556 HISTORY OF 



so great, that they seemed to be oti the point of 

 running into the woods ; however, an expedient 

 to keep them was contrived ; the seamen placed 

 them in a cluster behindthemselves,andin this situ- 

 ation they saw Lieut. Flinders approach towards 

 the bird and fire. Their sensations at this mo- 

 ment must have been curious; for the hawk 

 flew away, though much hurt, as the natives 

 noticed, for its leg was broke. This disappoint- 

 ment brought to mind how ineffectual had been 

 some former attempts of his to impress them 

 with an idea of the superior power of their visit- 

 ors. Bong-ree had annoyed his auditors with 

 the barbarous sounds, and the clumsey exhibition 

 of the Scotch dancers had all been viewed by 

 them without either wonder or gratification. 



These people go naked, except that they 

 wore belts round the waist, and fillets about the 

 head and upper parts of the arm. These were 

 formed of hair, twisted into yarn like threads, 

 and then into bandages. Indeed the inhabitants 

 appeared to possess in general a pointed differ- 

 ence from those of New South Wales, particu- 

 larly in their net-works. To these may be ad- 

 ded the bag in which they seemed to carry their 

 portible property, and which was most probably 

 of the same kind as those mentioned by Capt. 

 Cook ; but they were seen of different sizes, an< 

 two that Lieut. Flinders procured were very dif- 

 ferently worked. They were shaped somcwhal 

 like a breast plate ; and "worn suspendec 

 from the neck, which led him, previous to hi 

 first interview with them, to suppose they were 



