'There is no reason to believe that there has been any great decrease in the number of Aborigines during the last few years.

It is wrong to suppose because tribes are broken up and dispersed that all the members of these tribes have perished. Tribal relations and family ties are much interfered with by the whites, who now occupy the whole colony, and gladly avail themselves of the services of blacks .

It is not easy accurately to ascertain the numbers of Aborigines, but the Board does not hesitate to declare that the oft-repeated statement that the race is rapidly disappearing is by no means in accordance with fact .

A great number are now under careful guardianship, and those who are not living at the central stations are not neglected. The local guardians minister to their wants; and so close is their supervision that a record of the crimes and offences for the Aborigines ceases to create distrust of them, and indeed leads to the hope that - if the wicked practice of selling intoxicating liquors to them be prevented - they will appear as the least criminal of any class in this community.

That they are capable of acquiring knowledge and all the arts that civilized men practice is sufficiently proved by the evidence which the Board now submits for your Excellency's perusal, and if the lands which they occupy with advantage to themselves and to the State be secured to them, the Board confidently anticipates the best results.'