to Terra Australis," which equally applies to the natives of Murray's, as to those of Darnley's Island, whom I believe to be the same people.
"Their arms were bows, arrows, and clubs, which they bartered for every kind of iron work with eagerness; but appeared to set little value on anything else. The bows are made of split bamboo, and so strong, that no man in the ship could bend one of them. The string is a broad slip of cane, fixed to one end of the bow, and fitted with a noose, to go over the other end, when strung. The arrow is a cane, of about four feet long, into which a pointed piece of the hard, heavy, casuarina wood is firmly and neatly fitted; and some of them are barbed. Their clubs are made of the casuarina, and are powerful weapons. The hand part is indented, and has a small knob, by which the firmness of the grasp is much assisted; and the heavy end is usually carved with some device.
"Their canoes are about fifty feet in length, and appear to have been hollowed out of a single tree; but the pieces which form the gunwales, are planks, sewed on with the cocoa nut, and secured with pegs. These vessels are low forward, but rise abaft; and, being narrow, are fitted with an outrigger on each side, to keep them steady. A raft, of greater length than the canoe, extends over about half the length; and upon this, is fixed a shed, or hut, thatched with palm leaves.
"These people, in short, appeared to be dexterous sailors, and formidable warriors."
The natives, in general, are tall, well made, and muscular men. They are of a dark chocolate colour, and possess intelligent countenances; their features more resembling those of Europeans, than those of any other savages I have met with. The males go entirely naked; but the females, even the youngest, wear a covering, from the waist to the knees.
They are exceedingly numerous. We counted upwards of three hundred at one time, and Captain Flinders states, that, including women and children, the inhabitants of Murray's Island must amount to about seven hundred; but, although
