nd, but he made no offer of restoring the dirk; and when he was asked
for it, he pretended to know nothing of it, changing the conversation with
great art, and asking for wine, which was given to him.

At parting, we pressed him to appoint a day on which he should come to
Sydney, assuring him, that he would be well received, and kindly treated.
Doubtful, however, of being permitted to return, he evaded our request, and
declared that the governor must first come and see him, which we promised
should be done.

The governor did not hesitate to execute the engagement which we had
contracted for him. But Baneelon still resisted coming among us, and
matters continued in this fluctuating state until the 8th of October, when
a fire, which they had agreed to light as a signal for us to visit them,
was observed. The eager desire by which we were stimulated to carry our
point of effecting an intercourse had appeared. Various parties accordingly
set out to meet them, provided with different articles, which we thought
would prove acceptable to them. We found assembled, Baneelon, Barangaroo,
and another young woman, and six men, all of whom received us with welcome,
except the grave looking gentleman before mentioned, who stood aloof in
his former musing posture. When they saw that we had brought hatchets, and
other articles with us, they produced spears, fish-gigs, and lines, for
the purpose of barter,* which immediately commenced, to the satisfaction
of both parties. I had brought with me an old blunted spear, which wanted
repair. An Indian immediately undertook to perform the task, and carrying
it to a fire, tore with his teeth a piece of bone from a fish-gig, which he
fastened on the spear with yellow gum, rendered flexible by heat.

[*It had long been our wish to establish a commerce of this sort. It is a
painful consideration, that every previous addition to the cabinet of the
virtuosi, from this country, had wrung a tear from the plundered Indian.]

October, 1790. Many of them now consented to be shaved by a barber whom we
had purposely brought over. As I thought he who could perform an operation
of such importance must be deemed by them an eminent personage, I bade him
ask one of them for a fine barbed spear which he held in his hand; but all
the barber's eloquence was wasted on the Indian, who plainly gave him to
understand that he meant not to part with his spear, without receiving an
equivalent. Unfortunately, his price