at him; for in such punishments the ties of consanguinity or friendship are of no avail. On the death of a person, whether male or female, old or young, the friends of the deceased must be punished, as if the death was occasioned by their neglect. This is sometimes carried farther than can be reconcileable with humanity, as the following instance will confirm :-

A native had been murdered. His widow, being obliged to avenge his death on some of the relations of the murderer, and meeting with a little girl, who was someway related to him, took her to a retired place, where, with a club and a pointed stone, she beat her so cruelly that she was taken to the town almost dead. In the head were six or seven deep incisions, and one ear was divided to the bone, which, from the nature of the instrument with which she was beaten, had been greatly injured. The poor child died in a few days. The natives to whom this circumstance was mentioned expressed no concern at it, but seemed to think it quite right, necessary, and inevitable. It was understood that whenever women have occasion for this sanguinary revenge, they never exercise it but on their own sex, not daring to strike a male. The little victim of this revenge had, from her quiet tractable manners, been much beloved in the town; and, which is a singular trait in the inhumanity of this proceeding, had, from the death of the man, requested that his widow might be fed at the officer's hut, where she herself resided. Savage indeed must be the custom and the feelings which could arm the hand against this unoffending child's life. Her death was not avenged, perhaps because they considered it as an expiatory sacrifice.

Wat-te-wal, the man who committed the crime for which this little girl suffered so cruelly, escaped unhurt from the spears of Bennillong, Cole-be, and several other natives; and was afterwards received by them as usual, and actually lived with the murdered man's widow till he was killed in the night by Cole-be.

The first peculiarity remarkable in their funeral ceremonies is the disposal of their dead: their young people they consign to the grave; those who have passed the middle age are burnt. Bennillong burnt the body of his wife Ba-rang-a-roo, who was,

at the time of her decease, turned of fifty. The interment of Ba-loo-der-ry was accompanied with many ceremonies. From being one day in perfect health, he was the next taken to the hospital extremely ill, and attended by Bennillong, who was found singing over him, and making use of those means which ignorance and superstition pointed out to him to recover his health. The patient lay extended on the ground, appearing to be in much pain. Bennillong applied his mouth to those parts of the boy's body which he thought affected, breathing strongly on them, and singing: at times he waved over him some boughs dipped in water, holding one in each hand, and appearing much interested for him. On the following morning he was visited by a car-rah-dy, who had come express from the north shore. This man threw himself into various distortions, applied his mouth to different parts of his patient's body, and at length, after appearing to labour much, and to be in great pain, spit out a piece of bone (which he had previously procured). Here the farce ended, and the car-rah-dy withdrew to partake of such fare as the friends of the sick lad had to give him. During the night Ba-loo-der-ry's fever increased, and he died early in the following morning. This was immediately notified by a violent clamour among the women and children; and, Bennillong soon after going to government-house, it was agreed between him and his excellency that the body should be buried in his garden.

But to return to the colony Major Grose now assumed the government; and his first act was to substitute the military for the civil authority, which alteration did not please the free settlers. A plan was now adopted for carrying cattle from India, but the speculation was unfortunate. The rations were again reduced, and the colonists experienced many privations; yet several improvements were made, the sugar cane was planted and the cultivation of Zealand flax commenced.

In 1794, captain Paterson succeeded governor Grose; and four gentlemen, Messrs. Muir, Palmer, Skirving, and Margurot, arrived as convicts for the crime of sedition.

About this time, the natives adjusted some affairs of honour in a convenient spot near the brick-fields. Those who lived

about the south shore of Botany bay brought with them a stranger of an extraordinary appearance and character; even his name had something uncommon in the sound, Gome-boak. He had been several days on his journey from the place where he lived, which was far southward. In height he was not more than five feet two or three inches; but by far the most muscular, square, and well-formed native that had been seen in that country. He fought well; his spears were remarkably long, and he defended himself with a shield that covered his whole body. The inhabitants of Sydney had the satisfaction of seeing him engage with some of their friends, and of observing that neither their persons nor reputations suffered any thing in the contest. When the fight was over, on some of the gentlemen praising to them the martial talents of this stranger, the strength and muscle of his arm, and the excellence of his sight, they admitted the praise to be just; but hinted, that, with all these excellencies, when opposed to them, he had not gained the slightest advantage; yet, unwilling to have him too highly thought of, they, with horror in their countenances, assured those with whom they talked, that Gome-boak was a cannibal.

The contests which had lately taken place very frequently in the town of Sydney, and the neighourhood of it, among the natives, had been attended by many of those people who inhabited the woods, and came from a great distance inland. Some of the prisoners gathered from time to time rumours and imperfect accounts of the existence of the cattle lost in 1788; two of them, who were employed by some officers in shooting, resolved on ascertaining the truth of these reports, and trying by different excursions to discover the place of their retreat. On their return from the first outset they made, which was subsequent to the governor's arrival, they reported that they had seen them. Being, however, at that moment too much engaged in perfecting the civil regulations which he had in view for the settlement, his excellency could not himself go to that part of the country where they were said to have been found, but he detached a person on whom he could depend. His report was so satisfactory, that the governor set VOL. IV.---(77) 3 D

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off for Parramatta, attended by a small party; when, after travelling two days in a direction S. S. W. from the settlement at Prospect Hill, he crossed the river named by Mr. Phillip the Nepean; and, to his great surprise and satisfaction, fell in with a very fine herd of cattle, upwards of forty in number, grazing in a pleasant and apparently fertile pasturage. The day being far advanced when he saw them, he rested for the night in the neighbourhood, hoping in the morning to be gratified with a sight of the whole herd.

The country where they were found grazing was remarkably pleasant to the eye; every where the foot trod on thick and luxuriant grass; the trees were thinly scattered, and free from underwood, except in particular spots; several beautiful flats presented large ponds, covered with ducks and the black swan, the margins of which were fringed with shrubs of the most delightful tints, and the ground rose from these levels into hills of easy ascent.

The question how these cattle came hither appeared easy of solution. The few that were lost in 1788, two bulls and five cows, travelled without interruption in a western direction until they came to the banks of the Nepean. Arrived there, and finding the crossing as easy as when the governor had forded it, they came at once into a well-watered country, and amply stored with grass. From this place they had no inducement to move. They were in possession of a country equal to their support, and in which they remained undisturbed.

It was a most pleasant circumstance, to have in the woods of New Holland a thriving herd of wild cattle.

Mr. Bass, the surgeon of the Reliance, having procured a boat, sailed southward, and discovered that Van Dieman's land was an island separated from New Holland by a strait. Coal at this time was also discovered near the Hawkesbury. But the unruly behaviour of the Irish convicts, and the perpetual commission of crimes, retarded the prosperity of the colony. From the knowledge that was daily gained of the inhuman habits and customs of these people, their being so thinly scattered through the country ceased to be matter of surprise. It was constantly seen, that from some trifling cause or other,