PORT ESSINGTON. 395 



covering, by burying tbemselves in it, and nothing 

 can be more irresistibly comic than to see these 

 black lumps sticking out of the earth, like so many 

 enchanted unfortunates in an eastern romance. 

 It moreover has other uses, forming a substitute 

 for soap ;* and when cooking turtle it is mixed 

 with earth and sprinkled over the meat, as we 

 should pepper. 



One discovery which was made through the 

 medium of the natives, was that the large tumuli 

 noticed by Captain King and others, and supposed 

 to be raised by the inhabitants, are the works of a 

 bird; some of them are thirty-feet long and about five 

 feet high ; they are always built near thick bushes 

 in which they can take shelter, at the least alarm. 

 The edifice is erected with the feet, which are re- 

 markable both for size and strength, and a peculiar 

 power of grasping ; they are yellow while the body 

 is brown. Nothing can be more curious than to 

 see them hopping towards these piles on one foot, 

 the other being filled with materials for building. 

 Though much smaller in shape, in manner they much 

 resemble moor-fowl. The use made of the mound 

 is to contain eggs, which are deposited in layers, 

 and are then hatched by the heat generated in 

 part from decomposition. The instant that the 

 shell bursts, the young bird comes forth strong 

 and large, and runs without the slightest care 

 being taken of it by the parent. Of the number 

 * Their general habits are cleanly. 



