08 



NATIVE WORDS. 



some biscuit, and shewed them it was good to eat, 

 but they did not seem to admire it much, and the 

 men gave them an old jacket, frock, and trousers, 

 which were divided among three of them. In these 

 they looked ridiculous enough. They had very 

 gentle manners, and their language was soft and 

 vocalic. Their curiosity, however, was too much 

 excited to allow them to give us many words, but I 

 got five of which I was pretty certain.* They 

 mingled among us indiscriminately round the fire, 

 laughing and talking ; but we took care to keep 

 one or two men walking about with their muskets 

 ready in case of necessity. One fellow, with a very 

 intelligent mild countenance, attached himself to 

 me, and I christened him Thomas. He gave me 

 his waist-girdle, made of twisted hair, and an orna- 

 ment from his neck cut out of the shell of a nautilus 

 pompilius. They seemed greatly to admire our 

 Panama straw hats, often touching them, and then 

 pointing to their own heads. One or two of them 

 had a kind of skull-cap of net work, made, I think, 

 of twisted hair. Three "gins'* now joined us, two 

 of whom belonged to an old man, and one to another. 

 They were neither young nor good looking, being 

 rather skinny, with flabby breasts. They wore 



* Boomerang . . barbarra. 



Scars of the skin , . . mambona. 



Beard .... nittigalla. 



Eye nitte or nidile. 



Mouth . mallagana. 



