AIM WAS PRESERVATION

Standing 1200 feet above sea-level and 900 feet above the surrounding country, .Mt. Rouse has changed only slightly since explorer Mitchell made his sighting. This old volcanic hill contains so perfect a crater that it has been reserved for the nation and has seen much of life. Before Mitchell, the blacks held their corroborees in its shadows and pursued kangaroos about its base. It saw, too, the tragedy of the dying black tribes in spite of the feeble attempts of the white governments of the day to save them.

Early in our history, John Cox, described as "a pattern of a country gentleman, sold out his trading station at Port Fairy and took up all the magnificent volcanic country surrounding Mount Rouse. So good was the land that neighbouring squatters sometimes deliberately lost their herds of cattle in its vicinity, knowing that when they went to look for them in a few months they would find them not far from the mountain or the springs at its base and in absolute prime condition. Mr. Cox was not to reign for long - Superintendent Latrobe, worried by the fact that the aborigines were fast disappearing, decided to establish reservations for them and picked on Mt. Rouse as a suitable area. Mr. Cox was summarily evicted from his rich holding and took up a station at Mount Napier.

We have now (Jan. 2000) become aware of an article in the Hamilton Spectator of 20/1/00 concerning journalist and author Lindsay Arkley, who is writing his book "Assistant Protector Sievwright". "Sievwright quickly built up enemies as he took seriously his duty to protect Aborigines as their land was taken over by sheep and cattle. "He was still at Mt. Rouse when he was informed in 1842 that he had been dismissed, after having been a thorn in the side of the colonial government in Melbourne, as well as the squatters, Mr. Arkley said."

Mount Rouse then became a native protectorate under kindly Dr. Watton and his staff in 1842. The natives came and went and continued to wilt. Dr. Watton, described as a genial, cultured English gentleman, did what he could for them. The picaninnies were clothed and fed when they deigned to visit the station, in the hope that they would forget the inbred nomadic instincts of generations. Disputes between the white settlers and the native inhabitants generally proved costly to the latter. Diseases of the white man were acquired and went through the unfortunate aborigines like scourges. Dr. Watton went on with his work and did his best but as time went on fewer and fewer blacks called at the station. A few of the aged and sick remained, but only to die. Probably the only good thing accomplished by the Mount Rouse aboriginal station was the easement of the dying hours of the poor, untutored, nomadic blackfellow. When only a few stragglers of the tribes remained, the unsuccessful experiment was ended in 1842. Clashes between aborigines and white settlers occurred in the first few years but it did not take the natives long to realise the superiority of the settlers' weapons and methods. In 1842, a man was killed, hut robbed of everything and about 100 sheep taken from James Ritchie's property near Penshurst. Mr. Cox had two horses taken, station attacked, a flock of sheep carried off and a shepherd dreadfully wounded. The natives sometimes drove stolen sheep 50 to 60 miles away. Owners usually found them with broken legs and consequently almost valueless.

In 1853, Lieutenant-Governor La Trobe sought information from early settlers as to the time and circumstances of the first occupation of various parts of the colony. The reply of Thomas Manifold gives his first-hand views on the aborigines as follows:-

"Although each tribe has its own district, and each family its own portion, I never could perceive that they became in any way attached to any particular spot, or attempted to construct a dwelling having any greater claim to permanency than the common mia-mia. Nor have I ever observed the slightest semblance of religion among them. With respect to their number at the time the country was first occupied, it has been, in all accounts I have seen, very much overrated. I come to this conclusion from having counted their mia-mias when congregated, and do not recollect in any instance seeing more than 30, nor do I think they would average more than four to five in a hut. Their manner towards the first settlers had generally the semblance of extreme friendship but this, I am convinced, did not in reality ever exist; it. arose from the mere nove1ty of the thing, and a desire to gratify their curiosity, which, being satiated they would, whenever they got a chance, plunder or murder even those from whom they had only a few minutes previously received presents and food. This may seem harsh, but I have known so many instances of it, that I feel justified speaking thus generally of them." -

Thomas Manifold.

On the closing of the native protectorate in 1842 speculation on the future of Mount Rouse grew among squatters. The attitude of many was that this superlatively rich country, having been taken compulsorily from John Cox, should be given back to him but the administration thought otherwise. Grazing rights were thrown open to the highest bidder. At that time the average rental from a large station was at most between £200 and £300 a year. But when the Government made the allocation it was to a squatting firm that had offered £400 a year. The squatters gasped in astonishment and shook their heads. It would never pay, they said. No land in the world was worth that money, which purchased only grazing rights. But the Twomeys, who had secured the property, went about their own business in their own way. They fenced the property and ran sheep on it. Later they purchased most of the freehold and gave lie to the men who had predicted their failure.