And After
A Circuit Of Many Miles And Between Twenty And Thirty Hauls, Seldom More
Than A Hundred Pounds Of Fish Were Taken.
However, it sometimes happens
that a glut enters the harbour, and for a few days they sufficiently abound.
But the universal voice of all professed fishermen is that they never fished
in a country where success was so precarious and uncertain.
I shall not pretend to enumerate the variety of fish which are found.
They are seen from a whale to a gudgeon. In the intermediate classes
may be reckoned sharks of a monstrous size, skait, rock-cod, grey-mullet,
bream, horse-mackarel, now and then a sole and john dory, and innumerable
others unknown in Europe, many of which are extremely delicious,
and many highly beautiful. At the top of the list, as an article of food,
stands a fish, which we named light-horseman. The relish of this
excellent fish was increased by our natives, who pointed out to us
its delicacies. No epicure in England could pick a head with more glee
and dexterity than they do that of a light-horseman.
Reptiles in the swamps and covers are numerous. Of snakes there are two
or three sorts: but whether the bite of any of them be mortal,
or even venomous, is somewhat doubtful. I know but of one well attested
instance of a bite being received from a snake. A soldier was bitten
so as to draw blood, and the wound healed as a simple incision usually does
without shewing any symptom of malignity. A dog was reported to be bitten
by a snake, and the animal swelled and died in great agony. But I will
by no means affirm that the cause of his death was fairly ascertained.
It is, however, certain that the natives show, on all occasions,
the utmost horror of the snake, and will not eat it, although they esteem
lizards, goannas, and many other reptiles delicious fare. On this occasion
they always observe that if the snake bites them, they become lame,
but whether by this they mean temporary or lasting lameness I do not pretend
to determine. I have often eaten snakes and always found them palatable
and nutritive, though it was difficult to stew them to a tender state.
Summer here, as in all other countries, brings with it a long list of insects.
In the neighborhood of rivers and morasses, mosquitoes and sandflies
are never wanting at any season, but at Sydney they are seldom numerous
or troublesome. The most nauseous and destructive of all the insects
is a fly which blows not eggs but large living maggots, and if the body
of the fly be opened it is found full of them. Of ants there are
several sorts, one of which bites very severely. The white ant
is sometimes seen. Spiders are large and numerous. Their webs
are not only the strongest, but the finest, and most silky I ever felt.
I have often thought their labour might be turned to advantage. It has,
I believe, been proved that spiders, were it not for their quarrelsome
disposition which irritates them to attack and destroy each other,
might be employed more profitably than silk-worms.
The hardiness of some of the insects deserves to be mentioned. A beetle
was immersed in proof spirits for four hours, and when taken out crawled away
almost immediately. It was a second time immersed, and continued in a glass
of rum for a day and a night, at the expiration of which period
it still showed symptoms of life. Perhaps, however, what I from ignorance
deem wonderful is common.
*****
The last but the most important production yet remains to be considered.
Whether plodding in London, reeking with human blood in Paris or wandering
amidst the solitary wilds of New South Wales - Man is ever an object
of interest, curiosity and reflection.
The natives around Port Jackson are in person rather more diminutive
and slighter made, especially about the thighs and legs, than the Europeans.
It is doubtful whether their society contained a person of six feet high.
The tallest I ever measured, reached five feet eleven inches, and men
of his height were rarely seen. Baneelon, who towered above the majority
of his countrymen, stood barely five feet eight inches high. His other
principal dimensions were as follows:
Girth of the Chest. 2 feet 10 inches
Girth of the Belly. 2 feet 6 1/2 inches
Girth of the Thigh. 18 1/8 inches
Girth of the Leg at the Calf. 12 1/8 inches
Girth of the Leg at the Small. 10 inches
Girth of arm half way between
the shoulder and elbow. 9 inches
Instances of natural deformity are scarce, nor did we ever see one
of them left-handed. They are, indeed, nearly ambidexter; but the sword,
the spear and the fish-gig are always used with the right hand.
Their muscular force is not great; but the pliancy of their limbs
renders them very active. "Give to civilized man all his machines,
and he is superior to the savage; but without these, how inferior is he found
on opposition, even more so than the savage in the first instance."
These are the words of Rousseau, and like many more of his positions
must be received with limitation. Were an unarmed Englishman and an unarmed
New Hollander to engage, the latter, I think, would fall.
Mr. Cook seems inclined to believe the covering of their heads to be wool.
But this is erroneous. It is certainly hair, which when regularly combed
becomes soon nearly as flexible and docile as our own. Their teeth
are not so white and good as those generally found in Indian nations,
except in the children, but the inferiority originates in themselves.
hey bite sticks, stones, shells and all other hard substances, indiscriminately
with them, which quickly destroys the enamel and gives them a jagged
and uneven appearance. A high forehead, with prominent overhanging eyebrows,
is their leading characteristic, and when it does not operate to destroy
all openness of countenance gives an air of resolute dignity to the aspect,
which recommends, in spite of a true negro nose, thick lips, and a wide mouth.
The prominent shin bone, so invariably found in the Africans, is not,
however, seen.
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