ith
tobacco-smoke, and then handed round the company, seated on the ground
in a ring; each takes a long inhalation, and passes the pipe to his
neighbour, slowly allowing the smoke to exhale. On several occasions
at Cape York,' continues the author, 'I have seen a native so affected
by a single inhalation, as to be rendered nearly senseless, with the
perspiration bursting out at every pore, and require a draught of
water to restore him; and although myself a smoker, yet, on the only
occasion when I tried this mode of using tobacco, the sensations of
nausea and faintness were produced.' There is something new in the
idea of taking whiffs of ready-made smoke, which might perhaps be
turned to account by enterprising purveyors of social enjoyments on
this side of the world.

After the abortive attempt to establish the colony of 'North
Australia' at Port Curtis, at a cost of L.15,000, and the abandonment
of Port Essington, it is not uninteresting to learn that Cape York
presents many natural capabilities for a settlement. There is a good
harbour, safe anchorage, abundance of fresh water all the year round,
and a moderate extent of cultivable land, all of which will help to
constitute it a desirable coaling station for the contemplated line of
steamers from Sydney to Singapore and India. The Port-Essington
experiment was so complete a failure, that after trying for eleven
years, the colonists were 'not even able to keep themselves in fresh
vegetables.' Fortunately, but little encouragement was ever offered to
permanent settlers, or the disappointments caused by an unproductive
soil and unhealthy climate would have been greatly multiplied. A
singular example of the _lex talionis_ occurred among the natives at
this place. One of them having been severely wounded in punishment for
an offence, the penalty was considered too severe, and 'it was finally
determined that, upon Munjerrijo's recovery, the two natives who had
wounded him should offer their heads to him to be struck with a
club--the usual way, it would appear, of settling such matters.'

Here we find, too, another of those instances of intelligence in a
native, the more extraordinary when contrasted with the low mental
condition of the aborigines in general. Sir Thomas Mitchell, and other
Australian travellers, have spoken of their acutely-endowed guides in
terms almost of affection; and Mr Macgillivray relates that, during
his stay at Port Essington, a native named Nei