lxxxvi 
INTRODUCTION. 
[Prior Discoveries. 
Marion, than ours, which was perfectly preserved ; apparently from the 
1772 r> 
natives finding them to be of use in some way or other.* 
There were marks of fire almost every where ; and in many places 
the earth was covered with ashes. Where it was not burnt, there 
was plenty of grass, ferns like those of Europe, sorrel, and alleluia. 
From the few animals seen, it was thought that the fires made by the 
natives near the coast, drove them inland. The shooters met with a 
tiger cat, and saw many holes in the ground, like those of a warren. 
They killed crows, blackbirds, thrushes, doves, a white-bellied pa- 
roquet whose plumage resembled that of the same bird at the River 
Amazons, and several kinds of sea birds, principally pelicans, and 
the black-bodied red bill. 
The climate was cold, although in the end of summer ; and it ex- 
cited surprise, that the savages could go naked ; the more so, as the 
nearest approach to houses consisted of branches of trees, set up 
behind the fire places to break off the wind. The many heaps of 
shells seemed to bespeak, that the usual food of these people was 
muscles and other shell fish. 
Many large rays were caught by the French, as also sea cats, old 
wives, and several other fish whose names were not known. They 
found also plenty of cray-fish, lobsters, very large crabs, and good 
oysters ; and the curious picked up sea stars, sea eggs, and a variety 
of fine and rare shells. 
Finding he was only losing time in searching for water in this 
wild country, captain Marion determined to make sail for New Zea- 
land, where he hoped to succeed better, and also to obtain masts for 
the Castries. He accordingly left Van Diemen's Land on the 10th 
of March ; and the account of it concludes with the observation, that 
they had very bad weather on the west coast, but on the east side 
the sky was much clearer and winds more moderate. 
The chart of Mons. Crozet, which accompanies the voyage, appears, 
though on a very small scale, to possess a considerable degree of 
* It is more probable, that these trees are able to resist the fire better than the others. 
