1836. 



DOCTOR — DOG — APPEAR A KCE. 



627 



kangaroos, in a kind of hunting dance, was exceedingly good 

 and interesting. The whole exhibition lasted more than an 

 hour, during most of which time upwards of a hundred savages 

 were exerting themselves in jumping and stamping as if their 

 lives depended on their energetic movements. There was a boy 

 who appeared to be idiotic, or afflicted with a kind of fit ; but 

 the man who was holding him seemed to be quite unconcerned 

 about his convulsive efforts, saying, " by and bye he would be 

 a doctor" (as I was told by a resident who understood the lan- 

 guage), which reminded me of what Falkner says of the Pata- 

 gonians.* After the corobbery the natives collected round 

 the house where the feast was preparing ; and it will not be 

 easy to forget the screams of delight that burst from old 

 and young as they looked in at the door and saw the tub in 

 which their rice was smoking. Before the food was distributed 

 they were told to sit down, which they immediately did, in a 

 circle round the house. They separated, of their own accord, 

 into families, each little party lighting a small fire before them. 

 Their behaviour, and patience, were very remarkable and 

 pleasing. One family had a native dog, which in size, colour, 

 and shape, was like a fox, excepting that the nose was not 

 quite so sharp, nor the tail so bushy. 



Most of the aborigines had rather good countenances, and 

 well-formed heads, as compared with those about Sydney, or 

 in Van Diemen's land. The lathy thinness of their persons, 

 which seemed totally destitute of fat, and almost without flesh, 

 is very remarkable. I have since seen some drawings of South 

 African aborigines, executed under the critical eye of Doctor 

 Andrew Smith, by the correct hand of Mr. Charles Bell, which 

 are so like the natives who live near King George Sound in 

 colour, as well as countenance, and extraordinary shape, that 

 they might be taken for full-length portraits of the latter 

 instead of Africans. 



Many of these natives have features smaller and less marked 

 than are usual among savages ; but their foreheads are higher 

 and more full : they are not tall, few exceeding five feet eight 



* Page 163. 

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