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pp. 93-96.
“The next day I passed through Jamberoo and reached the village of Kiama - consisting of three houses - where I fell in with a native and his family, quietly squatted under the branches of a tree, round a queer sort of fire which they had kindled, and eating a peculiar kind of sea-weed which they had cooked, after a certain fashion. Blackey, his Gin, or wife, and two girls, all of the true Australian breed, and myself, bivouacked together that night; and, as he had picked up a few words of broken English amongst the settlers, with whom he had been ‘on’ and ‘off’ for some time, his company was not a perfect blank, as far as speech was concerned. He wished me to understand that he was a king, or bigwig of some kind or other among the natives, and wore round his neck a semi-lunar piece of brass, which some one had given to him, and upon which was inscribed the name of a certain Australian tribe. I gave him some tobacco, which he seemed to enjoy very much, and, as his sable majesty was going the same way as myself, we set off early in the morning on our journey. When we were fairly en route I had an opportunity of observing the habits of the Australians in their migratory excursions, and was highly amused at everything I saw. The Gin carried a bundle of all sorts on her back, which was pretty heavy; the eldest daughter had a few things in a bag, and a lighted stick in her hand, toddling steadily along with her mother, whilst the youngest ran and rolled in the sand, and tumbled about in the tufts of grass, like a jovial young savage, which she really was; her black skin glistening in the sun, for she was almost ‘as naked as she was born,’ and with a long reed, like a spritsail yard, run through the cartilage of her nose. The chief ‘of this bright host’ carried his waddy, or club, in one hand, and a few spears in the other; and wore over a portion of his body an old shirt, almost as black as his skin, which he had picked up somewhere, not having the slightest idea of washing it, or the comfort that would be derived from such an operation. The lady-blacks were decked out in pieces of old blankets, just as dingy as the skeleton shirt of their lord; and so careless were they about such a covering, and so utterly insensible did they appear to anything like shame, that they allowed their bits of blanket to float free about their sable persons, and took no pains to restrain the liberties of a saucy and capricious wind, which blew about them where it listed, and seemed to make a sport of their half-covered nakedness. At length Blackey scented some friends of his in our immediate neighbourhood; and thinking, perhaps, that he could get nothing more out of me, shammed headache. ‘Cobbera sick,’ said he - then asking me for ‘tick pence.’ left me to pursue my way quite alone, which was anything but irksome, as it gave me an opportunity of indulging in one of those quiet communications with nature, which invariably leave behind a pleasing sensation in the mind.”
pp. 100-103.
“ Before I left Shoalhaven, M_____ {Meares] arrived to preach his monthly sermon, as usual, when I acted as his clerk, the first time that I ever assumed such a vocation in my life. He performed service under a verandah of B_____’s [Alexander Berry’s] house, and all the congregation appeared decourous and attentive in their demeanour. Here I witnessed, for the first time, the performance of the Corryborry {Corroboree], by a tribe of natives, who were wandering about the settlement, as they were in the habit of doing at certain periods of the year. It was a kind of merry-making with them, or meeting to dispense justice, according to their barbarous ideas of jurisprudence; and it generally ended by the natives dancing in the wildest and most grotesque manner, and by shouting and hallooing in the most savage and unearthly tones. The women were ornamented about the head with the white tips of the native dogs’ tails, and with Kangaroo-teeth; and their faces patched about with pipe-clay, which gave them the most extraordinary appearance. Some had their lips whitened only; others the inside of the leg; while a third portion had drawn over their heads a small net, which was stuck over with swansdown, looking something like a powdered head-dress of the olden time. The men were, also, as comically decorated as the women, and both formed as singular a coup d’oeil, as well could be met with in this world. I must, also, tell you that the men rejoiced in certain peculiar names, that had been given them by different settlers, and mostly through caprice or fun, as there were was no less affinity between the meaning of the terms and objects to which they were applied. One was called ‘Ugly Jack;’ another ‘Blanket;’ several assumed the titles of ‘Broken-nose Tom,’ and ‘Waterman Bill;’ and one fellow was glorying in the appellation of Fryingpan.’
“These Aborigines are proverbially lazy, and can only be induced to work at intervals; so naturally opposed is savage life to regular and consecutive industry. Before the ceremony was closed some of the youths were admitted to the rites of manhood, which are performed at a certain age; when after undergoing a peculiar, and I should suppose, painful, process of initiation, they are permitted to indulge in the luxury of a wife, which is strictly prohibited up to that age - so at least I was informed by my old friend and companion - Blacky. Some of the women are not badly formed, and by no means unnattractive - especially the younger ones; but those of a more advanced age were ugly and repulsive in the extreme. One old damsel might be termed a finished specimen of ugliness; nevertheless, she seemed to command considerable respect, moving among them, like some mere de famille, and apparently possessed of considerable authority.”
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