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IN-LETTER 6935/1898 Aboriginal Protector Cooktown

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to 600£ has been annually spent by the Central
Lutheran Mission Communittee (Henendettelsan, Bavaria) on
this Station. Of this amount, the Revs. Mr. Schwarz
and Poland recive between them 50£ yearly as
pocket-money, clothes food and lodging being pro-
vided them, the whole of the remainder being
annually spent on the aboriginals: the only outside
expenses have been those required for the absolutely
necessary repairs to the buildings etc, and the
fencing. There are 25 permanent blacks who may
be said never to leave the mission-station: none
of them by any chance have any relations whatever
with the casual blacks, from whom they are kept
separate. Of these 25, 13 are women: 6 of these are,
and behave themselves as, Christians. The women
are all of them looked after at night (in separate accommodation) by
Mr. and Mrs. Poland, and her sister. (Mr. Schwarz being a
single man, looks after the boys). All these 25
attend school and church, work in the garden
and are quite contented: Indeed, they could not
be removed from the Mission Station now Except
by force. The garden consists of about 3 acres,
with sweet potatoes, rice (not successful), bananas,
and a few vegetables for the Kitchen: 500 cocoa
nuts were planted between 2 and 3 years ago,
of which 25 are already bearing fruit.

For the "casual" blacks, there has been built a
a small dry house in which Mr. Schwarz
puts them into quarantine as it were, until
such time as he is satisfied that they are free
from disease etc—only then, are they allowed
to attend School etc.

Including the 25 permanent ones, the average
number of blacks fed daily throughout the
year is 70.

In the wet season, the only available natural