April 21, 2008
The various guesstimates, by the usual suspects, of the population of Australia before 1775 vary between 200,00 - 700,000. No basis for these numbers is ever given but one may make certain assumptions. Like innumerate journalists, politicians who've never had a job in the real world and ethics free economists, they wot not of what they speak and compare apples with oranges, or free range macropod with maggotty salted pork. To European, esp British eyes, the east coast regions were barely adequate for settlement. Within months of the First Fleet arriving/invading they had fished out the easily accessible areas of
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Prendergast wasn’t greatly surprised to see the maser being used by the local. He checked his wrist screen as much from habit as a need to confirm what he already knew - this planet was rated Early Metal. It was part of his job to note the detritus of millennia of galactic expansion and note where/who had what beyond their cultural level. He only recognised it as Aldabanian military, standard grunt issue, several centuries and thousands of light years distant, because Sandringham was an antiques enthusiast. He didn’t understand this arcane interest of hers - her field was linguistics &
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