o the
invention of some more convenient habitation, especially since they have
been left by nature without the confined dwelling of a hollow tree, or
the more agreeable accommodation of a hole under the rock.

The single utensil that was observed lying near their huts was a kind of
basket made of long wiry grass, that grows along the shores of the river.
The two ends of a large bunch of this grass are tied to the two ends of a
smaller bunch; the large one is then spread out to form the basket, while
the smaller answers the purpose of a handle. Their apparent use is, to
bring shell fish from the mud banks where they are to be collected. The
large heaps of mussel shells that were found near each hut proclaimed the
mud banks to be a principal source of food. The most scrupulous
examination of their fire places discovered nothing, except a few bones
of the opossum, a squirrel, and here and there those of a small kangaroo.
No remains of fish were even seen.

The mode of taking the opossum seemed to be similar to that practised in
New South Wales*, except that it is probable they use a rope in ascending
the tree; for once, at the foot of a notched tree, about eight feet of a
two inch rope made of grass was found with a knot in it, near which it
appeared to have broken.

[* Vide Vol I Appendix II.]

A canoe was never met with, and concurring circumstances showed
that this convenience was unknown here; nor was any tree ever observed
to be barked in the manner requisite for this purpose; though birds
bred upon little islands to which access might be had in the smallest
canoe. Those made of solid timber seemed to be wholly out of the
question. The roughness of the notches left by the stone hatchet upon
the bark of the trees bore no very favourable testimony to its
excellence. They were rather the marks of a rough than of a sharp-edged
tool, and seemed more beaten than cut, which was not the case with the
marks left by the mo-go, or stone hatchet, of New South Wales.

Hence, from the little that has been seen of the condition of our own
species in this place, it appears to be much inferior in some essential
points of convenience to that of the despised inhabitants of the
continent. How miserable a being would the latter be, his canoe taken
from him, his stone hatchet blunted, his hut pervious to the smallest
shower of rain, and few or no excavations in the rocks to fly to! But
happiness, like every thing else, exists only by