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Abstract

The monthly meeting of the Royal Society was held on Monday,
September 9th. The President (His Excellency Sir Robert G. C.
Hamilton, K.C.B.) presided. Mr. J. Provis, of South Australia, was
elected a corresponding member of the Society ; Mr. Chas. Guesdon a
member. Mr. Allport directed attention to the desirableness of placing young
fish in the West Coast rivers, which were entirely free at present of
fish of a migratory character.
Mr. Johnston pointed out the difficulty of transit in stocking these
rivers. He thought Lake Dixon would afford an excellent home for the
salmon, equal to any of the Scotch waters ; and as it is one of the
affluents of the Franklin and Gordon Rivers, the young fish would find
their way to the Western Ocean. The Secretary (Mr. A. Morton) read correspondence
from Mr. Joseph Barwick, relating to smut in wheat, and also to a large
deposit of salt found on the plains near Mona Vale. There was extensive discussion on the subject of salt plains.
Mr James Barnard read the paper compiled by him upon
the subject of The last living Aboriginal of TAsmania:—It has been generally supposed that the grave has
closed over the remains of the last of the aborigines, and that the
extinction of the race has been final and complete. This supposition,
however, is believed to be erroneous ; for there still exists one female
descendant of the former " princes of wastes and lords of deserts ' in the
person of Fanny Cochrane Smith, of Port Cygnet, and the mother of a
large family of six sons and five daughters, all of whom are living. Some
doubts have been cast in Parliament and elsewhere upon the claim of
Fanny (to keep to her pre-nuptial and first Christian name) to be of the
pure blood of her ancestors, but after searching the records, and upon
her own personal testimony, and from other evidence, there seems to be little reason to doubt the fact. It appears, then, that Fanny was born
at Flinders Island in 1834 or 1835, and is now about 55 years of age.
Sarah was the name of her mother, and Eugene that of her father,
and both were undeniably aboriginals. Sarah first lived with a sealer,
and became the mother of four half-caste children ; and was subsequently
married to Eugene (native name, Nicomanie), one of her own people,
and had three children, of whom Fanny is the sole survivor and
representative of the race. Includes List of additions to the Library of the Royal Society

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Royal Society of Tasmania
Keywords:	Royal Society of Tasmania, Van Diemens Land, VDL, Hobart Town, natural sciences, proceedings, records
Journal or Publication Title:	Papers & Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania
Collections:	Royal Society Collection > Papers & Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania
Additional Information:	In 1843 the Horticultural and Botanical Society of Van Diemen's Land was founded and became the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land for Horticulture, Botany, and the Advancement of Science in 1844. In 1855 its name changed to Royal Society of Tasmania for Horticulture, Botany, and the Advancement of Science. In 1911 the name was shortened to Royal Society of Tasmania.
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