BAD NEWS FROM NEW ZEALAND.

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bodies; and sometimes, when they see one of these with the scar of a wound on the face, they will say, he is such or such a person, who had been murdered at some particular place, in memory or tradition. All painful disorders they attribute to possession by a foul fiend. A man who had a distracting pain in his head was found lying on the ground, and his wife standing upon the afflicted part with both her feet, to drive out the devil-devil-the reduplication of the term signifying the great devil.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

Visit to Parramatta-Sir Thomas Brisbane-Barbarous Remark of a Settler respecting the Aborigines-Methodist Missionary MeetingNote from Major Ovens-Effect of Rain on Vegetation-Large Serpents-Opossum Tribe-Native Dogs--Kangaroos--Pelicans, Cranes, Black Swans, &c.-Notices of the Aborigines-A Missionary Station among them determined upon-Mode of Punishing a Murderer by the Natives-Interview with Wesleyan Missionaries-Further Notices of the Aborigines-Sunday Schools at Parramatta-Macquarrie Anniversary-Missionary Stations examined-Characteristic Traits of the Natives-Reed's Mistake, a Colonial Station-A Receiver of Stolen Goods-Two Classes of Colonists-The Rev. Mr. Sheppard, from New Zealand--Arrival of Captain Kent-New Zealand Flax-Curious Superstitions and Practices of New Hollanders--Arrival of the Brutus from the Society Isles--Narrow Escape of some of that Ship's Company at the Friendly Islands--Anecdote of horrible Cruelty-Execution of Murderers, &c.-Mission to the Aborigines-Embarkation for Batavia.

Sept. 23. THIS day we went to Parramatta, by invitation of the governor, who entertained us sumptuously, in company with the chief officers of the colony. We record the hospitality of sir Thomas Brisbane, on this occasion, with the more pleasure and gratitude, because it was shown to us, not for our own sakes, as mere strangers, but in honor of that great Christian Society, for sending the gospel to the ends of the earth, of which we were the humble representatives.

Intelligence has just been received of the arrival of a small vessel from New Zealand, where she had lost the master and six of her crew, at Cook's Straits. They had been cut off by the cannibals; for what provocation, or whether for any, we have not learnt.

The attorney-general, to whom we have been indebted for many civilities, invited us to accompany him across the har

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bor, to a part of the coast whither many of the aborigines are accustomed to resort. Though we visited several places, and found in some spots recent marks where they had been— such as low semicircular screens from the wind, consisting of branches laid horizontally, or bent downward, from the neighboring bushes, under which they had rested—we wère disappointed in the hope of seeing any of themselves. They are so vagrant and superstitious a race, that they seldom sleep two successive nights on the same ground, lest the evil spirit should find them out, and do them they know not what mischief. We take every opportunity to urge, upon persons of wealth and influence here, the necessity of attempting to civilize these miserable beings by the only prompt and infallible means which modern experience, as well as scripture authority, prove to be so-namely, by Christian teaching and Christian living. Other expedients, we find, have been tried, but tried in vain, and many people who ought to know better are incurably convinced that the New Hollanders are incurably stupid; in short, that they are as untractable as the kangaroos and opossums that hold divided possession with them of the forests and deserts of this strange country. We are assured that one settler, who has acquired property, which, of course, gives him importance, has been heard publicly to declare, that, in his opinion, the best use which could be made of "the black fellows" would be, to shoot them all, and manure the ground with their carcasses. Whether this

was spoken in savage earnest, or (as we are willing to believe) in thoughtless jest, it indicates that those of whom it could be said, are deplorably depreciated in the estimation of mercenary adventurers, whatever be the secret feeling of more respectable colonists in their favor.

Oct. 4. In the evening our friends, the Wesleyans, held their anniversary missionary meeting, in one of their chapels here. By invitation, Mr. Bennet occupied the chair. Several pious and affecting adaresses were delivered by the ministers and gentlemen present; especially a very powerful one by Mr. Stephen, the solicitor-general, in which he most satisfactorily defended the Methodist preachers and their converts, in the West Indies, from the cruel calumnies of slaveholders and slave-drivers there; he himself having formerly held office in one of the islands, where he had witnessed the faithful and blessed labors of those servants of God among the negroes.

EFFECT OF RAIN ON VEGETATION.

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Oct. 6. We were rejoiced by the receipt of an official note from major Ovens, private secretary to sir Thomas Brisbane, of which the following is a copy :

"GENTLEMEN,

Government House, Oct. 6, 1824.

"His Excellency, having reason to believe that, since your arrival in this colony, you have given some attention to the state of the aborigines, has directed me to request, that you will be pleased to favor him with the advantage of any opinion which you may have formed as to the manner in which they should be treated, with the hope of improving their condition.

"I have the honor to be, &c.

J. OVENS, Private Secretary. "To the Rev. Daniel Tyerman, and George Bennet, Esq.".

We were more gratified than surprised by this communication, from the previous knowledge of his Excellency's disposition, and shall take the earliest opportunity of complying with his request, in the assurance that he will befriend any missionary plan which we may feel justified in attempting to carry into effect for the evangelization of the aborigines.

Oct. 9. We went down the harbor to a station about two miles from hence, where Mrs. Macquarrie, a few years ago, built sundry cottages, to induce natives to settle, with their families, in them. There yet remain traces of garden and orchard grounds, overrun with weeds and bushes, but not the wreck of a dwelling. The barbarians, young as well as old, appear to be irreclaimable from their vagabond habits by the ordinary means of bettering their circumstances. The girls under the care of Mr. Walker (as mentioned before) have lately all made their escape from his house, and run into the forest, where they prefer living upon vermin and worms, opossums or wild cats, when they can catch them, to the restraint of a comfortable home, with plenty of wholesome provisions.

Oct. 13. This colony has lately been visited with such abundance of refreshing showers, that the whole face of nature has been changed from the semblance of an arid waste to a green and fertile expanse of land, at once unlocked from drought, and throwing out its treasures of vegetation as though the earth delighted in being set at liberty, and were running,

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innocently, riot with the bounty of Providence.

We were

told, this morning, that more rain has fallen here within the last three days than has sometimes come down in the course of three years; so very uncertain and unequal is the weather in this quarter of the world.

Persons with whom we have conversed inform us that there are serpents here which sometimes grow to the length of thirteen feet. Their bite is very venomous; a horse has been known to fall down dead almost instantly after being wounded by one, and a dog will expire within two minutes. They are said never to attack unless trodden upon, or otherwise irritated, hastily making their retreat into the coverts at the approach of man or the larger animals. Many accidents, however, happen from these perilous reptiles during the suminer, when they are more abroad, and frequently basking in the sun. The bird called the laughing-jackass is a most formidable enemy to the various kinds of snakes, especially the young, and the smaller ones, which he seizes with his powerful bill, as with a pair of pincers, and dashes them to death against the trees or stones. Nature has made an admirable provision for the protection of almost all the quadrupeds here against the insidious attacks of serpents lurking in the thick grass, by furnishing them with the double belly, as it is called, or the pouch under the abdomen, into which their young ones creep at the least alarm of danger. The females of the kangaroo, opossum, bandy-coot, wombat, and even the wild cat, are all thus equipped for the accommodation of their progeny while it is dependent upon their instinctive tenderness. The teats are within this receptacle, which equally serves for a nest or a travelling-bag, when the dam is reposing or migrating in search of food.

The native dog resembles a mongrel between the fox and the wolf, partaking of the evil qualities of both, and wanting the real or fabled virtues of either, as well as the proverbial good qualities of his own species. This pernicious animal makes such havoc among the sheep-biting and killing as many in a flock as he can seize (though one is more than a meal for the capacity of his gorge, if not for his voraciousness)— that a reward is paid for every head of the species that is brought to the proper officer.

The kangaroo is hunted by large and powerful dogs of the greyhound species. When pursued, the kangaroo makes the most surprising leaps, by means of its long hind legs, clear

ing bushes and even trees of considerable height. At a single spring they will often reach six and thirty feet; and, if their course be down hill, no dog can overtake them. On other ground they are generally caught after running and bounding from two to three thousand yards; though in some rare instances, they have been known to lead the chase for twenty miles. When caught, they fight with great fury, seizing the dogs between their short fore-legs, and hugging them to death, or ripping up their bellies by dint of the sharp and long claws with which their hind legs are armed. It is said that they never use their teeth in combat. Their flesh is deemed palatable food, and much resembles beef, except that no fat is found on it. In its natural habits the kangaroo is an inoffensive creature; but when hemmed in, and driven to desperation, it will turn upon man himself, and grapple with him as it does with the dogs, till, unless speedily rescued, it will go hard with him to escape alive from the hostile embrace. Pelicans, cranes, and black swans, are seen on the waters here; the former, especially, are very numerous. There is also a native hawk, exceedingly fierce, and large enough to deserve the royal name of eagle, though its legitimacy may be questioned.

Oct. 15. We met with an Englishman who was wrecked near Moreton Bay, in lat. 27. 5′ 15′′ S., and had lived two years among the black natives in that neighborhood. These, he says, are more numerous, and of a superior order to the wretched vagrants here, who are degraded below their original wretchedness by their unhappy intercourse with Europeans. He tells us that those among whom he sojourned are comparatively stout and well-proportioned in their persons; they wear little or no clothing, and lodge in huts made of the bark of trees. They subsist principally on fish, which they catch in the river (now called Brisbane) and the bay aforenamed. They also eat a root found abundantly in the marsh land. In their wars, which are mere family quarrels, they seldom kill each other, throwing clubs and spears reciprocally, which they are as quick in warding with their shields as they are true in taking aim. When this person came away, an old man presented him with a fishing-net, saying, "You will want this to provide food for yourself where you are going." And, just as the boat was pushing off from the shore, the same kindly-considerate old man plunged into the water after it, and gave him a basket, saying, "Take