'/* MEMOIR OK 



those gigantic seals, the Proboscidea, which assem- 

 ble in thousands on the coasts, and whose history 

 forms a striking feature of our volume ; and. he 

 examined the habits and mode of life of a small 

 colony of eleven miserable fishers, who, separated 

 from all the world, prepare in this place the oil 

 and skins of the Seals, which the English traders 

 come at distant intervals to procure. These poor 

 people live in huts, and feed upon the Emu or Cas- 

 sowary and Kangaroos, caught by dogs trained for 

 the purpose, and upon the Wombats they have do- 

 mesticated. They readily shared their meagre fare 

 with the strangers, and treated them with a hospi- 

 tality which is often more strikingly exhibited among 

 a simple and feeble race, than in the midst of civil- 

 ized society. 



During their last sojourn at Timor, Peron com- 

 pleted the observations he had previously com- 

 menced there. He had frequent intercourse with 

 the natives, and now more mature^ studied their 

 manners, government, and character, because he 

 better understood their language, which is a dialect 

 of the Malay. With no other associate than his 

 friend Lesueur, he did not fear to chase the nume- 

 rous crocodiles which, to the inhabitants, are ob- 

 jects alike of terror and veneration. Without other 

 help they killed one of these animals, and prepared 

 the skeleton, which now adorns the gallery of the 

 Paris Museum. 



Being prevented by contrary winds from touching 

 at New Guinea, they returned to the Isle of France, 



