138 
A VOYAGE TO 
[North Coast. 
1802. the size of the meshes, was probably intended to catch turtle ; upon 
Saturday 20. another was a young shark ; and these, with their paddles and 
spears, seemed to consitute the whole of their earthly riches. 
Two of the three men w r ere advanced in years, and from the re- 
semblance of feature were probably brothers. With the exception 
of two chiefs at Taheity, these were the tallest Indians I had ever 
seen ; the two brothers being from three to four inches higher than 
my coxswain, who measured five feet eleven. They were not re- 
markable for being either stout or slender ; though like most of the 
Australians, their legs did not bear the European proportion to the 
size of their heads and bodies. The third native was not so tall as the 
other two ; and he was, according to our notions, better proportioned. 
Their features did not much differ from those of their countrymen 
on the South and East Coasts ; but they had each of them lost two 
front teeth from the upper jaw. Their hair was short, though not 
curly ; and a fillet of net work, which the youngest man had wrapped 
round his head, was the sole ornament or clothing seen amongst them. 
The two old men appeared, to my surprise, to have undergone cir- 
cumcision ; but the posture of the youngest, who remained sitting 
down, did not allow of observation being made upon him. 
After being five minutes with them, the old men proposed to 
go to our boat ; and this being agreed to, we proceeded together, 
hand in hand. But they stopped half way, and retreating a little, 
the eldest made a short harangue which concluded with the word 
jahree ! pronounced with emphasis ; they then returned to the 
rafts, and dragged them towards their three companions who were 
sitting on the furthest rocks. These I judged to be women, and 
that the proposal of the men to go to our boat was a feint to get us 
further from them ; it did not seem, however, that the women were 
so much afraid of us, as the men appeared to be on their account ; 
for although we walked back, past the rafts, much nearer than 
before, they remained very quietly picking oysters. It was not 
my desire to annoy these poor people ; and therefore, leaving 
