NEW SOtfTH WALES. 331 



a circular form, at a little distance.- The frame 

 was composed of strong tendrils of the .vine, 

 crossing each other in all directions, bound by 

 -strong grass at the intersections. The roof was 

 bark, resembling that of the Tea-tree at Port 

 Jackson, and so laid on as to keep out both 

 wind and rain. The entrance was by a small 

 avenue projecting from the periphery of the cir- 

 cle, and not leading directly into the hut, but 

 turned to prevent the rain beating in. The 

 height of the under part of the roof was about 

 five feet, and had collected a coat of soot, from 

 fires having been made in the middle of the huts. 

 One was a double hut with two recesses under 

 one entrance, and large enough to contain fif- 

 teen people. Bong-ree observed they were much 

 superior to any huts made by savages which he 

 had ever seen. He brought awa} r a small hand- 

 basket, made of some leaf, capable of holding 

 two or three quarts of water. 



White cockatoos and parroquets were now 

 seen, and a crow with a note remarkable short 

 and hasty. Pelicans, gulls and red-bills, 

 frequented the shoals, and the country was 

 sandy wherever landed. The palm nut tree 

 found here was the third kind mentioned by 

 Capt. Cook as produced on the Eastern coast of 

 New South Wales ; and as Bong-ree, who was 

 icquainted with the country as far as Port Ste- 

 phens, never saw it before, this was probably one 

 )f the most Southern situations in which it grew. 



The nuts were seen about the fire-places of the 

 natives ; the lower end of which had been suck- 

 1 



