§ 480. “Aboriginal Natives.”
The following figures show the number of aborigines enumerated or believed to exist in each Australasian Colony in 1891:—
| Colony. | Males. | Females. | Total. |
| Victoria ... ... ... ... | 325 | 240 | 565 |
| New South Wales... ... | 4,559 | 3,721 | 8,280 |
| Queensland (1881)... ... | 10,719 | 9,866 | 20,585 |
| South Australia... ... ... | 14,510 | 9,279 | 23,789 |
| Western Australia... ... | 3,516 | 2,729 | 6,245 |
| Tasmania... ... ... | 73 | 66 | 139 |
| Commonwealth... ... | 33,702 | 25,901 | 59,603 |
| New Zealand... ... ... | 22,861 | 19,132 | 41,993 |
| Total... ... ... ... | 56,563 | 45,033 | 101,596 |
In most, if not in all, of the colonies, this enumeration was incomplete. In Victoria, whilst only 565 (including half-castes) were enumerated, 731 are believed to be in existence. In Queensland no attempt wrs made to enumerate or estimate the number of aborigines, therefore the number returned in 1881—which is believed to understate the truth—has been repeated. In South Australia the aborigines were not regularly enumerated, the figures given being derived from estimates. In Western Australia only civilized aborigines were enumerated. In the numbers given for that colony 575 are half-castes. In Tasmania there are no longer any aborigines of unmixed race, the last male having died in 1869 and the last female in 1876. There are, however, a few half-castes. With the Maoris of New Zealand, 40 Morioris are included. These are the last surviving aboriginal inhabitants of the Chatham Islands, which are a group lying about 360 miles to the east of New Zealand, and form a dependency of that colony. (Mr. J. J. Fenton, Assistant Government Statist of Victoria, 1899.)