of which their
hooks are made, a few points of darts, and their usual ornaments, which
includes the whole worldly treasure of the richest man among them.

Their fish-hooks are very neatly made, and some of them are exceedingly
small. For striking turtle they have a peg of wood which is about a
foot long, and very well bearded; this fits into a socket at the end of
a staff of light wood, about as thick as a man's wrist, and about seven
or eight feet long: To the staff is tied one end of a loose line about
three or four fathom long, the other end of which is fastened to the
peg. To strike the turtle, the peg is fixed into the socket, and when it
has entered his body, and is retained there by the barb, the staff flies
off and serves for a float to trace their victim in the water; it
assists also to tire him, till they can overtake him with their canoes,
and haul him ashore. One of these pegs, as I have mentioned already, we
found buried in the body of a turtle, which had healed up over it. Their
lines are from the thickness of a half-inch rope to the fineness of a
hair, and are made of some vegetable substance, but what in particular
we had no opportunity to learn.

Their food is chiefly fish, though they sometimes contrive to kill the
kangaroo, and even birds of various kinds; notwithstanding they are so
shy that we found it difficult to get within reach of them with a
fowling-piece. The only vegetable that can be considered as an article
of food is the yam; yet doubtless they eat the several fruits which have
been mentioned among other productions of the country; and indeed we saw
the shells and hulls of several of them lying about the places where
they had kindled their fire.

They do not appear to eat any animal food raw; but having no vessel in
which water can be boiled, they either broil it upon the coals, or bake
it in a hole by the help of hot stones, in the same manner as is
practised by the inhabitants of the islands in the South Seas.

Whether they are acquainted with any plant that has an intoxicating
quality, we do not know; but we observed that several of them held
leaves of some sort constantly in their mouths, as an European does
tobacco, and an East-Indian betele; we never saw the plant, but when
they took it from their mouths at our request; possibly it might be a
species of the betele, but whatever it was, it had no effect upon the
teeth or lips.

As they have no nets, they catch fish only by strik