aMe l i g a t o r , w ske himfelf remarks.-- This candid o b f e r y ^ A * $ ® A *
an additional p ro o f o f the futility o f many names admitted infc^our
maps; and it muft rarely ioccjur that unc ivilisednatitm«hjve any general
term fo r a country, or large ifland, as th e y s v m t i t d ^ n g u i lb
there is no different objeft, nor ftandard o f c ° i r i p a t » ^ i U , * ^ ï
The enormous lizards detcribed by th e r ia p v e s ^ e probably^ a% a -
tors ^ F r o m the obfervatiöns o f th e furgedn ^ a p p e a r s
the mountains are fcnd-ftone; th a t .tl» fed «feeihlffl, y e l l o w ^ r t i
and'evett th é hills are eoWred with tre e , o f the m o f t f c f t f uXK » » c e ,
teeming to"retain the ir M a g e till e sp d le d ky the fucceedmg leaves
in fpring, for in June, which correfponds to our D e c em b e r thejyerdure
was complete. T h e mountainous nature o f the country* feems to be
all obftacle to future improvement ; ^ u t , l t ó s remark .m * f e
confined to the northern part near-Queen Charlotte s Sound, arid,* gfeat
diverfity may be naturally « c p e d e d .^ ; fuch wide region^. T h e f l ^ ot
New Zealand has excited
appearance, .and the plant remarkably tall. > T h eM ltu re -h a s foeen>t-
tempted both in^Francë a n dE n g lan d witlföiSïr#cöe*l&U perhaps r o m
fomé remarkable difference in foil-, or the entire reverfion offfeaföhs.
T h e birds feem to b o often peculiar in fpeciës and fcóldür^ atidMt -is
imt a litfie remarkable th a t; in this extehfive land, no quadruped was
obferved, ekcept a few rats, and a k lfid o ffe x «® g , which -is adjomeftic
nnbnal with th é naövés; Nor was-any uncommon mineral fe$»fc®cept
the green jad , which;, according to other accounts, is fo u n d in^tëe
channel o f a large river in fmall th in layers. *" -
T h e general drefs is an oblong garment made by knotting the 'Tilky
flax : and the ears are ornamented with bits of jad or beads, th e „face
being often befmeared with a red paint, feemingly iron ochrè mingled
with greafe. T h e habitations are far fuperior to thofe in New.Hol-
>® Third Voyage, i. 140. Yet this ifle feems to be called Poenammoo, in the map drawn by
a native, and publifhed by Mr. Collins. ’ ■
* According to Dr. Forfter, ©bf; 31, the higheft mountain obferved in hw-royage was-moun
Eemont, on the northern ifle of New Zealand, covered with perpetual fnow„fo that he argues,
the height to be fourteen thoufand feet. The climate, ib. 116, feems moift,and clouds are tome-
times obferved of a bcautifulgreen,
' land;
la n d ; -and the^bfats are Well b j^k te fp lan k s, raifed upon each other,
and fattened with\ftxong withes. „ Sotrp4-are,,fifty feet long, and fo broad
as- to bc able to fail ^ it^ p u t ia^|^uj^trigg^r, but the fmaller fort commonly
havOjbnc, and theys.ofi^.^ j^ft.enj^twei; together* by ^afters. The large
canoes will -c$rry, ijyytyi, mc#( .ex p lo re ; .and have often a htpaji inge-
nioi^fly parved, with a. human face diftorteci by rage : fqr, ip layage life
images are,rarely pleafapt, bxft oomniopjy ifliew the^cvil'paffions which
a r e ^ ^ r a lly X c lti Jj They bake their-filh in ta rta^e o ,v e n a n d the ufe o f
brCad |s fupplied »by a kincj o f ffprp, wljitjh yields »a, gelatinpus fqbftance
like fag0- Th ey are ingenious mechanics with their rude toolp, yyhich
a ^ (m®fl;Ij^^f jad. T h e ir weapons are^'fpeap andfiaveUns, „with~{he
P ^ f ° , a k ip3 of. club or ru d e b a ttle -ax ; and in cflfrhWt they djftort
tb ^ ^ a ju f ^ s . like demoiis. T h e y e t ^ a r ^ bodies^, o f them en,emjls are
<?|m ingpiechs; -broiled, and devoured-, with T h e
Warlike actions o f their aoceftprs ■ pre preferred in, traditi,bnal M g s ,
which are frequently fung, and accompanied with, thpir, xude,lfiu!te.*> ,
V i . V \ a n D i e m ^^o L a n d .
TMshis the laft great divifion yet difeoyered of the wide expahfc of
Auftralafia. The name was impofed 'by that eminent Dutch «lavigator,
Tafii’an, as already mentioned, in honour Of the 'Dutch §8verh®r"general
the Eaft Indies.f It has been recently' dii&overhd- to* be an
the form of an oblong fquarp, about 160 B, miles in length-by
half that breadth,'beit%divid^-;ftom'New Holland By'a*ftrait, or rather
channel, more than thirty l$agu.es wide, which in recept mapa is „called
Bafs’s ftrait, and contains a chain of fmall iflands running N. and S.
|| Cook, ibj i. 162.
* Dr.;forfter, Obf. 17, fays that the fo.uthern ifle prefents a thin ftrat,um of black ruauH’, under
which feems to be a nephntjc oocjt of pale' . by, veins of quartz. 13talait, argiila.
ceous ;ffiiftus, and pumice, atfo appear.
t There is-another Van Diemen’s land, a northern cape of New Holland. ^tich^|uplieate
u.Kmes. are injurious to the ftudy of geography, and ought to be formally abrogated, if a Board of
Nomenclature,To^«d'h :wanted, were inflituted. The fouthern Van Diemen’s land, or , one of
the. ifle3 of New Zealand, fliould be called Tafmania, in honour of the difcovercr.
NewZbA«;
-Firftfiif.
èóvery. ,