f a part of the coast very distant from that
which we visited; but we also saw inhabitants upon parts of the coast
very distant from each other, and there being a perfect uniformity in
person and customs among them all, it is reasonable to conclude, that
distance in another direction has not considerably broken it.

The number of inhabitants in this country appears to be very small in
proportion to its extent. We never saw so many as thirty of them
together but once, and that was at Botany Bay, when men, women, and
children, assembled upon a rock to see the ship pass by: When they
manifestly formed a resolution to engage us, they never could muster
above fourteen or fifteen fighting men; and we never saw a number of
their sheds or houses together that could accommodate a larger party. It
is true, indeed, that we saw only the sea-coast on the eastern side; and
that, between this and the western shore, there is an immense tract of
country wholly unexplored: But there is great reason to believe that
this immense tract is either wholly desolate, or at least still more
thinly inhabited than the parts we visited. It is impossible that the
inland country should subsist inhabitants at all seasons without
cultivation; it is extremely improbable that the inhabitants of the
coast should be totally ignorant of arts of cultivation, which were
practised inland; and it is equally improbable that, if they knew such
arts, there should be no traces of them among them. It is certain that
we did not see one foot of ground in a state of cultivation in the whole
country; and therefore it may well be concluded that where the sea does
not contribute to feed the inhabitants, the country is not inhabited.

The only tribe with which we had any intercourse, we found where the
ship was careened; it consisted of one-and-twenty persons; twelve men,
seven women, one boy, and one girl: The women we never saw but at a
distance; for when the men came over the river they were always left
behind. The men here, and in other places, were of a middle size, and in
general well-made, clean-limbed, and remarkably vigorous, active, and
nimble: Their countenances were not altogether without expression, and
their voices were remarkably soft and effeminate.

Their skins were so uniformly covered with dirt, that it was very
difficult to ascertain their true colour: We made several attempts, by
wetting our fingers and rubbing it, to remove the incrustations, but
wit