log-houses' may be considered a lovely or beautiful theory,' or whether what Sir F. B. Head declares to be an undeniable fact,' to which he so unhesitatingly' adds his humble testimony, that as soon as the hunting season commences the men perish, or rather rot in numbers by consumption,' and that Christianity has more than decimated its followers!' may be determined by a perusal of the following statement of the number of deaths which took place respectively during the four years preceding, and about the same period since, the introduction of Christianity among this tribe. Number of Deaths during four years previous to embracing Christianity. Natural deaths, hastened in most cases by drunkenness and other vices 12 Died drunk 9 Killed by being stabbed, bruised, or otherwise injured by their associates, and in several instances by their own relations, in drunken quarrels. Burned to death by falling in the fire when drunk Drowned when drunk Poisoned by the Conjurors or Meedai, (persons frequently employed by the Pagans to avenge real or supposed injuries) Insane through continued drunkenness, and eaten by wolves. Killed by accident when drunk Killed by accident when sober 14 422 1 "In preparing this statement, I have been careful to obtain the name of every individual; and should the almost incredible contrast lead any one to question its correctness, I can furnish a list with the names of the persons, and the places where the deaths occurred. With this statement before him, no person would doubt the truth of Sir F. B. Head's assertion, had it been applied to the pagan Indians, that they wither, droop, and vanish before us, like the grass of the forest in flames.' But who can for one moment acquiesce in the opinion of the same personage when he publishes in the ear of the noble secretary of state for the colonies, that 'civilization, producing deaths by consumption, has more than decimated its followers." Lord Glenelg having received these explanations, and being personally applied to by Peter Jones, John Sunday, and Robert Ålder, the secretary of the Wesleyan Missionary Society, as well as by deputations from the Aborigines' Protection Society, and the Meeting for Sufferings, addressed a despatch on the subject to the LieutenantGovernor, Sir George Arthur, in which he directed that some por tions of land should be secured to the Indians, "that an assurance should be conveyed to them, in the most formal and solemn manner, that her Majesty's Government will protect their interests and respect their rights in regard to the land on which they are settled." It has been shown in the early part of this pamphlet, that the just and humane instructions of that benevolent minister have not been carried into operation, and that irremediable evils are advancing under favour of this delay. It is to be feared that a bias in favour of the removal of the Indians still exists, both in the British Government and in the United States, in consequence of the artfully inculcated doctrine, that they will be happier and safer when separated from the settlements of the whites. Friends, at least, may be aware of this fallacy when they remember how repeatedly the best hopes, encouraged by the progress of Indian improvement under the care of their brethren in America, have been damped, by the reiterated removals of these infant settlements. By these removals the Indians are placed beyond the reach and influence of their friends. Deprived of assistance and advice, they become the easy prey of the most unprincipled of the whites. A gentleman, long personally acquainted with the fur-trade, and who has penetrated into almost every habitable territory between the British settlements and the Pacific Ocean, asserts that there are no tribes nor spots which the white traders do not reach. There is, besides, much weight in the following remark, which is contained in a very recent expostulatory address of an enlightened and educated Indian, printed and published by Friends in Philadelphia. "But there is one condition of a removal which must certainly render it hazardous in the extreme to us. The proximity of our then situation to that of other and more warlike tribes, will expose us to constant harassing by them; and not only this, but the character of those worse than Indians, those white borderers who infest, yes, infest the western border of the white population, will annoy us more fatally than even the Indians themselves. Surrounded thus by the natives of the soil, and hunted by such a class of whites, who neither fear God nor regard man, how shall we be better off then than we are now ?" The committee of the Meeting for Sufferings, charged with the case of the Aborigines, refers Friends for further information to the publications of the Aborigines' Protection Society; and, in conclusion, would earnestly press the subject on the close attention of their fellow-members throughout the country; and as the present is a very critical period as respects the future existence of the Indian race, they would repeat the invitation to aid the cause by numerous and urgent petitions in their favour. THE END. J. Rickerby, Printer, Sherbourn Lan OF THE ABORIGINES' COMMITTEE OF THE MEETING FOR SUFFERINGS, READ AT THE YEARLY MEETING 1840: WITH THE ADDRESS TO LORD JOHN RUSSELL, ON HIS BECOMING SECRETARY FOR THE COLONIES; THAT TO FRIENDS SETTLING IN NEW COLONIES; AND SOME PARTICULARS CALCULATED TO GIVE INFORMATION, PRESENT STATE OF ABORIGINAL TRIBES. Published by Direction of the Meeting for Sufferings. LONDON: HARVEY AND DARTON, GRACECHURCH STREET. 1840. [Tract Relative to the Aborigines, No 5.] THE FOLLOWING TRACTS ARE PUBLISHED BY THE MEETING FOR SUFFERINGS, Price 3d. each. No. 1.-INFORMATION RESPECTING THE ABORIGINES IN THE BRITISH COLONIES. No. 2.-EFFECTS OF THE INTRODUCTION OF ARDENT IMPLEMENTS OF WAR SPIRITS AND AMONGST THE NATIVES OF THE SOUTH-SEA No. 3.-FURTHER INFORMATION RESPECTING THE ABORIGINES; containing Extracts from the Proceedings of the Meeting for Sufferings in London, and of the Committees on Indian Affairs; of the Yearly Meetings of Philadelphia and Baltimore; together with some particulars relative to the Seminole War. No. 4.-FACTS RELATIVE TO THE CANADIAN IN DIANS. REPORT OF THE ABORIGINES' COMMITTEE OF THE MEETING FOR SUFFERINGS. THE ABORIGINES' COMMITTEE of the MEETING FOR SUFFERINGS has continued to have its attention directed to the subjects referred to its care, and has received sufficient information respecting the state of the Aborigines of various parts of the globe, to make it evident that there is increasing rather than diminished occasion for the persevering exertions both of the Members of our own religious Society and of others. The Committee has however experienced considerable difficulty in obtaining such a continued supply of authentic and recent particulars as is essentially necessary to enable it materially to advance the cause in which it has been engaged, by the diffusion of interesting information. With a hope of, in some degree, removing this difficulty, Friends in Canada have been addressed officially from the Committee, and by individual Members; but the replies, though long expected, have not as yet come to hand. A letter has been addressed to our friend James Backhouse, since his arrival at the Cape, proposing to him various subjects of enquiry, by which it is hoped that some valuable information will be obtained, in addition to the interesting particulars respecting the native tribes contained in his letters and journal, which either have been, or will be, laid before the Society independently of this Committee. Before proceeding to offer a brief statement of what the Committee has endeavoured to do with such information as it has actually received, it may not be amiss to state, that it appears by a recent and very moderate estimate, that the Aborigines who may be termed British amount to one million in Australia-one million in the South Seas, including New Zealand-half a million still surviving in the British possessions in North America and British Guiana-and two millions in Western and Southern Africa; with several millions of |