VOYAGE TO NEW SOUTH WALES. 
ftrip, and would have taken from him his clothes, and 
probably his life, had it not been for the report of 
two mufquets; which they no fooner heard, than they 
ran away. This party were returning from the wood^ 
with cork, which they had been cutting, either for th^^ 
canoes or huts ; and had with them no other inftruments 
than thofe that were necefiary for the bufinefs on which 
they were engaged ; fuch as a ftone hatchet, and the 
{hell flick before mentioned. Had they been armed 
with any other weapons, the convid would probably 
have loft his life. 
That which we call the fweet tea, is a creeping kind 
of vine, running to a great extent along the ground ; 
the ftalk is not fo thick as the fmalleft honey-fuckle ; 
nor is the leaf fo large as the common bay leaf, though 
fomething fimilar to it ; and the tafte is fweet, exadly 
like the liquorice root of the ftiops. Of this the convidls 
and foldiers make an infufion which is tolerably pleafant, 
and ferves as no bad fuccedaneum for tea. Indeed were 
it to be met with in greater abundance, it would be found 
very beneficial to thofe poor creatures, whofe conftant 
diet is fait provifions. In ufing it for medical purpofes, 
C c 2 I have 
