considerable distance, except in turning or changing their altitude, which they effect by altering the position of their wings. A flock of them was swimming off Eddystone Point. In the course of the forenoon we dropped anchor in 13 fathoms water, under Swan Island, in Banks's Strait, to avoid drifting back with the strong tide. To the south we had the low sandy shore of Cape Portland, with low woody and grassy hills further distant; and to the north, Clarkes Island, and Cape Barren Island, with its lofty peaks.

The superstition of sailors often leads them to attribute a tedious voyage to having some unlucky person in the vessel. On hearing one of them remark, that we must have some Jonah on board, I took occasion to observe, that it would be well if we had not many worse than Jonah; for he was remarkable for disobedience to the Lord in one instance, but I feared, that in our company, there were those who were disobedient in many. There is little ear for religious instruction, but no profession to despise it. I have been much restrained in mind in regard to expression on religious subjects, and have felt the force of the declaration "Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty;" the reverse of which is also true. Here, there is a want of regard for this Spirit, and little ear to hear. Nevertheless there are two individuals on board, who say little, but spend much of their time in reading the Bible and hymns, whom we look upon with some comfort. The wreck of a brig that was lately lost, it is said, in consequence of drunkenness, was still lying on Swan Island.

As soon as the tide served, we again made sail; and passing the west end of Clarkes Island, came safely to anchor in Horse-shoe Bay, under the east shore of Preservation Island.

8th. Early in the morning, five Pelicans and some Cape Barren Geese, were upon the beach of Preservation, not far from two huts belonging to James Munro, an old sealer, who, with a native black woman named Jumbo, is the only permanent resident on the Island. We went on shore and paid them a visit, and had an interview also with three

other sealers, and three female Aborigines, casually here, on their way to the coast of New Holland, where, on a number of small islands, they still obtain Fur Seals. These animals have become rare in the Australian seas compared to what they were a few years since, when they were destroyed in vast numbers, often in the breeding season. On Guncarriage and Woody Islands, a few miles distant, several other sealers are residing, with female Aborigines, who assist in the management of their boats, take Mutton-birds, and do other kinds of work for these men. Some of the sealers exhibit the recklessness frequent in the character of sailors, in a superlative degree. The women were dressed in frocks made of the skins of the Wallaby, a small species of Kangaroo. One of them presented necklaces of shells to my companion and myself; these she dropped into our hands as she passed, appearing to wish to avoid receiving any acknowledgment.

Preservation Island is low, and surrounded by roundtopped, grey, granite rocks, except in a few places, where there are small sandy bays: it is covered with grass, barilla and nettles, and a large portion of it is so thickly burrowed by Mutton-birds, that it is difficult to walk without breaking into their holes. J. Munro raises wheat, potatoes, and other vegetables near his house, which is sheltered by a few Tea-trees, the only ones on the island: he also rears goats, pigs and fowls; and by means of these, added to the collecting of birds and their eggs, obtains a subsistence. Black Snakes sometimes take possession of the burrows of the Mutton-birds. We saw one of these formidable animals, more than five feet long, and gave it a blow that made it rear its head with a threatening aspect. As the only switch we could raise was a feeble one of Cape Barren Tea-bush, it was not thought expedient to repeat the blow, and the animal soon took refuge in a neighbouring hole. A sister of Jumbo lost her life by the bite of a Black Snake, in her hand. When taking Mutton-birds, the natives put a stick into the burrows and listen, to distinguish whether snakes or birds are the occupants.

9th. Notwithstanding the wind was adverse, J. Thornloe

determined to attempt proceeding, having heard that the settlement on Flinders Island was suffering for want of provisions; he therefore sailed from Preservation, and by the assistance of J. Munro, as pilot, passed Long Island, Badger Island, Chapel Island, and a number of others, and succeeded in reaching the anchorage under Green Island, the nearest place of safety to the settlement, at which a vessel could lie.

On approaching Flinders Island, a smoke was observed on the shore, which we afterwards learned was a signal to the boats of the Settlement that were out, where they could not see the cutter. Two boats soon came off, in which were the Commandant, Ensign William J. Darling, and A. Mc'Lachlan, the surgeon of the Establishment for the Aborigines. The arrival of the Charlotte was hailed with joy, the white inhabitants of the settlement having been reduced in supplies, to potatoes and oatmeal, and the Aborigines, who do not like oatmeal, to potatoes and rice; so that had it not been for the supply of Mutton-birds which they were able to obtain, they would have been greatly straitened. Happily their tea and sugar also, were not exhausted; for of tea, as a beverage, the Aborigines are not less fond than the Europeans, from whom they have acquired this taste.

Before proceeding with my Journal, I will introduce a brief notice of Van Diemens Land and its Aboriginal Inhabitants, and of their history up to the time we first visited them on Flinders Island.

CHAPTER VII.

Discovery of V. D. Land.-Its position and character.-Aborigines.-Erroneous ideas of.-Attack upon.-Provocations.-Hostilities of.-Attempt to capture. -G. A. Robinson's Mission.-Settlement in Bass's Straits.-Flinders Island.Productions.- Manners of the Natives.-Dances.-Civilization.-Sealer and Child.-Breakwinds. -Songs.-Clothing.-Capacity.-Ornaments. — Sickness. -Birds, &c.-Excursion.-Cookery.-Dogs.-Mangroves.-Kangaroo Rat.— Bandicoot.-Rain.-Commandant's Hut.-"Boatswain," a Native Woman.Sealers. Tasmanian Porcupine.-Wallowing in Ashes.-Gratitude.-Weapons.-Green Island.-Mutton Birds.-Music.—Tide-ripple.- Arrival at George Town.

VAN DIEMENS LAND was discovered by Abel Jansen Tasman, in 1642; he supposed it to be a part of the Australian Continent, and named it in honour of Anthony Van Diemen, at that time Governor General of the Dutch possessions in the East Indies. It was ascertained to be an island in 1798, by Dr. Bass, and taken possession of by the English in 1803, by Lieutenant Bowen. The first Lieutenant Governor arrived in 1804, and removed the seat of Government from the original settlement at Risdon, or Rest-down, on the east bank of the Derwent, to the present site, which he named Hobart Town, after Lord Hobart.

The island lies between 41° 20′ and 43° 40' south latitude, and between 144° 40′ and 148° 20′ east longitude: its length is about 210 miles, from north to south, and its breadth 150 from east to west; it is very mountainous and covered with forest, which in many parts is extremely thick, but in others open and grassy. The original inhabitants, whose forefathers had occupied it from time immemorial, were of the Negro race. They were of moderate stature, dark olive colour, and had black, curly, woolly hair. They were few in

number, probably never more than from 700 to 1,000, their habits of life being unfriendly to increase. Excepting on the west coast, they had no houses, but in inclement weather took shelter in the thicker parts of the forest, in the vallies or near the sea. They wore no clothes, but sometimes ornamented themselves by strips of skin with the fur on, which they wore around the body, arms, or legs. To enable them to resist the changes of the weather, they smeared themselves from head to foot with red ochre and grease. The men also clotted their hair with these articles, and had the ringlets drawn out like rat-tails. The women cropped their hair as close as they could with sharp stones or shells.

These people formed a few tribes, differing a little in dialect and habits; they were destitute of any traces of civilization; their food consisted of roots and some species of fungus, with shell-fish, grubs, birds, and other wild animals. The latter they took by means of the simplest missiles, or by climbing trees; they cooked them by roasting, and daily removed to a fresh place, to avoid the offal and filth that accumulated about the little fires which they kindled daily, and around which they slept. In this state, the first European visitants of their island, found them, and mistaking some peculiarities in their manners for stupidity, set them down as lower in intellect than other human beings.

In the early days of the Settlement of V. D. Land by the English, a party of the Aborigines made their appearance near Risden, carrying boughs of trees in token of peace, and were fired at by order of a timid officer, who became alarmed at their visit. Several of them were killed, and the rest fled in alarm. Though they did not forget this act of outrage, they were long before they became hostile.

The opinion seems general that the misconduct of Europeans gave rise to the aggressions of the Aborigines. These aggressions, however, produced retaliation on the part of the Whites, who shot many of the Aborigines, sometimes through fear, and there is reason to apprehend, sometimes through recklessness. At length, the Aborigines finding