MENTAL CHARACTER

Summary

It is not easy to convey correct ideas regarding the mental capacity and faculties of the Aborigines by any general statements. They differ from one another almost as much as uneducated Europeans differ from one another; but while in the latter the capabilities of improvement are very great, in the Australian black they are limited. With keen senses, quick perceptions, and a precocity that is surprising, he stops short just at the point where an advance would lead to a complete change in the character of his mind.

The adult wild native when brought into contact with the whites learns the English language quickly and easily, and all the words that at all resemble those of his own tongue are pronounced distinctly. Those which are harsh, or in which sibilants occur, he softens, and he keeps closely to the grammar of his own language.

Black children brought up in the schools learn very quickly, and in perception, memory, and the power to discriminate they are, to say the least, equal to European children. A Missionary, the Rev. F. A. Hagenauer, a gentleman of great ability, who has the control of the Aboriginal Station at Lake Wellington, reports that the examinations made by the Government School Inspectors show that the Aboriginal pupils taught by him are quite equal to the whites. In his last report he states that the whole of the fifth class in his school had passed the standard examination (that appointed for pupils in State schools), and that they had received certificates.