To Their Religious Rites And Opinions I Am Equally
A Stranger.
Had an opportunity offered of seeing the ceremonies observed
at disposing of the dead, perhaps, some insight might have
Been gained;
but all that we at present know with certainty is, that they burn the corpse,
and afterwards heap up the earth around it, somewhat in the manner of
the small tumuli, found in many counties of England.
I have already hinted, that the country is more populous than it was
generally believed to be in Europe at the time of our sailing. But this remark
is not meant to be extended to the interior parts of the continent,
which there is every reason to conclude from our researches, as well as from
the manner of living practised by the natives, to be uninhabited. It appears
as if some of the Indian families confine their society and connections
within their own pale: but that this cannot always be the case we know;
for on the north-west arm of Botany Bay stands a village, which contains
more than a dozen houses, and perhaps five times that number of people;
being the most considerable establishment that we are acquainted with
in the country. As a striking proof, besides, of the numerousness
of the natives, I beg leave to state, that Governor Phillip, when on
an excursion between the head of this harbour and that of Botany Bay,
once fell in with a party which consisted of more than three hundred persons,
two hundred and twelve of whom were men:
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 55 of 90
Words from 14987 to 15245
of 24415
