[741] For some small trespass Capt. Grey got hold of a young boy, the son of an influential native. The father tried to liberate him. "The natives are always ardently attached to their children, and this the boy's father now evinced in the strongest manner. He tried by persuasion, begging and even threats to induce the white man to give him back his child. He fairly wept upon his child's neck." When this had no result, and the boy was imprisoned, he made all possible efforts to plead for him. The paternal love is clearly conspicuous in the whole tale. [741] _Loc. cit._, ii. pp. 350-361 (refers to natives of King George's Sound). Our forty-one statements agree fairly well on many points, but especially on the principal question, namely on the existence of very close personal and individual bonds of union between parents and children.[742] As so much stress has been laid on the emotional element in these bonds, it may be shown now how far the evidence confirms the views expressed above.[743] Speaking in concrete terms, the evidence affirms beyond any doubt the existence of strong feelings of affection and attachment between parents and children. Thirty-five of our forty-one statements explicitly affirm the existence of such feelings. In many places this is expressed in a very clear and emphatic manner. We read that the children are the "pride and love" of their parents; that affection for their children is a "marked feature" of the aboriginal character (Howitt). Deep affection is quoted as their chief virtue (Gason); and as the most sincere and strongest feeling (Spencer and Gillen); and so forth. Instances might easily be multiplied. The only negative instance is the completely unreliable statement of Wilkes. This exceptional agreement of all authors and the uniform emphasis that they lay upon their statements is in itself a very strong proof not only that this assertion is true, but that these facts strongly impressed themselves upon the observers.[744] On this point our best authorities entirely agree with the remaining observers. Such an agreement on the point of a general judgment, which is necessarily an induction from a considerable number of observations, can only mean that the latter were not liable to misinterpretation; that they plainly expressed their deeper psychological meaning. These observations seem at first sight very difficult to be made correctly, for they are of a rather subtle character, referring to impalpable psychological facts. And yet all authors interpreted them correctly, of which fact such an agreement is the best proof. The expression of the feelings in question amongst savages must obviously differ very little from our ways of showing feelings. The complete agreement of the statements points, therefore, to the unmistakable clearness and strength in which the