Aborigines first arrived in Australia about 40,000 years ago. Over the past 2000 years the population grew dramatically. By the time the first European settlers arrived in Australia in 1788 there were perhaps as many as a million aborigines in Australia and over 200 to 250 different spoken dialects.
Before the arrival of the Europeans the only known relationships aborigines had with outsiders was with the Makassans, who fished off Arnhem Land in the northern territory.
Well before 1788, Makassan fishermen from the east-Indonesian archipelago, fishing for (trepang) began voyages to Arnhem Land. It is thought that the fishermen of Makassar had been visiting the north coast of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland from as early as the 16th century. Aboriginal cave paintings also illustrate the traditional Makassan sailing boats. In 1803, Matthew Flinders recorded the sighting of 6 Makassan boats off the east of Arnhem Land. There were also inter-cultural exchanges between the Aboriginal communities and the Makassar.
In 1867, the Dutch Governor-General in Makassar noted that there were 17 Aborigines in Makassar, which had returned with the Muslim fishing fleets. These early Muslim traders were among the first visitors to establish an economic enterprise, Unlike later European settlement, Makassan visits encroached little on the Aboriginal way of life.
While the impact of the Makassans on the aboriginal population was limited, the impact of the Europeans was devastating. The arrival of the Europeans had a devastating effect on the aborigines. Disease, slave labor or outright murder took it its toll on the locals. The continuation of the racist mentality the European settlers had towards the aborigines only compounded the violence that the aborigines faced. The encroachment into their lands by farmers stealing native land and destroying native flora and fauna lead to starvation in some cases.