x m )
biety of birdsbo; Be seen, and the wild cat, -of 'which, animal,
the men working the coals had, taken some. Theyft^sppned to
'partake -more of the nature .:ofi;the'-stoat*or weasel, like that
animal sucking the blood of’every thing they-caught, and,preying.
chiefly in the night-time. ,;
On the >22d, - Colonel Paterson went,, attended-by a party- and
the miner, to makean examinationyaf the island. At -the sante
time, Mr. Barreillier, Or. Harris and myself, -sounded the en-
trance^pf the harbour. -The coal found on the island appeared
to be of an inferior kind, .called by the cplliers phUters. I t had
been thedptentipn to load the coals here, from the supposition
that they .were easier got a t: however, the inferiority pff/the
coals tupied^the scale.in favour of the. place where, the^iar^ces
tp o k in , her cargo, : and where vessels - could (.lie...i% j^ j3fec.t
security.
An object now, presented itself to our v.iew, whidb^exhibited
the competes t picture,;, of wretchedness-1 .eyer t|ieheld. This
was, a man wrecked in a boat belonging to Sidney, withutwo
other men, both »^whom, were dead ;,*oimof.them,.by the hands
of the natives, the other by eating greedily of the, toad-fish, the
prickly,, bones,, of which had choaked him. The,.poor wretch
before us shed a flood of tears, and declared he^yyas - nearly
starved to death? as he had subsisted,for thirty-two d ay s -,QQ
what-he could pick „up along shore. l4?J t was fortunate,for fhim
he found us here, as he must inevitably have perished.b,efdpp
he,could have reached Sydney. I had him taken onboard the
vessel, fed with caution, and duly attended, to, and in
days had the'satisfaction to ship him on board the France's, for
Sydney, quite recovered.
. On the 23d, Mr. Barreillipr and the second,*mpte went oiy
shore,, and in Jhe woods met,with a native, whomAhey conducted
on board the vessel. He was an elderly man, 3 of the
class
j j
class*termed1-hfirte, Bush Natives'! who ar^CPnSidered as an in-
.ferjjofftnb©^^ the -inhabitants toffr the * sC^-coaster'- This man’s
ldgs»and armsv borp^fio ^prbportiori^M»«le43gth|;to. the - rtest -M1 his
body, a n d !his mann'er|»fdS#'eJ;®P^liiIl ^ ^ rshi|)’s'lSldifer was remarkable,'
f atn’d - pi ainl ƒ - pro v ed ; he. wafe mu chF^eou-stomed'i to
».climbinggr^ His method whs to stretch Plat Ms armsf as fab as h e
cPuld^reabh,i atodbtlen s b%ingffiii$fifet th^s§ffifeCpI-aA^,witli' a
jerk. His language was Uhintblt%ible-to< all oh b'odrtl, and the
sounds *he ^Utteredf^str^n^hlpfdisbnah^'ahjihuh^ettth, -havingj
however, something* p la iJ ttiV # ,w ith o u fl^ tjfe le a sb skmli fudj?
He had tbe|VhMe!bfbi‘^Fretifrt^|h pbife1il$|f@6n'-
trary^ip- thelu^age-'of the other-natives^o©Mew Ilollaflfl^wno
caM^dhe’oflthe’&aSorsb^thhMpper^jti'W' 1 i gated5 atjfaii
earlyAp¥m^<»vdff-thbir» Inispi Of this^Gumbifl, Mr/*” f>IfiT?-^ 11:*t4
^mrumavpartiGaiMr|..*a6eOunt in his'w|fri?b%l4Wgf to.tnc^&ahriers
and tlfef*NSty-*Holl'anders;!g1 This* man Gpuld"^^vnd
ififephs be -persuaded5 to ^latbpr - drink with 'us^ !‘*I dffebed' him
sugary Suppk|lS,«hs-the Bush Natives1 l^lenaubh1 oti wild ho-ne^.
it m ig hW p lo v 'e p ta b te ?* ||Iffwasl,bn> the pdifit
on shoreV»AUs_he- m e 'd " b o 'J - a tP partake'j^p|§pp:tdSd,^an^
-wis^pthgt.wisel^b^ far! from *dbci||t^.when':‘^ f^ ^ p f^ ^ k t^ row ^ f
tlie'-vamon sptneVwhich-onetef niy> people had slrofl:-bhjs lie
seemed thdekpfess a longing1, desire'-for} anfl$8^fi&, Beihg^ presented
do-him; ’hfelvAt withdt\toMh.e^ galfdytfire,»' and".1 heating
it lit Llb^dbyoured i t greedily,, entrfiilk and hilt On His gbihgjj
on shores4 Co'lphfel Paterson 'gawd him^^'tomah’avyKiw^chlhTe;
took,- and; appeared4'to’ know' redffiljffh®wJ lo^u^etlt'r however;
he 'dfdi,-nm seemipr have - any- nMfhe' vwh at
we endeavoured to-make him express ; b d f u n ' d ^ h h i s
armsWfent'off With ite' The|crew/of thebOaff&MlVvlhclis he*was
conned-, on shore, willin^|db'aV^atlp|t)^f, ofi his jdblteiify
the - use» of-his neiy- acquisition,- pointed'' a¥. hTree^a»' if- they
1 ..wilted»