Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 1.djvu/399

 AND THEIB CUSTOMS. 287 cotton. The cray-fish and lobsterd they catch in small hoop-nets, 1788 the making of which showa some art, 3ret they hare no kind of i5Maj. cloathing ; at the same time they appear to be sensible of the cold, and to dislike the rain very much, putting on their heads when it rains a piece of bark, under which I have seen them shiver. Senrftivo Their huts are generally surrounded by oyster and mussel shells^ and their bodies smell of oil. They cannot be called a very cleanly people, yet I have seen one of them, after having in his hand a piece of pork, hold out his fingers for others to smell to, with objectiona strong marks of disgust, and though they seldom refused bread or sra^and meat, if offei'ed them, I have never been able to make them eat ™***" ' with us, and when they left us they generally threw away the bread and meat ; but fish they always accepted, and would broil Fish, and eat it The ground having been seen raised in several places, as is com- mon in England where poor people are buried, I had one of these graves opened, and from the ashes had no doubt but that they bum Buying the their dead. From the appearance of the ashes, the body must be ^ laid at length only a few inches below the surface, and is, with the wood ashes made by burning the body, covered slightly over with mould, fern, and a few stones. A grave was opened by Captain Hunter in which part of a jawbone was found not con- sumed by the fire, but we have seen very few of these graves, and none near their huts.* It is not possible to determine with any accuracy the number Population. of natives, but I think that in Botany Bay, Fort Jackson, Broken Bay, and the intermediate coast, they cannot be less than fifteen hundred, t Having related the results of his experience among the natives at lengthy Phillip retnms to the subject of explora- Expiontion. tion — ^which naturally attracted his attention quite as much as the other. These were the primary objects of his admin- istration. It was necessary to coiiciliate the natives in order to secure a peaceful occupation of the territory ; and Twoiineg it was equally essential to discover its capabilities and ^ ^ ^' resonrces. His references to the Blue Mountains and the the middle age are burnt. — Collins, p. 601. t Ante, p. 130. Digitized by Google
 * Their young people they oonsign to the grave ; those who have passed