woman from another tribe, for a wife, and had been challenged by one of her connexions. The combatants, wore white fillets round their heads, and had boomerings in their belts, and wooden shields, and waddies, in their hands; with the latter, after some fencing, they gave each other heavy blows, upon the head. They then retreated a few paces, but maintained a vociferous contest, in which, the women of the village joined. It was painful, to witness this affray, which we could not interfere, to put an end to, on account of not knowing their language. At length, to our great relief, a shoal of mullet was announced. The people took their nets, and hastened to the beach; and when there were no abettors, the contest ceased, and the company, belonging our boat, who had been standing in the rain, to witness this painful spectacle, no longer delayed returning on board the Isabella. It is said, the battles sometimes become very general, on occasions of this sort, but that they are seldom attended by loss of life. Several of the men, at this time, were armed with spears, and boomerings; and seemed only to wait, for a little more excitement, to join in the combat; others, paid little attention to the fight, and one continued, quietly building a hut, notwithstanding, the combatants were often close by him.

On the borders of Moreton Bay, into which, several small rivers discharge themselves, there are said to be four tribes of Natives, of about one hundred each. Those, about Point Skirmish, to the northward, are reported, to be remarkably pugnacious, and cruel. Possibly, they may have been influenced by runaway prisoners. The ornaments, of those we met with, were necklaces, of short pieces of reed, pieces of nautilus, or other pearly shell, feathers, and bands of kangaroo sinews, or of opposum-fur: of the latter material, some of the female children wore short, fringe aprons. They smear their bodies, with charcoal, pipe-clay, or ruddle, and grease. Some of them, are affected with disease, said to have been communicated, from an American Whaler; but most of them seem, healthy, and robust.

While in Moreton Bay, we were surprised, by hearing the Blacks call biscuits, Five Islands. This we learned,

arose from some men, who, several years ago, were driven from the part of the Illawarra coast, called the Five Islands, having held up biscuits, to the Blacks, and said, Five Islands, in the hope, of learning from them, the direction of their lost home. The Blacks, however, mistook this, for the name of the biscuits, and hence have continued to call them by this name. The lost men remained among the Natives, for several years, and were kindly treated. At length, they were brought away, by a vessel that put in here, and subsequently, one of them was returned hither, as a prisoner.

17th. The weather having become more favourable, the anchor was up, at an early hour; we parted from Lieut. Otter, the officer, whose duty it was, to see the vessel off, and who had shewn us much kind attention, and soon crossed the bar, by a shallow passage. At sea, the wind was adverse, and the rolling of the vessel, was such, as to produce much sickness. This continued to be the case, till the 20th, when we had a fine breeze, and were off Port Macquarie; but the sea was too high, to admit of our being put on shore there, without risk to the vessel. In the night of the 22nd, there were violent squalls, and in the morning, a gale commenced. We were then to the south of Port Jackson, having been unable to make the land. In standing off, during the night, we were driven by a current, to the north, so that in the morning, we were off the mouth of the Hunter River.

The gale continuing, and our provisions being reduced to four days consumption, we concluded to run for Newcastle, in Port Hunter. On coming opposite the port, a gun was fired, and a signal made, which was answered by one that perplexed us, signifying that the tide had begun to ebb. We therefore again beat off the land; but on referring to the tables, it was found that the ebb could not have commenced, and that the tide would yet flow for several hours; we therefore again approached the shore, fired another gun, and made another signal, shewing that the vessel belonged the Government. This was answered by one such as we desired, and quickly by a second, indicating that the pilot

had left the shore to board us; he soon reached the vessel, and made an excuse for the wrong signal, that was not very satisfactory; but under his prompt directions, we beat into Port Hunter, tacking first to one side, and then to the other, close to the breakers, until we reached a place of safety, under a natural, though imperfect breakwater, terminated by an islet, called The Knobby. The Tidewaiter, and another officer, soon boarded us to know our business; and after they, with our captain, and our fellow passenger, had gone on shore, we mustered such of the people as inclined to meet with us, to whom we read a chapter, and addressed some counsel. It was far from a bright time, and there is reason to fear, that more of a disposition to murmur, at the privations that had been endured, existed among them, than of one to give God thanks for the unmerited mercies, continued to us, and by which we had now been delivered from being driven to sea, in a famishing state. Last night the toppinglift of our mizen sail broke, when two men were on the boom, which swung over the side, but they kept their hold, and escaped injury. Another man received a severe bruise by it, and would have gone overboard, had not his leg got jammed between a water-cask and the bulwark. This poor fellow, though now unable to turn in bed from the injury, seemed thankful for his escape from a watery grave; from which, in a dark night, with a high sea, he could not have been rescued, had he been precipitated into the ocean.

25th. The gale continuing we went on shore, and were kindly welcomed by George Brooks, the Colonial Surgeon. Newcastle in New South Wales, like the town in England from which it is named, is famous for the production of coal; but Newcastle in N. S. Wales, is only a village of about forty houses, inclusive of a jail, a hospital and military barracks. It stands at the mouth of the Hunter River, on a sand-stone promontory, on the point of which, there is a lighthouse. The harbour is not of easy access; the river, which is shallow in this part, widens beyond it, and forms several channels, separated by low, Mangrove islands. There being no prospect of the Isabella getting to sea again for a few days, we embarked in the Ceres steamer in the

evening, but the sea proved too high for her to proceed, and she put back to Newcastle about midnight.

26th. Most of the day was spent with our kind friend the Surgeon, in company with a gentleman in the Survey department and a settler, who were, like ourselves, delayed here by the storm. In a walk, we passed the burial ground, in which a detachment of an ironed-gang was at work, under an overseer, and three sentries. These men had been occupied here about a month, in making improvements, that a quarter of their number of industrious men, would have effected in the same time. Work without wages proceeds slowly, by a natural consequence that is not at all reversed, by the work being imposed as the punishment of crime. The state of the weather rendering it unlikely we should be able to proceed to Sydney for some days, we concluded to visit Ebenezer, on Lake Macquarie, where Lancelot Edward Threlkeld is employed by the Government, as a Missionary to the Aborigines, With this view we engaged as our guide Beerabahn, or M'Gill, a tall, intelligent man, the chief of the tribe of Blacks resorting thither.

27th. We set out with our black conductor, who could speak a little English, and one of his countrymen named Boatman or Boardman. These people had contracted a debasing appetite for strong drink, which was often given them by the military and other persons, perhaps from mistaken notions of kindness. Boatman some years afterwards, lost his life in a drunken fray.

M'Gill was dressed in a red-striped shirt, not very clean, a pair of ragged trowsers, and an old hat. Suspended from his neck, by a brass chain, he had a half-moon-shaped, brass breastplate, with his native and English name, and a declaration of his kingly dignity, engraven upon it: his nose and part of his cheeks were besmeared with ruddle, but he had few cuttings upon his flesh: he carried one of our bundles, and took a young dog upon his shoulder, on this journey, of twenty-six miles through the bush. In passing his hut, he stripped off his shirt, which he left behind to avoid encumbrance. Boatman, who is represented in the accompanying wood-cut, in the act of throwing a spear, by

means of a womera, an implement used to increase the impetus, wore a ragged, blue jacket, and trowsers.-On the way through the bush, our guides stopped to seek wild

bees, and stick small pieces of feather to them, with gum; this makes them fly heavily, and enables their pursuers to watch them in their flight, until they reach their nests. Many of the open places in the forest, abounded with Gigantic-lily; the flower stems of which rise from 10 to 20 feet high. These stems are roasted, and eaten by the Aborigines, who cut them for this purpose, when they are about a foot and a half high, and thicker than a man's arm. The Blacks also roast the roots, and make them into a sort of cake, which they eat cold: they likewise roast and pound the seeds of Zamia spiralis, and then place the mass for two or three weeks,