230 CAPTAIN COOK'S VOYAGES 



men, that though their hair was of the same colour, some 

 of them had their heads completely shorn, in others this 

 operation had been performed only on one side, while 

 the rest of them had all the upper part of the head shorn 

 close, leaving a circle of hair all round, somewhat like the 

 tonsure of the Romish ecclesiastics. Many of the children 

 had fine features, and were thought pretty ; but of the 

 persons of the women, especially those advanced in years, 

 a less favourable report was made. 



" The only animal of the quadruped kind we got, was a 

 sort of opossum, about twice the size of a large rat. It is 

 of a dusky colour above, tinged with a brown or rusty cast, 

 and whitish below. About a third of the tail towards its 

 tip is white, and bare underneath, by which it probably 

 hangs on the branches of trees, as it climbs these, and lives 

 on berries. The kangaroo, another animal found farther 

 northward in New Holland, without doubt also inhabits 

 here, as the natives we met with had some pieces of their 

 skins ; and we several times saw an animal, though in- 

 distinctly, run from the thickets when we walked in the 

 woods, which, from the size, could be no other. 



" There are several sorts of birds, but all so scarce and 

 shy, that they are evidently harassed by the natives, who 

 perhaps draw much of their subsistence from them. In the 

 woods the principal sorts are large brown hawks or eagles, 

 crows nearly the same as ours in England, yellowish 

 paroquets, and large pigeons. There are also three or four 

 small birds, one of which is of the thrush kind. On the 

 shore were several common and sea-gulls, a few black 

 oyster-catchers or sea-pies, and a pretty plover of a stone 

 colour, with a black hood. About the lake behind the 

 beach, a few wild ducks were seen ; and some shags used 

 to perch upon the high leafless trees near the shore. 



" The sea affords a much greater plenty, and at least as 

 great a variety, as the land. Of these the elephant fish, 

 or pejegallo, mentioned in Frezier's Voyage, are the most 

 numerous ; and though inferior to many other fish, were 

 very palatable food. Next in number, and superior in 

 goodness, to the elephant fish, was a sort none of us recol- 

 lected to have seen before. It partakes of the nature both 

 of a round and of a flat fish, having the eyes placed very 

 near each other, the forepart of the body very much 

 flattened or depressed, and the rest rounded. It is of a 

 brownish sandy colour, with rusty spots on the upper part 

 and below. From the quantity of slime it was always 

 covered with, it seems to live after the manner of flat fish, at 

 the bottom. Upon the rocks are plenty of mussels, and 

 some other small shell-fish. There are also great numbers 



