108 AUSTRALIA, OR NEW HOLLAND. 



and build fires about their habitations to drive the evil one 

 away. A grave placed before the door of a house is a safe- 

 guard against thieves. When beneath a rock they will not 

 whistle, because they say this will cause the rock to fall upon 

 them ; of thunder and lightning, they are likewise much 

 afraid, and believe that by chanting certain words and breath- 

 ing hard they can dispel it. 



Of their opinions with respect to a future state we had very 

 defective information. They spoke of some place which they 

 believed to be the abode of the dead, but we could not learn 

 that they had any idea of rewards and punishments. Their 

 ideas of a deity are distinct — they believe in a being who is 

 all powerful, who created themselves and their country, and 

 delights in giving them all the good things of this world which 

 they enjoy. 



There are other English settlements in New Holland be- 

 sides that of New South Wales, but as our ships did not visit 

 them, I am unable to give any detailed description of them. 



