Page:Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies.djvu/112

76 other sealers, and three female Aborigines, casually here, on their way to the coast of New Holland, where, on a number of small islands, they still obtain Fur Seals. These animals have become rare in the Australian seas compared to what they were a few years since, when they were destroyed in vast numbers, often in the breeding season. On Guncarriage and Woody Islands, a few miles distant, several other sealers are residing, with female Aborigines, who assist in the management of their boats, take Mutton-birds, and do other kinds of work for these men. Some of the sealers exhibit the recklessness frequent in the character of sailors, in a superlative degree. The women were dressed in frocks made of the skins of the Wallaby, a small species of Kangaroo. One of them presented necklaces of shells to my companion and myself; these she dropped into our hands as she passed, appearing to wish to avoid receiving any acknowledgment.

Preservation Island is low, and surrounded by round-topped, grey, granite rocks, except in a few places, where there are small sandy bays: it is covered with grass, barilla and nettles, and a large portion of it is so thickly burrowed by Mutton-birds, that it is difficult to walk without breaking into their holes. J. Munro raises wheat, potatoes, and other vegetables near his house, which is sheltered by a few Tea-trees, the only ones on the island: he also rears goats, pigs and fowls; and by means of these, added to the collecting of birds and their eggs, obtains a subsistence. Black Snakes sometimes take possession of the burrows of the Mutton-birds. We saw one of these formidable animals, more than five feet long, and gave it a blow that made it rear its head with a threatening aspect. As the only switch we could raise was a feeble one of Cape Barren Tea-bush, it was not thought expedient to repeat the blow, and the animal soon took refuge in a neighbouring hole. A sister of Jumbo lost her life by the bite of a Black Snake, in her hand. When taking Mutton-birds, the natives put a stick into the burrows and listen, to distinguish whether snakes or birds are the occupants.

9th. Notwithstanding the wind was adverse, J. Thornloe