BY JAMES BACKHOUSE WALKER. 239 



Port Phillip, he says " and very excellent it was." He 



is equally emphatic as to the excellence of emu, on which 



he dined at Risdon. On one occasion he gave a dinner 



in his tent to all the civil and military officers. Here is 



the bill of fare: — *' Fish, kangaroo soup, roast kid 



saddle, roast kangaroo saddle, 2 fowls pellewed with 



rice and bacon, roast pig." Game was plentiful at the 



camp, and kangaroo sold at Sd. per lb. Sometimes good 



hauls offish were made. Soon after his landing, the Lieut.- 4th Mar. 1804. 



Governor tells Lord Hobart that on the preceding day he 



had served out 328 lbs. of fish, thereby saving 164 lbs. 



of salt beef At Risdon game Avas much moi-e abundant 



than in the neighbourhood of the Camp. Kangaroo, emu, 



ducks, and black swans were very plentiful. Immense 



flights of black swans frequented the river above Risdon 



in the breeding season. The people destroyed them so 



recklessly that the Governor, fearing lest such a valuable 



resource for fresh food might be extinguished, issued an 



Order prohibiting their being molested during the breed- lOih March. 



ing season. This first game law was one of the earliest 



products of civilisation. 



We have little information respecting the numbers of 

 the natives about the neighbourhood of the Camp. 

 Daring the first week their fires were seen at a 

 little distance, and Mr. Knopwood in his walks savf 

 many of their huts. There is no doubt that they 

 reconnoitred the strangei'S closely, but they were very 

 shy, and only once did a party of them approach 

 the settlement. Captain Mertho and Mr. Brown, the 

 botanist, had an interview with them on the beach 

 near Macquarie Point, but could not induce them to 

 venture into the Camp. They were probably not very 

 numerous about Sullivan's Cove— at any rate we hear 

 nothing of such large bodies of them as visited Risdon 

 and calised a panic on the 3i'd May, when the fatal 

 affray took place. At other places, such as Frederick 

 Henry Bay and ihe Huon, they were numerous, and 

 quite friendly with the English. 



During this first year few attempts were made to explore. 

 the neighbouring country. In a former paper I noticed 

 Mr. James Median's exploiing trip from Risdon in the 

 early part of 1804, by way of the Coal River to Prosser's 

 Plains, and through the Sorell district. Of Meehan's jour- 

 ney there is no record, except the track of his route given 

 in Flinders' map. The few officers at Sullivan's Cove had 

 too much to do at the Camp to allow of their leaving it ■ 

 for any extended exoursions. The first explorations from 



