The History of Tasmania , Volume II

The work traces encounters between Aboriginal inhabitants and European colonists in Van Diemen's Land, presenting early observers' accounts and the escalation from intermittent contact to sustained conflict. It analyzes causes of violence, episodes of raids and reprisals, administrative measures including proclamations, martial operations, and efforts to conciliate through removal to offshore settlements. One section describes Indigenous society, customs, language, and the demographic collapse that followed colonization. A subsequent part surveys the history and practice of penal transportation, the condition of prisons, reform proposals, and debates over exile as punishment.