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As their visits lasted all day they always brought their
food, consisting of the blubber of seals and porpoises. The
method used by them in cutting it up is neai-ly similar to that
adopted by the Esquimaux Indians, as described by Sir
Edward Parry in his second voyage, and also resembles the
process of the natives of King George’s Sound, which I have
described in the account of my survey of Australia (vol. ii.
p. 140) : a piece of blubber being held in the left hand, a corner
of it is taken between the teeth, and it is then cut by a
knife, held underhanded, into strips backward and forward,
without passing the instrument entirely through : so that when
the operation is finished the piece draws out into a long band,
about an inch thick, formed by the connected strips. The
whole affair from first to last is most offensive to the sight ; and
the countenance of the carver is beyond description, for his eyes
being directed to the blubber, squint shockingly, and give his
ugly face a hideous appearance. The strip of blubber is next
divided among the party, each of whom proceeds to extract its
oily juices by drawing it through his teeth and sucking it,
after which it is warmed in the fire to facilitate its division
into small pieces, wliich are swallowed or bolted without mastication.
Morsels of this dainty food were given not only to the
elder children, but even to infants at the breast.
On the 14th, while preparing to weigh, the Indians came on
board and helped to heave in the cable, but without rendering
us much real assistance. When the sails were loosed, the women
in the canoes began to chatter and scream for fear we should
carry off their friends, and their alarm was no sooner given
than the deck was cleared of our visitors, who seemed to be
quite as much frightened for their safety as the women were.
In a few minutes afterwards we were proceeding to the southward,
and first tried to anchor in a bay on the south side of
Smyth Harbour, but finding the depth too great, I sent Lieut.
Graves to sound behind an islet where there were indications of
a place of shelter, but he returned unsuccessful. During his
absence I went to a very narrow passage, which he had discovered,
leading to a large channel or sound ; but finding it
intricate, I deferred trying to enter with the vessel until a more
favourable opportunity should offer, and we returned to the
place south of Warrington Cove, called Dighton Bay, where
we anchored off a sandy beach in twenty fathoms, and secured
the vessel by laying the kedge on the shore. This sandy beach
was the first we had found in the eastern part of the Strait.
The sand is quartzose, of a white colour, and being a novelty,
rendered the place interesting. A stream, supplied by tlm
ravines of Mount Maxwell, runs over the beach into the sea,
and from it an abundant supply of excellent water may be
obtained without difficulty.
We observed no quadrupeds; but, of the feathered tribe,
we found woodpeckers, kingfishers, and woodcocks, and in
the sheltered nooks several Inimming-birds were darting about
the flowery underwood of berberis, fuchsia, and ai-butus. In
the tide-way, at the narrow passage, the sea teemed with fish ;
over which hovered corvorants and other sea-fowl, preying
upon the smaU fry that were trying to elude their voracious
enemies, the porpoises and seals, thousands of which were seen
sporting about as we proceeded on our way. Whales were also
numerous iu the vicinity, probably because of an abundance of
the smaU red shrimp, which constitutes their principal food.
I went again to examine the passage, and the tide being
against us, we were obliged to pull close to the western shore
to benefit by the partial eddies, otherwise we could not have
proceeded until the turn of the tide.
These narrows, named ‘ Shag’ Narrows, from the quantity
of birds there so called by seamen, are not a hundred yards
wide. ^ The south end is fronted by an island, from whose
summit, about four hundred feet high, I hoped to obtain a
good view southward, and after passing the narrows we landed
and reached the summit. While looking around at the view,
and preparing the theodolite, a woodcock started up from the
long grass and walked away so leisurely, that Mr. Tarn nearly
succeeded in striking it with a stick. This bird afforded us a
name for the station, which we found to be at the northern side
of a large basin, ten miles wide, and six long, terminated at