ACCOUNT OF THE }68 ENGLISH COLONY [*799-
land. Tq their afle&iop fpr their young he had Teen lope lamentable
f^crifices ; but qf their fiercenpf?, at leafl: when oppofed tq mdn,
or their great ftrpngth, he had fqen no inftanpe.
Among other reptiles were found the fnake with venomous fangs,
and fome large brown guapoe^.
This country is inhabited by pen ; and, i f any judgment could be
formed from the number o f huts which they met, in about the fame
proportion as in New So ph Wales. Their extreme fhynefs prevented
any communication. They never even got fight o f them but once,,
and then at a great diftance. They ha,d made fires abreaft o f where
the flpop was gt anchor; but as. foon as the boat approached the
Ihore they ran off into the woods. Thpir huts, o f which feven or
eight were frequently found together like a little encampment, were
conftrufled. o f bark torn in long ftripes from fome neighbouring
tree, after being divided tranfverfely at the bottom, in fuch breadths
as they judge their fhrength tvould be able to difengage from its
adherence to the wood, and the connecting bark on each fide. It
is then broken into convenient length?, ahd placed, flopipgwife,
againft the elbowing part o f fome dead branch that has fallen off
from the diftorted limbs o f the gum tree; and a little grafs is fome-
times. thrown over the top. But, after all their labour, they have
not ingenuity fufficient tp place the, flips of bark in fuch a manner
as to preclude the frge adiniffion o f the rain. It is foincwhat
ftrange, that in the latitude o f 4.1 ° , want Ihould pot have fhar-
pened their ideas to the invention qf fome more convenient habitation,
efpecially fince they have been, left by nature without the confined
dwelling of a hollow trep, or the more agreeable accommodation
o f a hole under, the, rock.
'T h e Angle utenfil that was obferved lying near their huts was a
kind of balket made o f long wiry grafs, that grows along the Ihores
o f the river. The two ends o fa large bunch of this grafs are tied:
to the two ends, o f a fmaller bunch; the large one is then fpread
out to form the balket,"while the fmaller anfwers the purp.ofe
o f
J a n u a r y .] OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 169
o f a handle. Their apparent ufe is, to bring fhell fi(h from the
mud banks where they are to be,collected. The large heaps of
mufcle-fliells that were found near each hut proclaimed the mud
banks to be a principal fource o f food. The moft.fcrupulous examination
of their fire places difeovered nothing, except a few bones
o f the opoffum, a fquirrel, and here and there thofe o f a imall kan-
gooroo. No remains of fi£h were ever feen.
The mode of taking the opoffum feemed to be fimilar to that
praftifed in New South Wales*, except that it is probable they
ufe a rope in afeending the tree ; for opce, at the foot o fa notched
tree, about eight feet of a two inch rope made of grafs was found
with a knot in it, near which it appeared to have broken,
i A canoe was never met with, and concurring circumftances
f l ie w e d that this convenience was unknown here ; nor was any
tree -ever > obferved to be .barked in the manner requifite for this
purpofe 5 though birds bred upon little iflands to which accefs
might be had in the fmalleft canoe. Thofe made of folid timber
feemed to be wholly out o f the queftion. The roughriefs o f the
notches left by the ftone hatchet upon the bark o f the trees bore
no very favourable teftimony to its excellence. They were rather
the marks'of a rough than o f a fharp-edged tool, and feemed more
beaten than cut, which was not the cafe with the marks left by the
m D - g b , or ftone hatchet, of New South Wales. ,
Hence, from the little that has been feen of the condition o f
our town fpheies, in this place, it appears to be much inferior in
fome effential points of convenience to that o f the defpifed inhabitants
o f the continent. How miferable a being would the latter be,
his canoe taken from him, his ftone hatchet blunted, his hut pervious
to the.fmalleft Ihower. o f rain; and few or no .excavations in
the racks to fly to ! But, happinefs, like every thing elfe, exifts
only by companion with the ftage above and the ftage below our
■ ’ L* Viik.V-qL-I...p. j;o . Appendix. .