Killed - whose flesh, when cooked, was very palatable;
that of the parrot resembled our pigeon in taste - "possibly because they
feed on seeds of wild plants."
According to Grant, "no country in the world abounds with a greater
variety of insects. We saw numbers buzzing about the trees...Having
pursued our walk inland we fell in with a swampy land in a valley with
much brush wood; a rivulet of excellent fresh water ran briskly through
it, emptying itself in the sea near to where I had ordered our boat to
haul the seine. We found the track of the natives and fell in with
several of their gunnies or habitations. These are constructed with a few
boughs stuck up to screen them from the wind; bones of beasts, birds and
fish were lying about them. On the return to the boat, Mr. Barrallier
shot a large hawk. Our fishing-party had caught some fish, and would have
been very successful, but two sharks got into the seine and tore it in
several places: they were both brought on shore, one measuring seven feet
in length. The liver I ordered to be carried on board, to be boiled for
the oil and used in our lamp.
"On the 11th of March, the wind still hanging to the south, I took some
hands on shore to cut a boatload of wood and fill our water
casks...Messieurs Barrallier and Caley, with two soldiers, accompanied me
on another excursion. We took another direction inland...but saw no
kangaroos. We met with two small lagoons and several streams of good
water running through the thickest part of the woods. In this excursion
we saw the Laughing Bird so called from the noise it makes resembling
laughter.* (* The Giant Kingfisher or Kookaburra.)
"On our return to the boat we fell in with a spot of ground which
appeared to have been selected by the natives for the purposes of
festivity. It was a small eminence having no habitation near. We counted
the marks of fifteen different fires that had been employed in cooking
fish and other eatables, the bones of which were strewed about. Among
them we picked up part of a human skull - the os frontis with the sockets
of the eyes and part of the bones of the nose still attached to it. A
little distance from where we found this we discovered a part of the
upper jaw with one of the molars or back teeth in it, also one of the
vertebrae of the back having marks of fire which the others had not.
"The grass was much trodden down, and many of the bones of the animals
eaten appeared fresh...I brought off the human bones and on getting on
board showed them to Euranabie. Finding two of the natives from the shore
in the vessel, I desired him to ask them whether these bones belonged to
a white man or not, and if they had killed and eaten him. I was anxious
to have this cleared up, as the ship Sydney Cove from India to Port
Jackson had been wrecked about twelve months before to the southward and
it was reported that some of the crew were killed by the natives near
this place."* (* The Sydney Cove from Bengal to New South Wales was
wrecked on Preservation Island, Tasmania, on 8th February, 1797. Her
long-boat was equipped and despatched on 27th February to Sydney, but the
boat filled and went to pieces at a spot called Ninety Mile beach. Out of
the crew of seventeen, who started to walk to Port Jackson, only three
lived to reach their destination - some dying of fatigue and hunger, the
others were murdered by the natives.)
Euranabie, who spoke English, made inquiries, and a soldier who
understood the Sydney dialect, also endeavoured to extract the truth
regarding the bones, from the two black fellows, who said that they were
those of a white man that had come in a canoe from the southward where
the ship "tumble down," meaning that it had been wrecked. Lieutenant
Grant also questioned Worogan, and was informed that "the bush natives
(who appeared to be a different tribe of people from those that lived by
the seaside) did eat human flesh."
He now prepared to leave the port. "On the 12th, we got into a clean
berth for getting under weigh, but in the morning the wind being variable
and light we were prevented sailing. I went on shore with Mr. Barrallier
to make a survey of the cove we were lying in. When preparing to return
to the vessel we were joined by several natives who appeared anxious to
go on board with us. Two of these were strangers who signified that they
had come a long way to see us and that they were very hungry. They were
both young, stout men with longer hair than the natives generally.
"In the afternoon...it was needless to attempt sailing till the wind
abated. I therefore proposed to survey...the western side of the island
which lies in the mouth of the harbour and shelters the cove from
easterly winds. This island I named Ann's Island, in compliment to Mrs.
King, the wife of the Governor.
"In putting the surveying instruments into the boat the chain was found
missing; we were of opinion it had been left on shore by the soldiers who
carried it in measuring the distances. A boat with one of them was sent
on shore. After a fruitless search they were returning when a canoe put
off from the island with a man in it who held up the chain in his hand.
The boat's crew brought him on board to me.
