COASTS OF AUSTRALIA. 
27 
Many turtles’ heads were placed on the 182L 
shelfs or niches of the excavation, amply demon- June 23 . 
strative of the luxurious and profuse mode of life 
these outcasts of society had, at a period rather 
recently, followed. The roof and sides of this 
snug retreat were also entirely covered with the 
uncouth figures I have already described. 
‘‘As this is the first specimen of Australian 
taste in the fine arts that we have detected in 
these voyages, it became me to make a parti- 
cular observation thereon : Captain Flinders had 
discovered figures on Chasm Island, in the Gulf 
of Carpentaria, formed with a burnt stick ; but 
this performance, exceeding a hundred and fifty 
figures, which must have occupied much time, 
appears at least to be one step nearer refine- 
ment than those simply executed with a piece of 
charred wood. Immediately above this schistose 
stratum is a superincumbent mass of sand-stone, 
which appeared to form the upper stratum of the 
island.” {Cunningham MS.) ^ 
Having procured all the spars and planks from 
the wreck that could be useful to us, we made 
preparations to sail, and at daylight, the 25 th, 25. 
got underweigh with my two companions, and 
* Similar representations were found by Mr, White, carved on 
stone in the neighbourhood of Port Jachson.—'WHiTE’s Jotirnaly 
4to.p. 14L 
