but their voices are soft even to effeminacy. Their colour is the
chocolate; but they were so covered with dirt, as to look almost as
black as negroes. Their hair is naturally long and black, but they
commonly crop it short; in some few instances it is slightly curled, but
in common quite strait. It is always matted with dirt, yet wholly free
from lice: their beards are thick and bushy, but kept short by singing.
The women were seen only at a distance, as the men constantly left them
behind when they crossed the river.
The chief ornament of these people is the bone that is thrust through
the nose, which the sailors whimsically termed their spritsail yard: but
besides this they wore necklaces formed of shells, a small cord tied
twice or thrice round the arm between the elbow and the shoulder, and a
string of plaited human hair round the waist. Some few of them had an
ornament of shells hanging across the breast. Besides these ornaments,
they painted their bodies and limbs white and red, in stripes of
different dimensions; and they had a circle of white round each eye, and
spots of it on the face. Their ears were bored, but they did not wear
ear-rings.
These people accepted whatever was given them, but seemed to have no
idea of making an adequate return; and they would not part with their
ornaments for any thing that was offered in exchange. Their bodies were
marked with scars, which they signified were in remembrance of the
deceased.
Their huts were built with small rods, the two ends of which were fixed
into the ground, so as to form the figure of an oven; they are covered
with pieces of bark and palm-leaves. The door of this building, which is
only high enough to sit upright in, is opposite to the fire-place; they
sleep with their heels turned up towards their heads, and even in this
posture the hut will not hold more than four people. In the northern
parts, where the weather was warmer, one side of the houses was left
open, and the other opposed to whatever wind might blow at the time:
these huts were only built for temporary use, and left behind when they
removed to other parts of the country; but if their stay was only for a
night or two, they had no other protection from the weather than what
the grass and bushes afforded. While the huts on the main land were
turned from the wind, those on the islands were turned towards it; a
kind of proof that they visit the islands in fine weather, and enjoy the
refreshing breeze while they sleep.
These huts are furnished with a kind of bucket for fetching water, made
of an oblong piece of bark tied up at each end with the twig of a tree;
and this is the only furniture of the house. On their backs they have a
kind of bag, of the size and form of a cabbage-net, in which they carry
their fish-hooks and lines, the shells of which they make these hooks,
the ornaments which they wear, some points of darts, and two or three
bits of paint; and in this narrow compass lies all their riches.
They feed on the kanguroo, and on several kinds of birds, when they can
catch them; they likewise eat yams, and various kinds of fruit; but the
principal article of their subsistence is fish. They were frequently
observed with the leaves of a tree in their mouths, but whether it had
the qualities either of tobacco or betle could not be known; but it was
observed not to discolour the teeth or lips.
From the notches that were seen in great numbers of trees, for the
purpose of climbing them, it was imagined that their method of taking
the kanguroo, was by striking it with their lances as it passed under
the tree. In these trees, likewise, it is probable, that they took birds
while they were roosting, as they seemed too shy to be otherwise
catched.
Their method of producing fire, and extending the flames of it is very
singular: having wrought one end of a stick into an obtuse point, they
place this point upon a piece of dry wood, and turning the upright stick
very fast backward and forward between their hands, the fire is soon
produced; nor is it encreased with less celerity:--one of the natives
was frequently observed to run along the sea coast, leaving fire in
various places. The method taken to do this was as follows--before he
set off, he wrapped up a little spark of fire in dry grass, and the
quickness of his motion soon fanning it into a flame, he then placed it
on the ground, and putting a spark of it in another bit of grass, ran on
again, and encreased the number of his fires at pleasure. These fires
were supposed to be intended for the taking of the kanguroo, as that
animal was so very shy of fire, that when forced by the dogs, it would
not cross places which had been newly burnt, even when the fire was
extinguished.
The natives of New South Wales make use of spears or lances; but these
are very differently constructed: those that were seen in the southern
parts of the country had four prongs, pointed with bone, and barbed; and
the points were rubbed with a hard kind of wax, the smoothness of which
made an easier passage into what was struck by them. On the contrary,
the lances in the northern parts have only one point: the shafts of them
are of different lengths, from eight to fourteen feet, are made of the
stalk of a plant not unlike a bulrush, and consist of several joints let
into each other, and tied together. The points of these lances are
sometimes made of fish-bones, and sometimes of a hard heavy wood: they
are barbed with other pieces of wood or bone, so that when they have
entered any depth into the body, they cannot be drawn out without
tearing the flesh in a shocking manner, or leaving splinters behind
them.
When the natives intend to wound at a considerable distance, they
discharge this instrument with a throwing-stick; but if the object be
near them, it is thrown from the hand only. The throwing-stick is a
piece of smooth, hard, red wood, half an inch thick, two inches broad,
and about three feet in length, having a cross piece near four inches
long at one end, and a small knob at the other. A small hollow is made
in the shaft of the lance, near the point, and in this hollow the knob
is received; but, on being forced forward, it will easily slip from it.
The lance being placed on this throwing-stick, the Indian holds it over
his shoulder, shakes it, and then throws both lance and stick with his
utmost power; but as the cross piece strikes the shoulder, the sudden
jerk stops the stick, while the lance is driven forward with amazing
rapidity, and is generally so well aimed, that a mark at the distance of
fifty yards is more certainly struck with it, than by a bullet from a
gun.
These people make use of shields, made of the bark of trees, of about
eighteen inches broad, and three feet long. Many trees were seen from
whence the bark had been taken, and others on which the shields were cut
out, but not taken away.
In the northern parts of this coast, the canoes are formed by hollowing
out the trunk of a tree; and it was conjectured, that this operation
must have been performed by fire, as the natives did not appear to have
any instrument proper for the purpose. The canoes are in length about
fourteen feet, and so narrow that they would be frequently overset, but
that they are provided with an outrigger. The natives row them with
paddles, using both hands in that employment.
The canoes in the southern parts are formed only of a piece of bark four
yards long, fastened together at each end, and the middle kept open by
pieces of wood passing from side to side. In deep water these are rowed
by paddles, of about a foot and a half in length, the rower having one
in each hand; but in shallow water they are pushed forward by means of a
long stick. As these vessels are extremely light, and draw very little
water, the natives run them on the mud banks in search of shell-fish,
some of which, it is probable, they broil and eat as soon as they are
taken, as it was remarked, that in the center of these vessels there was
usually a fire burning on a quantity of sea-weed.
The natives have no tools but a wooden mallet, a kind of wedge, and an
adze, made of stone, with some pieces of coral and shells, which may
possibly be applied to the purposes of cutting. They polish the points
of their lances, and their throwing-sticks, with the leaves of a tree
that appears to be the ficus riduola, or wild fig, which bites with a
sharpness, almost equal to that of a rasp.
Four people is the greatest number that a canoe will contain; and when
more than this number were to pass a river, three were landed out of the
first freight, and one man went back for the rest.
That the natives of this country sometimes wage war with each other is
evident, from their being possessed of shields and weapons; yet not a
single wound was seen on any of their bodies: and, if they are neither
destroyed in war, nor carried off by famine, it will be difficult to
form a judgment by what means the number of the inhabitants are so
reduced, as to subsist on the products of the country: after all, it
will, perhaps, be best to attribute this circumstance to the wisdom of
that Providence, which distributes all its blessings with the most
unbounded goodness, and the most consummate wisdom.
END OF THE THIRD VOLUME.
Transcriber’s notes
New original cover art included with this ebook is granted to the public
domain.
The illustrations have been moved to appropriate paragraph breaks.
The original text used the long s. This has been changed to the regular
s.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Archaic and inconsistent spelling and hyphenation have been retained.