•4 73 I
•Ne¥ R e f t '
■Inhabitants.
b sawfe^anièd witHdoograad lugubrious fo-
a è S p a s ^ m - t ó p ^ ^ i t e & n y f - In o a e ^ f i ü ^ f t b u l a r v life
is fported with, when k ^ghtTbeiof the utmofccöhfeqöemfetp f i f in g
co lo S ^ f A^oung woman e o ö Ä d © f child-mutder is Impelled by mot
rives of flianfeandhonouo, which defprfe every-hufean law; bufer-e-
jn&ved from* this'*fituatfon, -&e may .become a" frukfiA^and «cceU-fent
mother;*'ü ;v ■ f 1 S i p * ^ ;n-i •" ■ ■" „ S o m e -unexpected misfortunes attended the new colony, the- *Jheep
httrife ÄdlehV%hile the cattle1 wandered into thé/#öods.; Meanwhile
tüftle arid'birds were procured from-.Howe ifland, and a fmall-feMe-
ment was madb in Norfolk ifland, as a more fertile fpot,but efpeeutlly
with a view to -the eultivatkm -of the flax plant o f the New Zealand
Mud, from w h ic h great-expeSarions were entertained.' Föt a-foihute
accouht o f the prógreft' of A ls intereflirig‘colony till ï ^yi^the^elder
may confult the work of Mr. Collins,, who held an eminetitfitdaüóö in
the cftablilhmcnt; and which, from the details o f favage-life and manners
and the Angular character o f the colony-itfelf, cannot-feil to pre-
fentmoft new and important views o f human nature and fociety.f^A
fpace o f about fifty-miles around the colony had then been explored,
and two rivers called Nepean and Hawkfbury, and fome mountains,
had been difcovered. The cattle wete found grazing in a ’ rdkote
meadow in I79!5h afièr they-had been loft for fevéü yeérs, änd had in-
creafed to a furprifing degree. The moft recent accounts ftem td authenticate
the flourifhing date o f the colony. The mode o f cultivatipn
has been improved, coal and rock fait difcovered ; and there is.room tö
expeft that this wide territory will not be found deficient in thé ulual
riches of nature. _ _ W '
Thefe hiftorical outlines being premifed; it will he-proper to offer a
brief and indeed neceffarily defedive defcriptioti o f this new continent,
as k is conceived to be, in its original ftate. Fror*the accounts o f various
navigators, there is'rbom to infer that' this exfenfiye trad is pee-
- pled by three or four races of men, thefe obferved in the S.W._ being
defcribed as different from, thofe in the N.,* and both from thofe in the
. Yet the defcriptio^of'our W M who JR
great fimilarity with that o f the native, in .our own colony near Port Jackfon. (Vol.
E., with whom aldfie p are-intimately acquainted; Thefe are perhaps ‘ N*tf Hot
in the-moft early ftage -of fccSety whichnhas'yethèEn difoóVerèd' in any lAKD-
part of the globe.-?1' They -.are. niêrely/divi'ded into families,-; the.ffenior
being ftyled? Be^ana, ‘or Father, which fii'gheft^f their tiidqs thpy'alfb
applied -to Governor Phillip. Eaehiatrfiiy or- t-ribe has a particular place
of refidéhce,* an4% diftinguifhëdiby -ad d ing^ t© -the name o f r ife -p la c e ;
thus the fouthern fhore o f Botany Bay isi called ,Gwéa, and the tribe
there Gwea-gal. •1 'Another tribe^1 numferbps, v‘aud, mufimfa-s, v has1 the Angular,
prerogative o f :exading a tooth from, young men-of other families,
-the ^ e '% k e ü -ofrgovemment o^fe^qr^iHatipn >Nq( religion
whatever'is known, .though,theyihaye’ a. fakt.jdea.pf a futpre exifteace,
and think' theif-people return t© ttte‘ dbudfs, When'pe they originally, fell.
They may be faid, t;o bé ,-^xadty ,orip. degree abpye- ,the} brute <?reEfen ;
arid, like mooMes, asréi great1 mimics. 'Thby arefpf a low ftature,. and
ill.made; thé arms, legs, and thighs, being remarkably thin, perhaps
owing to .their poor living on fifli, the only food, of MÉÉS op-.-^hq coa#
while a few in the' wöods fiibfift' qn ,fuch^aqiinals a£ they ■ can- catch, .
and .climb t’reeS 'forTioney, flying fquirrels", and opoffuiris.4 The features
of the women are*not unpleafant, though approaching to the ne-
grö|é|,The black bufhy beards o f the men, and the'^one or reed which *
they- thruft through the .car-tilage of the ngfe, gives them a. difgufting
appearance; which is not imp'roved by the{pra£tiee;'pf.rulingififh-joil
infe'their {kins, as a protection from the air and molkitos, fo/that in »'
hot yvqather tjbe ftenchj is intolerable. ? „They .colpur' lheir -faces with
white or red clay. The women are marked by the lofs o f the two firft
joints*ef the little finger o f the left hand, as-they were.fuppofecl jtotbe
ih # q way when thesy, coiled their fifliinhriipps.’- • It is .however not im-
probable that this practice, and the extraction of a tooth front the boys^
may be mere, initiations, rude leflons that they may‘lear,nko bear pain
with apathy. The'tbildren are feldom disfigured except by accidents
from fire;, and. their fight is fufprifmgly acute.. Some are nearly as
black as African ■ negrpe.s, while others exhibit a copper or Malay, colour,
but the hair is long, not woolly like the African. Their nofes are
flat, npftrils wide, funk eyes, thick brows and lips, with a mouth of pro- ’
| Collin s? j-co. I
3 p