steadily in the face, without saying a word or moving a muscle of his
countenance. I never saw a more lovely pair. The black fellow
returned the gaze unflinchingly, his deep-set eyes fixed fiercely on
those of the Irishman, his nostrils dilated, and his frowning
forehead wrinkled and hard, as if cast in iron. The two men looked
like two wild beasts preparing for a deadly fight. At length, Hooley
moved his face nearer to that of the savage, until their noses almost
met, and between his teeth he slowly ejaculated: "You eat white man?
You eat me? Eh?" Then the deep frown on Gellibrand's face began
slowly to relax, his thick lips parted by degrees, and displayed,
ready for business, his sharp and shining teeth, white as snow and
hard as steel. A smile, which might be likened to that of a humorous
tiger, spread over his spacious features, and so the interview ended
without a fight. I was very much disappointed, as I hoped the two
man-slayers were going to eat each other for the public good, and I
was ready to back both of them without fear, favour, or affection.

There is no doubt that the blacks ate human flesh, not as an article
of regular diet, but occasionally, when the fortune of war, or
accident, favoured them with a supply. When Mr. Hugh Murray set out
from Geelong to look for country to the westward, he took with him
several natives belonging to the Barrabool tribe. When they arrived
near Lake Colac they found the banks of the Barongarook Creek covered
with scrub, and on approaching the spot where the bridge now spans
the watercourse, they saw a blackfellow with his lubra and a little
boy, running towards the scrub. The Barrabool blacks gave chase, and
the little boy was caught by one of them before he could find
shelter, and was instantly killed with a club. That night the
picaninny was roasted at the camp fire, and eaten.

And yet these blacks had human feelings and affections. I once saw a
tribe travelling from one part of the district to another in search
of food, as was their custom. One of the men was dying of
consumption, and was too weak to follow the rest. He looked like a
living skeleton, but he was not left behind to die. He was sitting
on the shoulders of his brother, his hands grasping for support the
hair on the head, and his wasted legs dangling in front of the
other's ribs. These people were sometimes hunted as if they were
wolves, but two brother wolves would not have been so kind