ng the
spear, and will launch it with unerring aim to a distance of
thirty to sixty yards. I myself have seen a lad hurl his spear at
a hawk-eagle (a bird which, with wings expanded, measures from
seven to ten feet), flying in the air, with such velocity and
correctness as to pierce his object, and bring the feathered
victim to the earth. This circumstance will tend to shew how soon
the youth of these tribes are trained to the use of the spear,
and the dexterity to which they attain in this art before they
reach the age of manhood. Indeed, instances are by no means
uncommon, where an army of natives is seen following a youthful
leader of fifteen or sixteen years of age, and obeying his
directions implicitly, because his previous conduct had been
characterized by remarkable vigour of body, and intrepidity of
mind--virtues which qualify natives of every age and rank for the
highest honours and the most marked distinctions amongst these
untutored sons of nature. Their attachment to savage life is
unconquerable; nor can the strongest allurements tempt them to
exchange their wild residences in the recesses of the country,
for the comforts of European life. A singular instance of this
fact occurred in the case of Be-ne-long, who was brought to
England by Governor Phillip, and returned with Governor Hunter.
For some time after his return, it is true, he assumed the
manners, the dress, and the consequence of an European, and
treated his countrymen with a distance which evinced the sense he
entertained of his own increased importance; and this disposition
was encouraged by every method which suggested itself to the
minds of those of the colony with whom he associated; but,
notwithstanding so much pains had been taken for his improvement,
both when separated from his countrymen, and since his return to
New South Wales, he has subsequently taken to the woods again,
returned to his old habits, and now lives in the same manner as
those who have never mixed with the civilized world. Sometimes,
indeed, he holds intercourse with the colony; but every effort
uniformly fails to draw him once again into the circle of
polished society, since he prefers to taste of liberty amongst
his native scenes, to the unsatisfactory gratification which
arises from an association with strangers, however kind their
treatment of him, and however superior to his own enjoyments.

Yet there are many of the natives who feel no disinclination
to mix with t