Ch. iii. lowest Stage of Human Society. 27 



number of inhabitants that was seen on the eastern 

 coast of New Holland, and the apparent inability 

 of the country, from its desolate state, to support 

 many more, observes, " By what means the inha- 

 " bitants of this country are reduced to such a 

 " number as it can subsist, is not perhaps very 

 " easy to guess; whether, like the inhabitants of 

 " New Zealand, they are destroyed by the hands 

 " of each other in contests for food; whether they 

 " are swept off by accidental famine; or whether 

 **■ there is any cause that prevents the increase of 

 " the species, must be left for future adventurers 

 " to determine."* 



The account which Mr. Collins has given of 

 these savages will, I hope, afford in some degree 

 a satisfactory answer. They are described as, in 

 general, neither tall nor well made. Their arms, 

 legs, and thighs, are thin, which is ascribed to 

 the poorness of their mode of living. Those who 

 inhabit the sea-coast depend almost entirely on 

 fish for their sustenance, relieved occasionally by 

 a repast on some large grubs which are found in 

 the body of the dwarf gum-tree. The very scanty 

 stock of animals in the woods, and the very great 

 labour necessary to take them, keep the inland 

 natives in as poor a condition as their brethren 

 on the coast. They are compelled to climb the 

 tallest trees after honey and the smaller animals, 

 such as the flying squirrel and the opossum. 

 When the stems are of great height, and without 



* Cook's First Voy. vol. iii. p. 240. 



