152 PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 
Aborigines of New Holland, is that contained in the 
able papers upon this subject, by Captain Grey, in 
the second volume of his travels. When it is con- 
sidered, that the material for that purpose was 
collected by the author, during a few months 
interval between his two expeditions, which he 
spent at Swan River, and a short time subsequently 
passed at King George’s Sound, whilst holding the 
appointment of Government Resident there ; it is 
perfectly surprising that the amount of information 
amassed should be so great, and so generally correct, 
on subjects where so many mistakes are liable to be 
made, in all first inquiries, when we are ignorant of 
the character and habits of the people of whom in- 
formation is to be sought, and unacquainted with 
the language they speak. 
The subject, however, upon a portion of which 
Captain Grey so successfully entered, is very exten- 
sive, and one which no single individual, except by 
the devotion of a life-time, could hope fully to dis- 
cuss. The Continent of Australia is so vast, and the 
dialects, customs, and ceremonies of its inhabitants 
so varied in detail, though so similar in general 
outline and character, that it will require the lapse 
of years, and the labours of many individuals, to de- 
tect and exhibit the links which form the chain of 
connection in the habits and history of tribes so re- 
motely separated ; and it will be long before any 
one can attempt to give to the world a complete and 
well-drawn outline of the whole. 
