170 NATIVE HABITS. 



a few beads, and some biscuit vvbich he devoured 

 most readily. Nor ought the perfect confidence this 

 man manifested, in thus trusting himself alone and 

 unarmed, among such extraordinary strangers, to be 

 passed over unnoticed : it commanded respect from 

 us all. His conduct too was in the same spirit when 

 we parted from him, though then I admit it almost 

 as much disappointed as astonished me : when the 

 boat left the shore, he turned to ascend the beach, 

 and without once looking back, walked as uncon- 

 cernedly and listlessly away, as though such things 

 were to him every day sights. This want of 

 curiosity is a very singular and I believe an almost 

 distinctive feature in the character of the native 

 Australian. Amon^ all other savao:es of w^hom I 

 have read, or among whom I have had any oppor- 

 tunity of judging for myself, except the inhabitants 

 of Tierra del Fuego, a perpetual and never satisfied 

 curiosity seems to be the leading habit of their 

 minds : here, however, wonder is rarely expressed, 

 curiosity seldom apparent— yet their indifference is 

 not stupidity, or their simplicity cunning. 



We had now been sufficiently long in Australia 

 to know the value of a stream of water, and there- 

 fore always felt the necessity of particularizing the 

 locality of any we had the good fortune to find ; 

 from this one the extremes of Bathurst Island bore 

 N.W. and N.E. We now pulled for the opening 

 on the east side of Bathurst Island, but finding the 

 flood tide setting so stronof throuofh it from the 

 northward, I found it would be a waste of time to 



