ination; and we may imagine the deference which is
paid to the tribe of Cam-mer-ray to be derived wholly from their
superiority of numbers; but this superiority they may have maintained for
a length of time before we knew them; and indeed the privilege of
demanding a tooth from the young men of other families must have been of
long standing, and coeval with the obedience which was paid to them:
hence their superiority partakes something of the nature of a constituted
authority; an authority which has the sanction of custom to plead for its
continuance.

RELIGION

It has been asserted by an eminent divine*, that no country has yet been
discovered where some trace of religion was not to be found. From every
observation and inquiry I could make among these people, from the first
to the last of my acquaintance with them, I can safely pronounce them an
exception to this opinion. I am certain that they do not worship either
sun, moon, or star; that, however necessary fire may be to them, it is
not an object of adoration; neither have they respect for any particular
beast, bird, or fish. I never could discover any object, either
substantial or imaginary, that impelled them to the commissioin of good
actions, or deterred them from the perpetration of what we deem crimes.
There indeed existed among them some idea of a future state, but not
connected in any wise with religion; for it had no influence whatever on
their lives and actions. On their being often questioned as to what
became of them after their decease, some answered that they went either
on or beyond the great water; but by far the greater number signified,
that they went to the clouds. Conversing with Bennillong after his return
from England, where he had obtained much knowledge of our customs and
manners, I wished to learn what were his ideas of the place from which
his countrymen came, and led him to the subject by observing, that all
the white men here came from England. I then asked him where the black
men (or Eora) came from? He hesitated; did they come from any island? His
answer was, that he knew of none: they came from the clouds (alluding
perhaps to the aborigines of the country); and when they died, they
returned to the clouds (Boo-row-e). He wished to make me understand that
they ascended in the shape of little children, first hovering in the tops
and in the branches of trees; and mentioned something about their eating,
in that state, their favourite food