Language, &C. oe the Inhabitants. io*a 
naked. We obierved, that all of them were remarkably clean 
jlim bed, and exceedingly aftive and nimole. One of thefe 
ftrangers had a necklace of ihells, very prettily made, and a 
bracelet upon his arm, formed of feveral firings, fo as to re- 
.femble what in England is called gynrp : both of them had a 
piece of bark tied over tne forehead, an i were disfigured by 
the bone in the nofe. We thought their language rpore harfih 
than that of the blunders in the South Sea, and they were con- 
tinually repeating the word ckercau, which we imagined to be 
.a term expreffing admiration, by the manner in which it was 
uttered : they aifo cried out, when they faw any thing new, 
cher, tut , tut , tut, tut ! which probably had a fimilar fignifi- 
cation. Their canoe was not above ten feet long, and very 
narrow, but it was fitted with an outrigger, much like thofe 
of the iflands, tho’ in every refpeft very much inferior : when it 
was in (hallow water, they fet it on with poles, and when in 
deep, they worked it with paddles about four feet long : it 
contained juft four people, fo that the people who vifited us to- 
day went away at two turns. Their lances were like thofe 
that we had feen in Botany Bay, except that they had but a 
iingle point, which in force of them was the fling of the ray, 
and barbed with two or three fharp bones of the fame fifh : it 
was indeed a moil terrible weapon, and the inftrument which 
they nfed in throwing it, feemed to be formed with more art 
than any we had -feen before. About .twelve o'clock next day, 
the yawl returned, with another turtle: and a large fling-ray., 
and in the evening was fent out again. 
The next morning, two of the Indians came on board, 
-but after a fhort flay, went along the fhore, and applied 
tkemfelves with great diligence to the flriking of fifh. Mr. 
Gore, who went out this day with his gun, had the good 
fortune to kill one of the animals which had been fo much the 
fubje&of our fpeculation: In form, it is moil like the gerbua, 
which it alfo refembles in its motion, as has been obferved al- 
ready, but it greatly differs in fize, the gerbua not being lar- 
ger than a common rat, and this animal, when full grown, 
being as big as a fheep : this individual was a young one, 
much under its full growth, weighing only thirty-eight pounds. 
Tne head, neck, and fhoulders, are very final 1 in proportion 
to the other parts of the body ; the tail is nearly as long as 
the body, thick near the rump, and tapering towards the end: 
the fore-legs of this individual were only weight inches long, 
and the hind-legs two and twenty : its progrefs is b> fucceffive 
leaps or hops, of a great length, in an ere£t poflure ; the fore- 
legs are kept bent clofe to the bread:, and feemed to be of ufe 
only for digging : the fkin is covered with a fhort fur, of a 
• dark mouf’e or grey colour, excepting the head and ears, which 
1 bear 
