_Departure from New South Wales; a particular Description of the
Country, its Products, and People: A Specimen of the Language, and some
Observations upon the Currents and Tides_.[88]
[Footnote 88: All these particulars will be more fully illustrated
hereafter. The present account is certainly imperfect, but it has its
value; and it could not have been omitted without some disparagement to
the original work, and some loss of interest to the reader. It is worth
while to possess all the histories, and more especially the original
ones, of a country like New Holland, which, its extent, position, and
nature, as well as some peculiar contingencies, are likely to render
more and more conspicuous in the records of mankind. There is another
reason for wishing to retain the account now given, and which would not
apply to any equally imperfect one of any other country or people where
civilization had made greater progress. Dr Robertson, referring to this
very description, says, "This perhaps is the country where man has been
discovered in the earliest stage of his progress, and it exhibits a
miserable specimen of his condition and powers in the uncultivated
state. If this country shall be more fully explored by future
navigators, the comparison of the manners of its inhabitants, with those
of the Americans, will prove an instructive article in the history of
the human species,"--Note 33, in the ninth volume of his works. What was
held as a desideratum by this historian, has been accomplished in so far
as additional materials are concerned: How far it has been so in a
philosophical point of view, may be afterwards considered.--E.]
Of this country, its products and its people, many particulars have
already been related in the course of the narrative, being so interwoven
with the events as not to admit of a separation. I shall now give a more
full and circumstantial description of each, in which, if some things
should happen to be repeated, the greater part will be found new. New
Holland, or, as I have now called the eastern coast, New South Wales, is
of a larger extent than any other country in the known world that does
not bear the name of a continent: The length of coast along which we
sailed, reduced to a straight line, is no less than twenty-seven degrees
of latitude, amounting to near 2000 miles, so that its square surface
must be much more than equal to all Europe. To the southward of 33 or
34, the land in general is low and level; farther northward it is hilly,
but in no part can be called mountainous; and the hills and mountains,
taken together, make but a small part of the surface, in comparison with
the vallies and plains. It is, upon the whole, rather barren than
fertile, yet the rising ground is chequered by woods and lawns, and the
plains and vallies are in many places covered with herbage: The soil,
however, is frequently sandy, and many of the lawns, or savannahs, are
rocky and barren, especially to the northward, where, in the best spots,
vegetation was less vigorous than in the southern part of the country;
the trees were not so tall, nor was the herbage so rich. The grass in
general is high, but thin, and the trees, where they are largest, are
seldom less than forty feet asunder; nor is the country inland, as far
as we could examine it, better clothed than the sea coast. The banks of
the bays are covered with mangroves to the distance of a mile within the
beach, under which the soil is a rank mud, that is always overflowed by
a spring tide; farther in the country we sometimes met with a bog, upon
which the grass was very thick and luxuriant, and sometimes with a
valley that was clothed with underwood: The soil in some parts seemed to
be capable of improvement, but the far greater part is such as can admit
of no cultivation. The coast, at least that part of it which lies to the
northward of 25° S., abounds with fine bays and harbours, where vessels
may lie in perfect security from all winds.
If we may judge by the appearance of the country while we were there,
which was in the very height of the dry season, it is well watered. We
found innumerable small brooks and springs, but no great rivers; these
brooks, however, probably become large in the rainy season. Thirsty
Sound was the only place where fresh water was not to be procured for
the ship, and even there, one or two small pools were found in the
woods, though the face of the country was every where intersected by
salt-creeks and mangrove-land.
Of trees there is no great variety. Of those that could be called
timber, there are but two sorts; the largest is the gum-tree, which
grows all over the country, and has been mentioned already: It has
narrow leaves, not much unlike a willow; and the gum, or rather resin,
which it yields, is of a deep red, and resembles the _sanguis draconis_;
possibly it may be the same, for this substance is known to be the
produce of more than one plant. It is mentioned by Dampier, and is
perhaps the same that Tasman found upon Diemen's Land, where he says he
saw "gum of the trees, and gum lac of the ground." The other timber
tree is that which grows somewhat like our pines, and has been
particularly mentioned in the account of Botany Bay. The wood of both
these trees, as I have before remarked, is extremely hard and heavy.
Besides these, here are trees covered with a soft bark that is easily
peeled off, and is the same that in the East Indies is used for the
caulking of ships.
We found here the palm of three different sorts. The first, which grows
in great plenty to the southward, has leaves that are plaited like a
fan: The cabbage of these is small, but exquisitely sweet; and the nuts,
which it bears in great abundance, are very good food for hogs. The
second sort bore a much greater resemblance to the true cabbage-tree of
the West Indies: Its leaves were large and pinnated, like those of the
cocoa-nut; and these also produced a cabbage, which, though not so sweet
as the other, was much larger. The third sort, which, like the second,
was found only in the northern parts, was seldom more than ten feet
high, with small pinnated leaves, resembling those of some kind of fern:
It bore no cabbage, but a plentiful crop of nuts, about the size of a
large chesnut, but rounder. As we found the hulls of these scattered
round the places where the Indians had made their fires, we took for
granted that they were fit to eat; those however who made the experiment
paid dear for their knowledge of the contrary, for they operated both as
an emetic and cathartic with great violence. Still, however, we made no
doubt but that they were eaten by the Indians; and judging that the
constitution of the hogs might be as strong as theirs, though our own
had proved to be so much inferior, we carried them to the stye: The hogs
eat them, indeed, and for some time we thought without suffering any
inconvenience; but in about a week they were so much disordered that two
of them died, and the rest were recovered with great difficulty. It is
probable, however, that the poisonous quality of these nuts may lie in
the juice, like that of the cassada of the West Indies; and that the
pulp, when dried, may be not only wholesome, but nutricious. Besides
these species of the palm, and mangroves, there were several small trees
and shrubs altogether unknown in Europe; particularly one which produced
a very poor kind of fig; another that bore what we called a plum, which
it resembled in colour, but not in shape, being flat on the sides like a
little cheese; and a third that bore a kind of purple apple, which,
after it had been kept a few days, became eatable, and tasted somewhat
like a damascene.
Here is a great variety of plants to enrich the collection of a
botanist, but very few of them are of the esculent kind. A small plant,
with long, narrow, grassy leaves, resembling that kind of bulrush which
in England is called the Cat's-tail, yields a resin of a bright yellow
colour, exactly resembling gambouge, except that it does not stain: It
has a sweet smell, but its properties we had no opportunity to discover,
any more than those of many others with which the natives appear to be
acquainted, as they have distinguished them by names.
I have already mentioned the root and leaves of a plant resembling the
coccos of the West Indies, and a kind of bean; to which may be added, a
sort of parsley and purselain, and two kinds of yams; one shaped like a
radish, and the other round, and covered with stringy fibres: Both sorts
are very small, but sweet; and we never could find the plants that
produced them, though we often saw the places where they had been newly
dug up: It is probable that the drought had destroyed the leaves, and we
could not, like the Indians, discover them by the stalks.
Most of the fruits of this country, such as they are, have been
mentioned already. We found one in the southern part of the country
resembling a cherry, except that the stone was soft; and another not
unlike a pine-apple in appearance, but of a very disagreeable taste,
which is well known in the East Indies, and is called by the Dutch _Pyn
Appel Boomen_.
Of the quadrupeds, I have already mentioned the dog, and particularly
described the kangaroo, and the animal of the opossum kind, resembling
the phalanger of Buffon; to which I can add only one more, resembling a
pole-cat, which the natives call _Quoll_: The back is brown, spotted
with white, and the belly white unmixed. Several of our people said they
had seen wolves; but perhaps, if we had not seen tracks that favoured
the account, we might have thought them little more worthy of credit
than he who reported that he had seen the devil.
Of batts, which hold a middle place between the beasts and the birds, we
saw many kinds, particularly one which, as I have observed already, was
larger than a partridge: We were not fortunate enough to take one either
alive or dead, but it was supposed to be the same as Buffon has
described by the name of _Rouset_ or _Rouget_.
The sea and other water-fowl of this country, are gulls, shags, soland
geese, or gannets, of two sorts, boobies, noddies, curlieus, ducks,
pelicans of an enormous size, and many others. The land-birds, are
crows, parrots, paroquets, cockatoos, and other birds of the same kind,
of exquisite beauty; pigeons, doves, quails, bustards, herons, cranes,
hawks, and eagles. The pigeons flew in numerous flocks, so that,
notwithstanding their extreme shyness, our people frequently killed ten
or twelve of them in a day: These birds are very beautiful, and crested
very differently from any we had seen before.
Among other reptiles, here are serpents of various kinds, some noxious,
and some harmless; scorpions, centipieds, and lizards. The insects are
but few. The principal are the musquito and the ant. Of the ant there
are several sorts; some are as green as a leaf, and live upon trees,
where they build their nests of various sizes, between that of a man's
head and his fist. These nests are of a very curious structure: They are
formed by bending down several of the leaves, each of which is as broad
as a man's hand, and gluing the points of them together, so as to form a
purse; the viscus used for this purpose is an animal juice, which Nature
has enabled them to elaborate. Their method of first bending down the
leaves, we had not an opportunity to observe; but we saw thousands
uniting all their strength to hold them in this position, while other
busy multitudes were employed within, in applying the gluten that was to
prevent their returning back. To satisfy ourselves that the leaves were
bent, and held down by the effort of these diminutive artificers, we
disturbed them in their work, and as soon as they were driven from their
station, the leaves on which they were employed sprung up with a force
much greater than we could have thought them able to conquer by any
combination of their strength. But though we gratified our curiosity at
their expence, the injury did not go unrevenged; for thousands
immediately threw themselves upon us, and gave us intolerable pain with
their stings, especially those who took possession of our necks and our
hair, from whence they were not easily driven: The sting was scarcely
less painful than that of a bee; but, except it was repeated, the pain
did not last more than a minute.
Another sort are quite black, and their operations and manner of life
are not less extraordinary. Their habitations are the inside of the
branches of a tree, which they contrive to excavate by working out the
pith almost to the extremity of the slenderest twig; the tree at the
same time flourishing, as if it had no such inmate. When we first found
the tree, we gathered some of the branches, and were scarcely less
astonished than we should have been to find that we had prophaned a
consecrated grove, where every tree, upon being wounded, gave signs of
life; for we were instantly covered with legions of these animals,
swarming from every broken bough, and inflicting their stings with
incessant violence. They are mentioned by Rumphius in his _Herbarium
Amboinense_, vol. ii. p. 257; but the tree in which he saw their
dwelling is very different from that in which we found them.
A third kind we found nested in the root of a plant, which grows on the
bark of trees in the manner of misletoe, and which they had perforated
for that use. This root is commonly as big as a large turnip, and
sometimes much bigger: When we cut it, we found it intersected by
innumerable winding passages, all filled with these animals, by which,
however, the vegetation of the plant did not appear to have suffered any
injury. We never cut one of these roots that was not inhabited, though
some were not bigger than a hazle nut. The animals themselves are very
small, not more than half as big as the common red ant in England. They
had stings, but scarcely force enough to make them felt: They had,
however, a power of tormenting us in an equal, if not a greater degree;
for the moment we handled the root, they swarmed from innumerable holes,
and running about those parts of the body that were uncovered, produced
a titillation more intolerable than pain, except it is increased to
great violence. Rumphius has also given an account of this bulb and its
inhabitants, vol. vi. p. 120, where he mentions another sort that are
black.
We found a fourth kind, which are perfectly harmless, and almost exactly
resemble the white ants of the East Indies: The architecture of these is
still more curious than that of the others. They have houses of two
sorts; one is suspended on the branches of trees, and the other erected
upon the ground: Those upon the trees are about three or four times as
big as a man's head, and are built of a brittle substance, which seems
to consist of small part of vegetables kneaded together with a glutinous
matter, which their bodies probably supply. Upon breaking this crust,
innumerable cells, swarming with inhabitants, appear in a great variety
of winding directions, all communicating with each other, and with
several apertures that lead to other nests upon the same tree; they have
also one large avenue, of covered way, leading to the ground, and
carried on under it to the other nest or house that is constructed
there. This house is generally at the root of a tree, but not of that
upon which their other dwellings are constructed: It is formed like an
irregularly sided cone, and sometimes is more than six feet high, and
nearly as much in diameter. Some are smaller, and these are generally
flat-sided, and very much resemble in figure the stones which are seen
in many parts of England, and supposed to be the remains of druidical
antiquity. The outside of these is of well-tempered clay, about two
inches thick; and within are the cells, which have no opening outwards,
but communicate only with the subterranean way to the houses on the
tree, and to the tree near which they are constructed, where they ascend
up the root, and so up the trunk and branches, under covered ways of the
same kind as those by which they descended from their other dwellings.
To these structures on the ground they probably retire in the winter, or
rainy seasons, as they are proof against any wet that can fall, which
those in the tree, though generally constructed under some overhanging
branch, from the nature and thinness of their crust or wall, cannot
be.[89]
[Footnote 89: There are upwards of twenty species of ants known, which
differ from one another in several respects, but more especially in the
materials and construction of their habitations. Some employ earth,
others the leaves and bark of trees, and others again prefer straw;
whilst another species, as is mentioned above, occupy the central parts
of trees. Their manners too are very different, though all, in various
degrees, no doubt, manifest very remarkable instinctive wisdom, and, if
the expression be allowable, even acquired knowledge. The reader who is
desirous of minute and most instructive information on the subject of
these sagacious animals, will do well to consult the Edinburgh Review,
vol. xx. page 143, &c. where an account is given of Mr Huber's
observations and experiments respecting them. A single extract from the
Review may prove interesting to the reader who has not the convenience
of referring to the volume. "The accounts of these same animals, in
other climates, sufficiently shew what formidable power they acquire
when the efforts of numbers are combined. Mr Malovat mentions, in his
account of his travels through the forest of Guyana, his arriving at a
savannah, extending in a level plain beyond the visible horizon, and in
which he beheld a structure that appeared to have been raised by human
industry. M. de Prefontaine, who accompanied him in the expedition,
informed him that it was an ant-hill, which they could not approach
without danger of being devoured. They passed some of the paths
frequented by the labourers, which belonged to a very large species of
black ants. The nest they had constructed, which had the form of a
truncated pyramid, appeared to be from fifteen to twenty feet in height,
on a base of thirty or forty feet. He was told that when the new
settlers, in their attempt to clear the country, happened to meet with
any of these fortresses, they were obliged to abandon the spot, unless
they could muster sufficient forces to lay regular siege to the enemy.
This they did by digging a circular trench all round the nest, and
filling it with a large quantity of dried wood, to the whole of which
they fire at the same time, by lighting it in different parts all round
the circumference. While the entrenchments are blazing, the edifice may
be destroyed by firing at it with cannon; and the ants being by this
means dispersed, have no avenue for escape except through the flames, in
which they perish." It might be worthy the attention of philosophers to
enquire, what general purposes in the economy of Nature these
wonder-working animals accomplish. The labours of certain other
creatures, there is every reason to believe, are destined to raise up
habitable islands in various parts of the ocean. May not these small
architects be employed in fitting certain soils for the growth of
vegetable substances? There seems, indeed, to exist in our world a
living spirit, or principle, continually operating in the production of
creatures, and places suitable for them, to compensate the loss of those
which an irrevocable law of the great Fabricator has doomed to
successive destruction, as if He chose to manifest the glory of His
wisdom and power, by creating new existences, rather than by preserving
the old ones.--E.]
The sea in this country is much more liberal of food to the inhabitants
than the land; and though fish is not quite so plenty here as they
generally are in higher latitudes, yet we seldom hauled the seine
without taking from fifty to two hundred weight. They are of various
sorts; but, except the mullet, and some of the shell-fish, none of them
are known in Europe: Most of them are palatable, and some are very
delicious. Upon the shoals and reef there are incredible numbers of the
finest green turtle in the world, and oysters of various kinds,
particularly the rock-oyster and the pearl-oyster. The gigantic cockles
have been mentioned already; besides which, there are sea-crayfish, or
lobsters, and crabs: Of these, however, we saw only the shells. In the
rivers and salt creeks there are aligators.
The only person who has hitherto given any account of this country or
its inhabitants is Dampier, and though he is, in general, a writer of
credit, yet in many particulars he is mistaken. The people whom he saw
were indeed inhabitants of a part of the coast very distant from that
which we visited; but we also saw inhabitants upon parts of the coast
very distant from each other, and there being a perfect uniformity in
person and customs among them all, it is reasonable to conclude, that
distance in another direction has not considerably broken it.
The number of inhabitants in this country appears to be very small in
proportion to its extent. We never saw so many as thirty of them
together but once, and that was at Botany Bay, when men, women, and
children, assembled upon a rock to see the ship pass by: When they
manifestly formed a resolution to engage us, they never could muster
above fourteen or fifteen fighting men; and we never saw a number of
their sheds or houses together that could accommodate a larger party. It
is true, indeed, that we saw only the sea-coast on the eastern side; and
that, between this and the western shore, there is an immense tract of
country wholly unexplored: But there is great reason to believe that
this immense tract is either wholly desolate, or at least still more
thinly inhabited than the parts we visited. It is impossible that the
inland country should subsist inhabitants at all seasons without
cultivation; it is extremely improbable that the inhabitants of the
coast should be totally ignorant of arts of cultivation, which were
practised inland; and it is equally improbable that, if they knew such
arts, there should be no traces of them among them. It is certain that
we did not see one foot of ground in a state of cultivation in the whole
country; and therefore it may well be concluded that where the sea does
not contribute to feed the inhabitants, the country is not inhabited.
The only tribe with which we had any intercourse, we found where the
ship was careened; it consisted of one-and-twenty persons; twelve men,
seven women, one boy, and one girl: The women we never saw but at a
distance; for when the men came over the river they were always left
behind. The men here, and in other places, were of a middle size, and in
general well-made, clean-limbed, and remarkably vigorous, active, and
nimble: Their countenances were not altogether without expression, and
their voices were remarkably soft and effeminate.
Their skins were so uniformly covered with dirt, that it was very
difficult to ascertain their true colour: We made several attempts, by
wetting our fingers and rubbing it, to remove the incrustations, but
with very little effect. With the dirt they appear nearly as black as a
negro; and according to our best discoveries, the skin itself is of the
colour of wood-soot, or what is commonly called a chocolate-colour.
Their features are far from being disagreeable, their noses are not
flat, nor are their lips thick; their teeth are white and even, and
their hair naturally long and black, it is however universally cropped
short; in general it is straight, but sometimes it has a slight curl; we
saw none that was not matted and filthy, though without oil or grease,
and to our great astonishment free from lice. Their beards were of the
same colour with their hair, and bushy and thick: They are not however
suffered to grow long. A man whom we had seen one day with his beard
somewhat longer than his companions, we saw the next, with it somewhat
shorter, and upon examination found the ends of the hairs burnt: From
this incident, and our having never seen any sharp instrument among
them, we concluded that both the hair and the beard were kept short by
singeing them.[90]
[Footnote 90: It is somewhat curious that almost all savages entertain
an abhorrence at hair on any other part of the body than the head; and
some of them even to that. Two reasons, at least, may be assigned for
it, both of them, however, somewhat hypothetical, it must be owned. 1.
Their admiration of youth--the same principle which induces some
_civilized_ people to powder their heads, and _dye_ their whiskers, &c.
when assuming the silvery hue of age! And, 2. Their having learned by
experience that it rendered them more obnoxious to vermin and filth. The
hair of the head is one of the finest objects in human beauty, and as
such, probably in defiance of interlopers, has been generally saved in
its natural state, or made the basis of important decorations.--E.]
Both sexes, as I have already observed, go stark naked, and seem to have
no more sense of indecency in discovering the whole body, than we have
in discovering our hands and face. Their principal ornament is the bone
which they thrust through the cartilage that divides the nostrils from
each other: What perversion of taste could make them think this a
decoration, or what could prompt them, before they had worn it or seen
it worn, to suffer the pain and inconvenience that must of necessity
attend it, is perhaps beyond the power of human sagacity to determine:
As this bone is as thick as a man's finger, and between five and six
inches long, it reaches quite across the face, and so effectually stops
up both the nostrils that they are forced to keep their mouths wide open
for breath, and snuffle so when they attempt to speak, that they are
scarcely intelligible even to each other. Our seamen, with some humour,
called it their spritsail-yard; and indeed it had so ludicrous an
appearance, that till we were used to it, we found it difficult to
refrain from laughter.[91] Beside this nose-jewel, they had necklaces
made of shells, very neatly cut and strung together; bracelets of small
cord, wound two or three times about the upper part of their arm, and a
string of plaited human hair about as thick as a thread of yarn, tied
round the waist. Besides these, some of them had gorgets of shells
hanging round the neck, so as to reach cross the breast. But though
these people wear no clothes, their bodies have a covering besides the
dirt, for they paint them both white and red: The red is commonly laid
on in broad patches upon the shoulders and breast; and the white in
stripes, some narrow, and some broad: The narrow were drawn over the
limbs, and the broad over the body, not without some degree of taste.
The white was also laid on in small patches upon the face, and drawn in
a circle round each eye. The red seemed to be ochre, but what the white
was we could not discover; it was close-grained, saponaceous to the
touch, and almost as heavy as white lead; possibly it might be a kind of
_Steatites_, but to our great regret we could not procure a bit of it to
examine. They have holes in their ears, but we never saw any thing worn
in them. Upon such ornaments as they had, they set so great a value,
that they would never part with the least article for any thing we could
offer; which was the more extraordinary as our beads and ribbons were
ornaments of the same kind, but of a more regular form and more showy
materials. They had indeed no idea of traffic, nor could we communicate
any to them: They received the things that we gave them; but never
appeared to understand our signs when we required a return. The same
indifference which prevented them from buying what we had, prevented
them also from attempting to steal: If they had coveted more, they would
have been less honest; for when we refused to give them a turtle, they
were enraged, and attempted to take it by force, and we had nothing
else upon which they seemed to set the least value; for, as I have
observed before, many of the things that we had given them, we found
left negligently about in the woods, like the playthings of children,
which please only while they are new. Upon their bodies we saw no marks
of disease or sores, but large scars in irregular lines, which appeared
to be the remains of wounds which they had inflicted upon themselves
with some blunt instrument, and which we understood by signs to have
been memorials of grief for the dead.[92]
[Footnote 91: Other people, we know, have a fancy for such ornaments.
According to Captain Carver's account of some of the North American
Indians, "it is a common custom among them to bore their noses, and wear
in them pendants of different sorts." And more instances might be
mentioned. But we shall have occasion hereafter to speak of some
remarkable modes in which the love of distinction and ornament manifests
itself The very same principle leads human nature to embellish itself
from the "crown of the head to the sole of the foot." One's own dear
self is so lovely as to become every sort of ornament that ingenuity can
contrive!--E.]
[Footnote 92: It might be worth one's while to enquire as to the
prevalency of this practice amongst different people, and whether or not
it is in general connected with any peculiarities of religious belief.
That it was in use in early times, is certain, for we find a prohibition
against it in the Mosaic code, Deut. xiv. 1. and an allusion to it in
Jerem. xvi. 6. Mr Harmer, who has some observations on the subject,
seems to be of opinion that the expression used in Deuteronomy, _the
dead_, means _idols_, and that the practice accordingly was rather of a
religious nature. But the language of the prophet in the verse alluded
to, does not fall in with such a notion. Cicero speaks contemptuously of
such modes of mourning for the dead, calling them _varie et detestabilia
genera lugendi_. Tusc. Quæst. 3.--E.]
They appeared to have no fixed habitations, for we saw nothing like a
town or village in the whole country. Their houses, if houses they may
be called, seem to be formed with less art and industry than any we had
seen, except the wretched hovels at Terra del Fuego, and in some
respects they are inferior even to them. At Botany Bay, where they were
best, they were just high enough for a man to sit upright in; but not
large enough for him to extend himself in his whole length in any
direction: They are built with pliable rods about as thick as a man's
finger, in the form of an oven, by sticking the two ends into the
ground, and then covering them with palm-leaves, and broad pieces of
bark: The door is nothing but a large hole at one end, opposite to which
the fire is made, as we perceived by the ashes. Under these houses, or
sheds, they sleep, coiled up with their heels to their head; and in
this position one of them will hold three or four persons. As we
advanced northward, and the climate became warmer, we found these sheds
still more slight: They were built, like the others, of twigs, and
covered with bark; but none of them were more than four feet deep, and
one side was entirely open: The close side was always opposed to the
course of the prevailing wind, and opposite to the open side was the
fire, probably more as a defence from the musquitos than the cold. Under
these hovels it is probable, that they thrust only their heads and the
upper part of their bodies, extending their feet towards the fire. They
were set up occasionally by a wandering horde in any place that would
furnish them for a time with subsistence, and left behind them when,
after it was exhausted, they went away: But in places where they
remained only for a night or two, they slept without any shelter, except
the bushes or grass, which is here near two feet high. We observed,
however, that though the sleeping huts which we found upon the main,
were always turned from the prevailing wind, those upon the islands were
turned towards it; which seems to be a proof that they have a mild
season here, during which the sea is calm, and that the same weather
which enables them to visit the islands, makes the air welcome even
while they sleep.
The only furniture belonging to these houses that fell under our
observation, is a kind of oblong vessel made of bark, by the simple
contrivance of tying up the two ends with a withy, which not being cut
off serves for a handle; these we imagined were used as buckets to fetch
water from the spring, which may be supposed sometimes to be at a
considerable distance. They have however a small bag, about the size of
a moderate cabbage-net, which is made by laying threads loop within
loop, somewhat in the manner of knitting used by our ladies to make
purses. This bag the man carries loose upon his back by a small string
which passes over his head; it generally contains a lump or two of paint
and resin, some fish-books and lines, a shell or two, out of which their
hooks are made, a few points of darts, and their usual ornaments, which
includes the whole worldly treasure of the richest man among them.
Their fish-hooks are very neatly made, and some of them are exceedingly
small. For striking turtle they have a peg of wood which is about a
foot long, and very well bearded; this fits into a socket at the end of
a staff of light wood, about as thick as a man's wrist, and about seven
or eight feet long: To the staff is tied one end of a loose line about
three or four fathom long, the other end of which is fastened to the
peg. To strike the turtle, the peg is fixed into the socket, and when it
has entered his body, and is retained there by the barb, the staff flies
off and serves for a float to trace their victim in the water; it
assists also to tire him, till they can overtake him with their canoes,
and haul him ashore. One of these pegs, as I have mentioned already, we
found buried in the body of a turtle, which had healed up over it. Their
lines are from the thickness of a half-inch rope to the fineness of a
hair, and are made of some vegetable substance, but what in particular
we had no opportunity to learn.
Their food is chiefly fish, though they sometimes contrive to kill the
kangaroo, and even birds of various kinds; notwithstanding they are so
shy that we found it difficult to get within reach of them with a
fowling-piece. The only vegetable that can be considered as an article
of food is the yam; yet doubtless they eat the several fruits which have
been mentioned among other productions of the country; and indeed we saw
the shells and hulls of several of them lying about the places where
they had kindled their fire.
They do not appear to eat any animal food raw; but having no vessel in
which water can be boiled, they either broil it upon the coals, or bake
it in a hole by the help of hot stones, in the same manner as is
practised by the inhabitants of the islands in the South Seas.
Whether they are acquainted with any plant that has an intoxicating
quality, we do not know; but we observed that several of them held
leaves of some sort constantly in their mouths, as an European does
tobacco, and an East-Indian betele; we never saw the plant, but when
they took it from their mouths at our request; possibly it might be a
species of the betele, but whatever it was, it had no effect upon the
teeth or lips.
As they have no nets, they catch fish only by striking, or with a hook
and line, except such as they find in the hollows of the rocks, and
shoals, which are dry at half-ebb.
Their manner of hunting we had no opportunity to see; but we
conjectured, by the notches which they had every where cut in large
trees in order to climb them, that they took their station near the tops
of them, and there watched for such animals as might happen to pass near
enough to be reached by their lances: It is possible also, that in this
situation they might take birds when they came to roost.
I have observed that when they went from our tents upon the banks of
Endeavour River, we could trace them by the fires which they kindled in
their way; and we imagined that these fires were intended some way for
the taking the kangaroo, which we observed to be so much afraid of fire,
that our dogs could scarcely force it over places which had been newly
burnt, though the fire was extinguished.
They produce fire with great facility, and spread it in a wonderful
manner. To produce it they take two pieces of dry soft wood, one is a
stick about eight or nine inches long, the other piece is flat: The
stick they shape into an obtuse point at one end, and pressing it upon
the other, turn it nimbly by holding it between both their hands as we
do a chocolate mill, often shifting their hands up, and then moving them
down upon it, to increase the pressure as much as possible. By this
method they get fire in less than two minutes, and from the smallest
spark they increase it with great speed and dexterity. We have often
seen one of them run along the shore, to all appearance with nothing in
his hand, who stooping down for a moment, at the distance of every fifty
or a hundred yards, left fire behind him, as we could see first by the
smoke and then by the flame among the drift-wood, and other litter which
was scattered along the place. We had the curiosity to examine one of
these planters of fire, when he set off, and we saw him wrap up a small
spark in dry grass, which, when he had run a little way, having been
fanned by the air that his motion produced, began to blaze; he then laid
it down in a place convenient for, his purpose, inclosing a spark of it
in another quantity of grass, and so continued his course.
There are perhaps few things in the history of mankind more
extraordinary than the discovery and application of fire: It will
scarcely be disputed that the manner of producing it, whether by
collision or attrition, was discovered by chance: But its first effects
would naturally strike those to whom it was a new object, with
consternation and terror: It would appear to be an enemy to life and
nature, and to torment and destroy whatever was capable of being
destroyed or tormented; and therefore it seems not easy to conceive
what should incline those who first saw it receive a transient existence
from chance, to reproduce it by design. It is by no means probable that
those who first saw fire, approached it with the same caution, as those
who are familiar with its effects, so as to be warmed only and not
burnt; and it is reasonable to think that the intolerable pain which, at
its first appearance, it must produce upon ignorant curiosity, would sow
perpetual enmity between this element and mankind; and that the same
principle which incites them to crush a serpent, would incite them to
destroy fire, and avoid all means by which it would be produced, as soon
as they were known. These circumstances considered, how men became
sufficiently familiar with it to render it useful, seems to be a problem
very difficult to solve: Nor is it easy to account for the first
application of it to culinary purposes, as the eating both animal and
vegetable food raw, must have become a habit, before there was fire to
dress it, and those who have considered the force of habit will readily
believe, that to men who had always eaten the flesh of animals raw, it
would be as disagreeable dressed, as to those who have always eaten it
dressed, it would be raw. It is remarkable that the inhabitants of Terra
del Fuego produce fire from a spark by collision, and that the happier
natives of this country, New Zealand and Otaheite, produce it by the
attrition of one combustible substance against another: Is there not
then some reason to suppose that these different operations correspond
with the manner in which chance produced fire in the neighbourhood of
the torrid and frigid zones? Among the rude inhabitants of a cold
country, neither any operation of art, or occurrence of accident, could
be supposed so easily to produce fire by attrition, as in a climate
where every thing is hot, dry, and adust, teeming with a latent fire
which a slight degree of motion was sufficient to call forth; in a cold
country therefore, it is natural to suppose that fire was produced by
the accidental collision of two metallic substances, and in a cold
country, for that reason, the same expedient was used to produce it by
design: But in hot countries, where two combustible substances easily
kindle by attrition, it is probable that the attrition of such
substances first produced fire, and here it was therefore natural for
art to adopt the same operation, with a view to produce the same effect.
It may indeed be true that fire is now produced in many cold countries
by attrition, and in many hot by a stroke; but perhaps upon enquiry
there may appear reason to conclude that this has arisen from the
communication of one country with another, and that with respect to the
original production of fire in hot and cold countries, the distinction
is well founded.
There may perhaps be some reason to suppose that men became gradually
acquainted with the nature and effects of fire, by its permanent
existence in a volcano, there being remains of volcanoes, or vestiges of
their effects, in almost every part of the world: By a volcano, however,
no method of producing fire, otherwise than by contact, could be learnt;
the production and application of fire therefore, still seem to afford
abundant subject of speculation to the curious.[93]
[Footnote 93: Mr Jones, who writes on this subject in one of his
Physiological Disquisitions, is not a little displeased with some of the
observations made here, which seem to imply that mankind were left
destitute of the knowledge of fire, and had to acquire it by mere
accidental notice.--Mr Jones's zeal, however, appears more conspicuous
in this matter than either his judgment or his acquaintance with the
remarks of various authors. President Goguet has shewn his usual
industry in this matter. He refers to a considerable number of authors
for proof that the knowledge of fire was by no means very extensive
among the early nations, and that even where it existed, it had been
often discovered by accident. A summary of what this excellent writer
has said on the subject, with a quotation or two, cannot fail to be
interesting to the reader, and will scarcely run any risk of being
judged either ill-timed or tedious. The Chinese, Persians, Egyptians,
Phoenicians, Greeks, and several other nations, admit that their
ancestors were once without the use of fire. This is said on the
authority of Plato, Diodorus Siculus, Sanchoniathon, authors mentioned
by Bannier, as Hesiod, Lucretius, Virgil, &c. &c. And we learn from
Pomponius Mela, Pliny, Plutarch, and others, that in their times there
were nations who were either quite ignorant of fire, or had but just
learned its nature and effects. These authorities are strengthened by
what has been related of people discovered in modern times. Thus the
inhabitants of the Marian or Ladrone Islands, and also of the Philippine
and Canaries, are said to have been without this knowledge, at the time
of their discovery. We are told besides of several nations in America
and Africa being in the same state of ignorance. As to these, however,
it is but fair to apprize the reader, that the authorities adduced by
the President are not such as can be implicitly relied on--a remark,
perhaps, which some readers will not fail to apply to certain of the
writers formerly mentioned. The Egyptians owed their knowledge of fire
to thunder and lightning; the Phoenicians to the effect of the wind on
woods and forests; volcanos, burning earth, (as in a province of Persia)
and boiling wells (frequent in several countries), gave rise to this
knowledge amongst other people. "We may form very probable conjectures
about the methods which men at first used to procure fire, when they had
occasion for it, from ancient traditions, and from the present practices
of the savages. They could not be long in discovering, that by striking
two flints each against other, there went sparks from them:" "They
remarked, that by rubbing two pieces of hard wood very strongly against
each other, they raised sparks; nay, that by rubbing for some time two
pieces of wood, they raised flame." "The Chinese say that one of their
first kings taught them this latter method; and the Greeks had nearly
the same tradition." This method, we learn from Lawson, was in use
amongst the natives of Carolina, before they became acquainted, with the
use of steel and flints. "They got their fire," says he, "with sticks,
which by vehement collision, or rubbing together, take fire." "You are
to understand," he adds, "that the two sticks they use to strike fire
withal, are never of one sort of wood, but always differ from each
other." Indeed it is probable that this method has been very generally
practised. Seneca makes mention of it in the 2d book, chap. 22. of his
Nat. Quæst., and he specifies some of the kinds of wood known by the
shepherds to be fit for the purpose, "_sicut lauris, hederæ, et alia in
hunc usum nota pastoribus_." This is noticed by Mr Jones, who gives it
as his opinion that the _lauris_, here spoken of, is the bay-tree,
which, according to the poet Lucretius, is remarkable for its
inflammability. The reader may desire to see the opinion of Mr Jones as
to the origin of man's acquaintance with fire.--It is certainly worthy
of consideration, and supposing it restricted to the parent of our race,
and his immediate offspring, may be held with no small confidence. It
embraces indeed a wider field than can possibly be investigated in this
place. "The first family," says he, "placed by the Creator upon this
earth, offered sacrifices; which being an article of religious duty,
they were certainly possessed of the means of performing it, and
consequently of the knowledge and use of fire, without which it could
not be practised. The next generation presents us with artificers in
brass and iron, which could not possibly be wrought without the complete
knowledge of fire; neither indeed could any works of art be well carried
on. The account of this affair in the Bible is much more natural,
because it is much more agreeable to the goodness of God, and the
dignity of the human species, than to suppose, on the principles of a
wild and savage philosophy (alluding to Dr Hawkesworth's poor
conjectures, as Mr Jones styles them), that men were left ignorant of
the use of an element intended for their accommodation and support. To
interdict a man from the use of fire and water, was accounted the same
in effect as to send him out of life; so that if men, upon the original
terms of their creation, were thus interdicted by the Creator himself,
as the Heathen mythologists supposed them to be, they were sent into
life upon such terms as others were sent out of it. If we admit any such
gloomy suppositions, where shall we stop? If mankind were left destitute
in respect to the knowledge of fire, perhaps they were left without
language, without food, without clothing, without reason, and in a worse
condition than the beasts, who are born with the proper knowledge of
life, but man receives it by education; therefore he who taught the
beasts by instinct, taught man by information." Much might be said for
and against this mode of reasoning, which this place, already so fully
occupied, will not admit. The history of fire is involved in
difficulties, and has really obtained less attention from men of
learning than it deserves. Probably, on appointing the rites of
sacrifice, which there is reason to believe was immediately after the
first gracious promise to Adam, God testified his acceptance of the
offering by fire from heaven, which was the beginning of man's
acquaintance with it, and in this manner it is certain God afterwards
shewed his approbation.--E.]
The weapons of these people are spears or lances, and these are or
different kinds: Some that we saw upon the southern part of the coast
had four prongs, pointed with bone, and barbed; the points were also
smeared with a hard resin, which gave them a polish, and made them enter
deeper into what they struck. To the northward, the lance has but one
point: The shaft is made of cane, or the stalk of a plant somewhat
resembling a bulrush, very straight and light, and from eight to
fourteen feet long, consisting of several joints, where the pieces are
let into each other, and bound together; to this are fitted points of
different kinds; some are of hard heavy wood, and some are the bones of
fish: We saw several that were pointed with the stings of the sting-ray,
the largest that they could procure, and barbed with several that were
smaller, fastened on in a contrary direction; the points of wood were
also sometimes armed with sharp pieces of broken shells, which were
stuck in, and at the junctures covered with resin: The lances that are
thus barbed, are indeed dreadful weapons, for when once they have taken
place, they can never be drawn back without tearing away the flesh, or
leaving the sharp ragged splinters of the bone or shell which forms the
beard, behind them in the wound. These weapons are thrown with great
force and dexterity; if intended to wound at a short distance, between
ten and twenty yards, simply with the hand, but if at the distance of
forty or fifty, with an instrument which we called a throwing-stick.
This is a plain smooth piece of a hard reddish wood, very highly
polished, about two inches broad, half an inch thick, and three feet
long, with a small knob, or hook at one end, and a cross piece about
three or four inches long at the other: The knob at one end is received
in a small dent or hollow, which is made for that purpose in the shaft
of the lance near the point, but from which it easily slips, upon being
impelled forward: When the lance is laid along upon this machine, and
secured in a proper position by the knob, the person that is to throw
it holds it over his shoulder, and after shaking it, delivers both the
throwing-stick and lance with all his force; but the stick being stopped
by the cross piece which comes against the shoulder, with a sudden jerk,
the lance flies forward with incredible swiftness, and with so good an
aim, that at the distance of fifty yards these Indians were more sure of
their mark than we could be with a single bullet. Besides these lances,
we saw no offensive weapon upon this coast, except when we took our last
view of it with our glasses, and then we thought we saw a man with a bow
and arrows, in which it is possible we might be mistaken. We saw,
however, at Botany Bay, a shield or target of an oblong shape, about
three feet long, and eighteen inches broad, which was made of the bark
of a tree: This was fetched out of a hut by one of the men that opposed
our landing, who, when he ran away, left it behind him, and upon taking
it up, we found that it had been pierced through with a single pointed
lance near the center. These shields are certainly in frequent use among
the people here; for though this was the only one that we saw in their
possession, we frequently found trees from which they appeared
manifestly to have been cut, the marks being easily distinguished from
those that were made by cutting buckets: Sometimes also we found the
shields cut out, but not yet taken off from the tree, the edges of the
bark only being a little raised by wedges, so that these people appear
to have discovered that the bark of a tree becomes thicker and stronger
by being suffered to remain upon the trunk after it has been cut round.
The canoes of New Holland are as mean and rude as the houses. Those on
the southern part of the coast are nothing more than a piece of bark,
about twelve feet long, tied together at the ends, and kept open in the
middle by small bows of wood: Yet in a vessel of this construction we
once saw three people. In shallow water they are set forward by a pole,
and in deeper by paddles, about eighteen inches long, one of which the
boatman holds in each hand; mean as they are, they have many
conveniencies; they draw but little water, and they are very light, so
that they go upon mud banks to pick up shell-fish, the most important
use to which they can be applied, better perhaps than vessels of any
other construction. We observed, that in the middle of these canoes
there was a heap of sea-weed, and upon that a small fire; probably that
the fish may be broiled and eaten the moment it is caught.
The canoes that we saw when we advanced farther to the northward, are
not made of bark, but of the trunk of a tree hollowed, perhaps by fire.
They are about fourteen feet long, and, being very narrow, are fitted
with an outrigger to prevent their oversetting. These are worked with
paddles, that are so large as to require both hands to manage one of
them: The outside is wholly unmarked by any tool, but at each end the
wood is left longer at the top than at the bottom, so that there is a
projection beyond the hollow part resembling the end of a plank; the
sides are tolerably thin, but how the tree is felled and fashioned, we
had no opportunity to learn. The only tools that we saw among them are
an adze, wretchedly made of stone, some small pieces of the same
substance in form of a wedge, a wooden mallet, and some shells and
fragments of coral. For polishing their throwing-sticks, and the points
of their lances, they use the leaves of a kind of wild fig-tree, which
bites upon wood almost as keenly as the shave-grass of Europe, which is
used by our joiners: With such tools, the making even such a canoe as I
have described, must be a most difficult and tedious labour: To those
who have been accustomed to the use of metal, it appears altogether
impracticable; but there are few difficulties that will not yield to
patient perseverance, and he who does all he can, will certainly produce
effects that greatly exceed his apparent power.[94]
[Footnote 94: This very just observation cannot be too forcibly urged,
or too frequently recollected. The deficiency of which most men have
reason to complain, is not that of ability, but of industry and
application. Genius is pursued and coveted, because it is imagined to be
a sort of creating energy which produces at will, and without
labour.--It is therefore desirable to indolent minds. But this is a
mistake of no small detriment, though of very common occurrence. Few
people perhaps discover it to be so, till they have to condemn
themselves for the loss of much of their best time, spent in idly
wishing for the inspiration which is to do such wonders, for them
without exertion on their part. Reader, in place of this, fix on some
useful or laudable work, and set about _doing_ it.--E.]
The utmost freight of these canoes is four people, and if more at any
time wanted to come over the river, one of those who came first was
obliged to go back for the rest: From this circumstance we conjectured
that the boat we saw, when we were lying in Endeavour River, was the
only one in the neighbourhood: We have however some reason to believe
that the bark canoes are also used where the wooden ones are
constructed, for upon one of the small islands where the natives had
been fishing for turtle, we found one of the little paddles which had
belonged to such a boat, and would have been useless on board any other.
By what means the inhabitants of this country are reduced to such a
number as it can subsist, is not perhaps very easy to guess; whether,
like the inhabitants of New Zealand, they are destroyed by the hands of
each other in contests for food; whether they are swept off by
accidental famine, or whether there is any cause which prevents the
increase of the species, must be left for future adventurers to
determine.[95] That they have wars, appears by their weapons; for
supposing the lances to serve merely for the striking of fish, the
shield could be intended for nothing but a defence against men; the only
mark of hostility, however, which we saw among them, was the perforation
of the shield by a spear, which has been just mentioned, for none of
them appeared to have been wounded by an enemy. Neither can we determine
whether they are pusillanimous or brave; the resolution with which two
of them attempted to prevent our landing, when we had two boats full of
men, in Botany Bay, even after one of them was wounded with small shot,
gave us reason to conclude that they were not only naturally courageous,
but that they had acquired a familiarity with the dangers of hostility,
and were, by habit as well as nature, a daring and warlike people; but
their precipitate flight from every other place that we approached,
without even a menace, while they were out of our reach, was an
indication of uncommon tameness and timidity, such as those who had only
been occasionally warriors must be supposed to have shaken off, whatever
might have been their natural disposition. I have faithfully related
facts, the reader must judge of the people for himself.[96]
[Footnote 95: Some remarks on this very interesting subject will be
given hereafter.--E.]
[Footnote 96: The reader may wait a little till he has received some
information destined to his use. What has been now given is too scanty
evidence to justify a final decision in the matter.--E.]
From the account that has been given of our commerce with them, it
cannot be supposed that we should know much of their language; yet as
this is an object of great curiosity, especially to the learned, and of
great importance in their researches into the origin of the various
nations that have been discovered, we took some pains to bring away such
a specimen of it as might, in a certain degree, answer the purpose, and
I shall now give an account how it was procured. If we wanted to know
the name of a stone, we took a stone up into our hands, and, as well as
we could, intimated by signs that we wished they should name it: The
word that they pronounced upon the occasion, we immediately wrote down.
This method, though it was the best we could contrive, might certainly
lead us into many mistakes; for if an Indian was to take up a stone, and
ask us the name of it, we might answer a pebble or a flint; so when we
took up a stone and asked an Indian the name of it, he might pronounce a
word that distinguished the species, and not the genus, or that instead
of signifying stone simply, might signify a rough stone, or a smooth
stone: However, as much as possible to avoid mistakes of this kind,
several of us contrived, at different times, to get from them as many
words as we could, and having noted them down, compared our lists; those
which were the same in all, and which, according to every one's account,
signified the same thing, we ventured to record, with a very few others,
which, from the simplicity of the subject, and the ease of expressing
our question with plainness and precision by a sign, have acquired equal
authority.
English. New Holland.
_The head_, Wageegee.
_Hair_, Morye.
_Eyes_, Meul.
_Ears_, Melea.
_Lips_, Yembe.
_Nose_, Bonjoo.
_Tongue_, Unjar.
_Nails_, Kulke.
_Sun_, Gallan.
_Fire_, Meanang.
_A stone_, Walba.
_Sand_, Yowall.
_A rope_, Gurka.
_A man_, Bama.
_Beard_, Wallar.
_Neck_, Doomboo.
_Nipples_, Cayo.
_Hands_, Marigal.
_Thighs_, Coman.
_Navel_, Toolpoor.
_Knees_, Pongo.
_Feet_, Edamal.
_Heel_, Kniorror.
_Cockatoo_, Wanda.
_The soal of the foot_ Chumal.
_Ankle_, Chongurn.
_Arms_, Aco, or Acol.
_Thumb_, Eboorbalga.
_The fore, middle, and ring fingers_, Egalbaiga.
_The little finger_, Nakil, or Ebornakil.
_The Sky_, Kere, or Kearre.
_A father_, Dunjo.
_A Son_, Jumurre.
_A male turtle_, Poinga.
_A female_, Mameingo.
_A canoe_, Marigan.
_To paddle_, Pelenyo.
_Sit down_, Takai.
_Smooth_, Mier Carrar.
_A dog_, Cotta, or Kota.
_A loriquet_. Perpere, or pier-pier.
_Blood_, Yarmbe.
_Wood_, Yocou.
_The bone in the nose_, Tapool.
_A bag_, Charngala.
_A great cockle_, Moingo.
_Cocos, Yams_, Maracatou.
New Holland. English
Cherr, } _Expressions, as we supposed, of_
Cherco, } _admiration, which they continually_
Yarcaw, } _used when they were_
Tut, tut, tut, tut, } _in company with us_.[97]
[Footnote 97: This table is exceedingly scanty and imperfect, and would
not have been given were it not thought proper, for a reason already
assigned, to preserve entire this early account of New Holland.--E.]
I shall now quit this country with a few observations relative to the
currents and tides upon the coast. From latitude 32°, and somewhat
higher, down to Sandy Cape, in latitude 24° 46', we constantly found a
current setting to the southward, at the rate of about ten or fifteen
miles a-day, being more or less, according to our distance from the
land, for it always ran with more force in-shore than in the offing; but
I could never satisfy myself whether the flood-tide came from the
southward, the eastward, or the northward; I inclined to the opinion
that it came from the southeast; but the first time we anchored off the
coast, which was in latitude 24° 30', about ten leagues to the
south-east of Bustard Bay, I found it came from the north-west; on the
contrary, thirty leagues farther to the north-west, on the south side of
Keppel Bay, I found that it came from the east, and at the northern part
of that bay it came from the northward, but with a much slower motion
than it had come from the east: On the east side of the Bay of Inlets,
it set strongly to the westward, as far as the opening of Broad Sound;
but on the north side of that sound it came with a very slow motion from
the north-west; and when we lay at anchor before Repulse Bay, it came
from the northward: To account for its course in all this variety of
directions, we need only admit that the flood-tide comes from the east
or south-east. It is well known, that where there are deep inlets, and
large creeks into low lands running up from the sea, and not occasioned
by rivers of fresh water, there will always be a great indraught of the
flood-tide, the direction of which will be determined by the position or
direction of the coast which forms the entrance of such inlet, whatever
be its course at sea; and where the tides are weak, which upon this
coast is generally the case, a large inlet will, if I may be allowed the
expression, attract the flood-tide for many leagues.
A view of the chart will at once illustrate this position. To the
northward of Whitsunday's Passage there is no large inlet, consequently
the flood sets to the northward, or northwestward, according to the
direction of the coast, and the ebb to the south, or south-eastward, at
least such is their course at a little distance from the land, for very
near it they will be influenced by small inlets. I also observed that we
had only one high tide in twenty-four hours, which happened in the
night. The difference between the perpendicular rise of the water in the
day and the night, when there is a spring-tide, is no less than three
feet, which, where the tides are so inconsiderable as they are here, is
a great proportion of the whole difference between high and low water.
This irregularity of the tides, which is worthy of notice, we did not
discover till we were ran ashore, and perhaps farther to the northward
it is still greater. After we got within the reef the second time, we
found the tides more considerable than we had ever done before, except
in the Bay of Inlets, and possibly this may be owing to the water being
more confined between the shoals; here also the flood sets to the
north-west, and continues in the same direction to the extremity of New
Wales, from whence its direction is west and south-west into the Indian
sea.