Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 1 (Stockdale).djvu/257

] they aerted that the age of this woman was no ecurity for her againt the attempts of ome of the ailors: however, he was till young enough to make her ecape, leaving behind her two bakets, in which were found a lobter, ome mucles, and a few roots of a fern, which I recognied to belong to a new pecies of pteris, of which I had before collected a coniderable quantity. Probably the avages chew thee roots, in order to expres the nutritious juice, which always abounds more or les in plants of this pecies.

This woman, like the other avages, had the kin of a kangarou wrapped about her houlders: he had likewie another of thee kins bound round her wait in the form of an apron. I uppoe that he had provided herelf with this piece of clothing, more on account of the inclemency of the eaon, than from a principle of modety; for thoe of the avage women who were een at Adventure-bay by Captain Cook, at a ditance of not many hundred toies from this place, were tark naked: and it is not probable that there hould be much difference of manners between the natives of two countries o near to each other.

28th. A wind from the north blew in uch violent qualls during the night, that the Eperance was et adrift, though he held by a very large anchor. We