]lly' ^etcfr twó others ■ Whom we had neVeir feed: when he re-
J— / turned, he introduced the ftrangers bv name, a Ceremony
Thurldayn, , ., , ,r J
wnicn, upon men oecanons,’ Was liever omitted. As they
had received the fifli that was thi'Öwh into their canöè, tvhèft
they firft approached the fhip, with fo much plëa-fure, fome
filh was offered to them now, and we were greatly fu rprized
to fee that it was!rèCeivéd with the greafoft indifference :
they made figns, however, to feme o f thé people, that they
fhoiild drefs it for them, Which was immediately done, but
after eating a little of it* they threw thé reft-to Mr. Banks’s,
dog. They ftaid with us all the forehóó», but would never
venture above twenty yards from their canoe. We now perceived
that the colour of their fkin was not fo dark as rt appeared,
what we had taken for their complexion, being the
effefts of dirt and fmoke, in which, wè imagined, they contrived
to fleep, notwithftanding the heat of the climate, as
the only means in their power to keep off the mUfquitOs.
Among other things that we had given them When Wé firft
faw them, Were fome medals, which we had hung round
their necks by a riband ; and thefé ribands Were lb changed
by fmoke, that We could not eafily diftinguilh of what colour
they had. been:' this incident led Us more narróWly to cx^
amine the colour of their fkin. While thd'e people Were
with, us, We faw two others on the point Of land that lay on
the oppofite fide of the river, at the diftance of about two-
hundred yards, and by our glaflcs difcovered them to-be a;
woman and a boy; the woman,, like- the reft, being ftark.
naked. We obferved, that all- of them were femarkably
clean-limbed, and exceedingly atftive afad nimble. One Of
thefe ftrangers had: a necklace Of. flrells,. Very prettily made,
and a bracelet upon his arm, formed o f feveral firings, fó as
to refeftible what in England is called gymp .• both of them
had a piece of bark tied over the-forehead, and: were disfigured:
figured by the bone in the nofe. We thought their lan- 177°-
guage more harfh than that of the Iflanders in the South 1-------- <
Sea, and tltey were continually repeating the Word cbercau, I2*
Which we imagined to be a term exprefling admiration, by
the manner in which it was uttered: they alfo cried out,,
When they faw any thing new, cher, tut, tut, tut, tut! which
probably had a fimilar fignification. Their canoe was not
above ten feet long, and very narrow, but it was fitted with
an outrigger, much like thofe of the iflands, though in every
refpeCt very much inferior*, when it was in fhallow water, they
fet it On with poles, and when in deep, they worked it with
paddles about four feet long: it contained juft four people,
fo that the people who vifited us to day went away at two
tarns. Their lances were like thofe that w.e had feen in
Botany Bay, except that they had. but a Angle point, which,
in fome of them was the fling of the ray, and barbed with,
two or three fharp bones of the fame filh : it was indeed a
moft. terrible weapon,, and the inftrument which they ufed.
in throwing it, feemed to be formed with more, art than any
we had feen before. About twelve o’clock next, day, the Friday. 13.
yawl returned, with another turtle, and a large fting-ray,
and in the evening, was fent out again.
The next morning,, two-of the Indians-came, on board,,Saturday 14-
but. after a fhort flay,, went along the fhore, and applied,
themfelves with great diligence to the ftriking of filh.. Mr.
©ore, Who went out this day with his gun, had the-, good.
fortune to kill one of the animals Which had been fo much
the fubjetft of our fpeculation: an idea of it will beft be- conceived
by the cut, plate. XX; without which, the moft.accu-s
rate verbal defcription would anfwer very little purpofe, as
it has not fimilitude enough to any animal already known,.
to admit of illuftradon by reference. In form, it is moft.
like..