Convict

[abu nuwas]

india, africa, australia, it was all the same back then they needed cheap labout and convicts suited the task. specially in australia. if it weren't cons it was soldiers. looking at auz now i'd say it was one of those instances where some good came from something not so good. it can be seen that the modern aussies come from weak stock but i guess that was to be expected
it's amazing that so few could adapt well enough to establish themselves. let's not forget the poor abo who through their actions (Britains) were pretty much screwed.

I was also surprised by their inability to survive without surprise, even accepting that they would have been unfamiliar with edible flora and fauna. After all, many came from rural areas, and nowhere in England is far from the sea, so many must have been accustomed to fishing, at least. One has the picture of people going without even though there was plenty around: but then, how many of us, to-day, could live by foraging? Do you recognise Fat Hen, or Edible Fungi?

I do not feel hugely guilty for what Britain did in the past, even if it would have been better if it had not happened. In India, Africa, and Australia, people were fighting each other before the British turned up. It was the sort of thing you did. And bugger me, people still do! Which leads me back to Palestine...