AUSTRALASIA. 



131 



1700-1810. 



.Savage. 



Austral- relief in some port of Australasia. In May 1802 

 asia. t j lev stoo j for p rt Jackson, sailing round by the. 

 "TTTTri' south of Van Diemen's Land, instead of passing Bass's 

 straits. Fluted Cape, they remarked, consisted of 

 lofty reddish basaltic columns, rising 500 feet above 

 the level of the sea, and forming an enormous cause- 

 way, against which the waves broke furiously from 

 the south. Such basaltic appearances, both there 

 and in other Australasian islands, were considered the 

 more singular, as no volcanic substances were recog- 

 nised in their vicinity. In Adventure bay, the rude 

 aspect of Fluted Cape suddenly changes ; a calm instead 

 of a tumultuous sea prevails ; the shores are covered 

 with beautiful trees and shrubs ; and thick forests 

 clothe the very summits of the mountains. Mean- 

 time the scurvy made the most deplorable ravages 

 in the vessels, and on board the Geographer there 

 were only four men who could keep the deck : On 

 approaching the English settlements, their manoeuvres 

 betrayed the weakness of the crew, whence the go- 

 vernor sent ouc assistance to bring them into port. 

 Here the French made a considerable stay : one ves- 

 sel was sent home, and the other, accompanied by a 

 small bark, resumed her voyage of discovery in 1803 

 and 1804. Detailed accounts of this voyage have 

 not yet reached this country ; but we have reason to 

 expect that they will prove highly interesting to men 



of ecience. 



Towards the end of the year 1805, Mr Savage vi- 

 sited the Bay of islands in New Zealand, situated in 

 35 6' S. latitude, and 174 43' E. longitude. From 

 his narrative we may infer, that the inhabitants, 

 of that part at least to which his observations were 

 chiefly directed, are in a state of civilization far supe- 

 rior to those iH many other portions of Australasia. 

 The principal town consists of about an hundred huts, 

 partly on an island, partly on the main land. Each 

 habitation on the latter is surrounded by a small "patch 

 of cultivated ground; but those on the former are oc- 

 cupied by the chief and his people, and are without 

 any appearance of cultivation. 



The numerous voyages between our Australasian 

 colonies, and the mother country or the eastern set- 

 tlements, are occasionally productive of discoveries in 

 their route. These, we must regret, are not preser- 

 ved, and regularly communicated to the public, from 

 which, we are satisfied, many geographical illustra- 

 tions would ensue. 



An infinity of unknown objects, well deserving the 

 attention of naturalists, are- produced in the seas and 

 on the shores of Australasia. Three new quadru- 

 peds, all singular, and some of them far removed from 

 those of the old world, have been discovered ; the 

 kangaroo, the wombat, and the ornythorincus para- 

 doxus. The first resembles a huge rat three or four 

 feet high ; it leaps on its hind legs, or supports itself 

 solely on the root of its tail : the second is a creature 

 of the utmost docility, which, in its wildest state, may 

 be seized and carried away without struggle or re- 

 sistance : and in the third, nature, by a strange as- 

 sociation, has elongated the snout of a quadruped in- 

 to the bill of a bird, furnished with two real and 

 perfect mandibles. The wombat is already domesti- 

 cated, and dwells in the English cottages as tame as 

 a dog. Numerous beautiful birds are produced in 

 Australasia: the bird of paradise, which was so long 



Austral- 



Products of 



Austral- 

 asia. 



1700-1810. 



celebrated in Europe as wanting feet ; parroquets, 

 cockatoos, a singular species of cassowary inhabiting 

 Decres' island and the continent ; and above all, the 

 black swan, a bird which, until discovered there, was 

 deemed of fabulous existence. Whales of immense 

 size, seals, and dolphins, line the shores, often ap- 

 pearing in such extensive shoals as to be mistaken for 

 a reef covered with dangerous breakers. Many ser- 

 pents of different species are seen floating on the sur- 

 face of the sea, and an enormous cuttle-fish, rolling 

 like a cask on the waves, stretches out its mon- 

 strous tentacula seven or eight feet in length. The 

 mollusca tribe appears in peculiar variety and bril- 

 liance. New vegetables are found in every quar- 

 ter. One marine fucus reaches from "the bottom 

 of the sea to the surface, 250 or 300 feet deep, on a 



single stem, which is supported in an admirable man- 

 ner through its whole extent by vesicles filled with air. 

 Detached by the violent agitation of storms, this gi- 

 gantic weed floats in so great an abundance as almost 

 to impede the navigator in advancing towards the 

 neighbouring shores. On various islands, and also on 

 the continent, are trees above 200 feet high, or much 

 more according to some narratives, and seven or eight 

 in diameter. Without entering more minutely into 

 this part of our subject, a general idea of the novel- 

 ties of Australasia may be formed, by learning that 

 the French transmitted from Port-Jackson no less 

 than 40,000 animals of all different classes. By their 

 united labours, they have enriched the National Mu- 

 seum with above 2500 species absolutely new ; and, 

 what cannot fail to be deeply interesting to the con- 

 templative philosopher, some animals have been found 

 alive in these regions, which were previously known 

 only in a fossil state. 



Descending the different gradations of society, 

 man is exhibited to us in his most savage state in Savages of 

 Australasia. His physical constitution, the struc- Austral- 

 ture of his person in an enormous head and slender as ' a - 

 extremities, distinguish him from all other nations. 

 His sight is more acute, and his hearing more perfect, 

 but his strength is less than that of natives belonging 

 to civilized countries. Regions so extensive and far 

 removed are inhabited by various races of people, 

 whose appearance, as well as manners and customs, 

 differ according to their respective tribes. Popula- 

 tion, however, from many reasons, is scanty ; which 

 well illustrates how much a kingdom is strength- 

 ened by civilization, and the ready means of sub- 

 sistence. Savages rest their security principally on 

 personal superiority ; for the right of appeal from 

 injury is rare. In Australasia, where supplies of 

 food are precarious, the natives are sometimes forced 

 to swallow large portions of a kind of soft earth to 

 appease the cravings of huiiger ; and this is said to 

 be of easy digestion. The affections of the Austral-, 

 asians are blunt when compared with those of the in- 

 habitants of other countries. Parental love may be 

 assimilated to the attachment of an animal for its 

 young, and conjugal affection centers more in con- 

 venience than regard. Mothers not only, procure 

 abortions by violent means, but lamentable instances 

 are told, and those too well authenticated, where, to 

 be freed of the plaints of their infants, they bury them 

 alive : a horrible expedient, and unexampled in any 

 other part of the world. Yet their own sufferings 



