e reader of the preceding narrative will have seen, that after many
untoward occurrences, and a considerable lapse of time, that friendly
intercourse with the natives which had been so earnestly desired was at
length established; and having never been materially interrupted, these
remote islanders have been shown living in considerable numbers among us
without fear or restraint; acquiring our language; readily falling in
with our manners and customs; enjoying the comforts of our clothing, and
relishing the variety of our food. We saw them die in our houses, and the
places of the deceased instantly filled by others, who observed nothing
in the fate of their predecessors to deter them from living with us, and
placing that entire confidence in us which it was our interest and our
pleasure to cultivate. They have been always allowed so far to be their
own masters, that we never, or but rarely, interrupted them in any of
their designs, judging that by suffering them to live with us as they
were accustomed to do before we came among them, we should sooner attain
a knowledge of their manners and customs, than by waiting till we had
acquired a competent skill in their language to converse with them. On
this principle, when they assembled to dance or to fight before our
houses, we never dispersed, but freely attended their meetings. To them
this attention of ours appeared to be agreeable and useful; for those who
happened to be wounded in their contests instantly looked out for one of
our surgeons, and displayed entire confidence in his skill, and great
bravery in the firmness with which they bore the knife and the probe.

By slow degrees we began mutually to be pleased with, and to understand
each other. Language, indeed, is out of the question; for at the time of
writing this (September 1796) nothing but a barbarous mixture of English
with the Port Jackson dialect is spoken by either party; and it must be
added, that even in this the natives have the advantage, comprehending,
with much greater aptness than we can pretend to, every thing they hear
us say. From a pretty close observation, however, assisted by the use of
the barbarous dialect just mentioned, the following particulars
respecting the natives of New South Wales have been collected.

APPENDIX 1--GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION

GOVERNMENT

We found the natives about Botany Bay, Port Jackson, and Broken Bay,
living in that state of nature which must have been common t