250 
Characteristics of the 
unquestionably appear in our eyes, they amply met every 
idea of comfort and protection which had entered into 
the minds of the occupants. And such is the force of 
habit and association, that even yet these children of the 
forest gladly quit the neat and substantial cottages 
which have been built for them, for the luxury (as they 
account it) of wandering over the bush, and of reclining 
under the shade of a roofless break-wind. In the hoTtr 
of sickness and of the felt approach of death, they often 
breathe a wish to meet the issue of their maladies amidst 
the wilds of Nature, and under the unobstructed view of 
the heavens. 
Their encampments were always formed on the margin 
of a stream or lagoon. To be within reach of a natural 
reservoir, was of prime importance to a people who had 
no means of digging wells, or of carrying about with 
them, for any considerable distance, a stock of water. 
Large shells served them as utensils in which water 
might be conveyed to the sick and infirm. 
In all their wanderings, they were particularly careful 
to bear in their hands the materials of kindling a fire. 
Their memory supplies them with no instances of a 
period in which they were obliged to draw upon their 
inventive powers for the means of resuscitating an 
element so essential to their health and comfort as flame. 
How it came originally into their possession is unknown. 
Whether it may be viewed as the gift of Nature, or the 
product of art and sagacity, they cannot recollect a 
period when it was a desideratum. Its importance was 
so keenly felt, that they never allowed it to die utterly 
away. It was the part of the females especially to carry 
a firebrand in their hands, which was studiously re¬ 
freshed from time to time as it became dull and 
evanescent. The firebrand is now displaced by the more 
portable and well-supplied tinder-box, which is always 
