Shores of Tasmania . 
333 
quantity, the testaceae and crustacese constituted the principal 
and almost only supply they drew from that element. 
From the reports of the early navigators, it would seem that 
the aborigines existed in considerable numbers along the coast of 
Tasmania; and we may thence infer that the consumption of 
shell-fish must have been very great, as they ate no vegetables, 
or substitute for bread. In cooking, the shells appear in all in¬ 
stances to have been merely roasted in the simplest manner, as I 
never could trace any indications of ovens, or stones arranged to 
be heated. This burning of the shells has hastened their decay, 
and, in the course of a few years, the identity of the species of 
which the various heaps and mounds are composed, will with 
difficulty be traced. 
In obtaining the shell-fish, &c., the women were, I believe, 
almost exclusively employed, wherever diving was requisite, as 
for the species of Haliotis and Oyster; these being brought to the 
surface in baskets, formed from various sedge-leaved plants. In 
the majority of cases, they consumed their food as near as pos¬ 
sible to the fishing stations ; occasionally going a little inland to 
avail themselves of a spring or stream of fresh water. 1 have 
however observed, in a great number of instances, that there 
were unusually large accumulations of shells on projecting points, 
headlands, and places commanding extensive views—even where 
apparently not the most eligible for cooking; whence I have sup¬ 
posed that they adopted these sites for their repasts, to protect 
themselves from the sudden attacks of hostile tribes. The want 
of good water in the vicinity, seems to have been sometimes im¬ 
material, as La Billardiere, in his “ Voyage in Search ot La 
Perouse/’ observes, with reference to a repast of the aborigines 
at Recherche Bay, “ Their meal (consisting of Haliotis and 
Crayfish) had continued a long time, and we were much sur¬ 
prised that not one of them had yet drank; but this they deferred 
until they were fully satisfied with eating. The women and girls 
then went to fetch water with the vessels of sea weed, getting it 
at the first place they came to, and setting it down by the men, 
who drank it without ceremony, though it was very muddy and 
stagnant.” 
