Narrative of a Voyage Round the World: Comprehending an Account of the Wreck of the Ship "Governor Ready" in Torres Straits, a Description of the British Settlements on the Coasts of New Holland... : Also, the Manners and Customs of the Aboriginal Tribes...

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Page 258 - Had in her sober livery all things clad; Silence accompanied ; for beast and bird, They to their grassy couch, these to their nests, Were slunk, all but the wakeful nightingale ; She all night long her amorous descant sung: Silence was pleased. Now...
Page 258 - Now came still evening on, and twilight grey Had in her sober livery all things clad; Silence accompanied; for beast and bird, They to their grassy couch, these to their nests Were slunk, all but the wakeful nightingale ; She all night long her amorous descant sung , Silence was...
Page 312 - One had the form of a parrot's head, with a ruff round the neck, and was not ill done. Their canoes are about fifty feet in length, and appear to have been hollowed out of a single tree ; but the pieces which form the gunwales are planks sewed on with the fibres of the cocoa nut, and secured with pegs. These vessels are low, forward, but rise abaft; and, being narrow, are fitted with an outrigger on each side, to keep them steady. A raft, of. greater breadth than the canoe, extends over about half...
Page 163 - ... hanging a considerable length down the back. " Many of them have the front tooth in the upper jaw knocked out in the same manner as the Port Jackson natives mentioned by Captain Collins. They paint their faces, and frequently their entire bodies, with red earth; those who are inclined to be dandies, draw one or two longitudinal lines of white across the forehead, and three similar on each cheek ; and a few who appeared to be exquisites, had another white line drawn from the forehead to the tip...
Page 123 - ... places, on which a few years ago, settlements, by direction of our government, were formed, but which have since been abandoned, as Dr. Wilson argues, and shews, from very insufficient and mistaken causes. The principal object in forming a settlement on the coast in question, as the author states, was to establish a commercial intercourse with the natives of various islands in the Indian Archipelago, and which, it was imagined, might be brought about through the means of the Malays, who annually...
Page 312 - Their arms were bows, arrows, and clubs, which they bartered for every kind of iron work with eagerness, but appeared to set little value on anything else. The bows are made of split bamboo, and so strong that no man in the ship could bend one of them. The string is a broad slip of cane fixed to one end of the bow; and fitted with a noose to go over the other end when strung. The arrow is a cane of about four feet long, into which a pointed piece of the hard, heavy, casuarina wood is firmly and neatly...
Page 332 - ... it is astonishing how soon, by proper management, it may be accomplished. I may here state, that I have always had the cordial co-operation of the officer of the guard, and the master of the ship, in checking those under their command, by punishing offences — especially impropriety of language — which might be passed over in a barrack-room, or in a private ship. " It would strike a stranger as rather a singular circumstance, that, amongst such a heterogeneous multitude, not a single expression...
Page 31 - In the evening we re-assembled, when a short address was made to the sailors, explanatory of our projected future proceedings. The dangers that might reasonably be expected to befall us during the way, were pointed out, and also the means of averting or combating them successfully; the sailors were complimented on their hitherto general good conduct, which it was hoped would continue to merit praise, as influencing materially the favourable issue of our enterprise. " The scene was impressive and...
Page 312 - ... one of them. The string is a broad slip of cane, fixed to one end of the bow; and fitted with a noose to go over the other end, when strung. The arrow is a cane of about four feet long, into which a pointed piece of the hard heavy casuarina wood is firmly and neatly fitted; and some of them were barbed. Their clubs are made of the casuarina, and are powerful weapons. The hand part is indented, and has a small knob, by which the firmness of the grasp is much assisted; and the heavy end is usually...
Page 193 - I thought at first, that he was ill adapted for the line of life into which he was about to enter ; but on further consideration, I concluded, that if he took as much pains to cultivate the land, as he appeared to have successfully bestowed on the culture of his whiskers, he might surpass those less careful in their attire ; especially as his martial frown might tend to keep his servants in due obedience. Next came a pert-looking, smartly-dressed gentleman, who seemed to plume himself on his white...

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