I INTRODUCTION 17 



tied round their ankles. I gave to each of them a 

 string of beads and a medal ; which I thought they 

 received with some satisfaction. They seemed to 

 set no value on iron or iron tools. They were 

 even ignorant of the use of fishhooks. . . . 



We cannot, however, suppose it to be possible 

 that a people who inhabit a sea-coast and who 

 seem to derive no part of their sustenance from 

 the productions of the ground, should not be 

 acquainted with some mode of catching fish, 

 though we did not happen to see any of them 

 thus employed ; nor observe any canoe or vessel 

 in which they go upon the water. Though they 

 absolutely rejected the sort of fish that we offered 

 to them, it was evident that shell-fish at least 

 made a part of their food, from the many heaps 

 of mussel-shells we saw in different parts near 

 the shore and about some deserted habitations 

 near the head of the bay. These were little sheds 

 or hovels built of sticks, and covered with bark. 

 We could also perceive evident signs of their 

 sometimes taking up their abode in the trunks 

 of large trees, which had been hollowed out by 

 fire, most probably for this very purpose. . . . 

 The females wore a kangaroo skin (in the same 

 shape as it came from the animal) tied over the 

 shoulders and round the waist. But its only use 

 seemed to be to support their children when 

 carried on their backs ; for it did not cover those 

 parts which most nations conceal ; being in all 

 other respects as naked as the men, and as black, 

 and their bodies marked with scars in the same 

 manner.^ 



Cook's Australian discoveries resulted in the 

 establishment of the first penal settlement at 

 Sydney, the site of which was chosen by Governor 



^ CooFs Voyage to the Pacific, vol. i, chap. vi. 



SMITH : N.T. -a 



