vacant space, are ten in number in each jaw. They are exclusively herbivorous in their diet, feeding chiefly on grass; and they associate in small herds under the guidance of the older males. The pouch, or receptacle for the young, with which the female Kangaroo is furnished, is indeed a most curious provision of nature. Being situated just below her teats, there the young ones sit to suck; and even when they are old enough to leave the pouch for exercise or amusement, they immediately seek refuge in it again on the least alarmı. The number of species now known is very considerable. They vary in size, from that of a rat to the great Kangaroo, the male of which has been known to measure nearly eight feet from the nose to the tip of the tail, and to weigh 220 lbs. They are easily tamed, and when in a state of domestication, they are harmless and timid. Their flesh is eaten ; it is said to be nutritious, and to taste something like venison. Kangaroo-tail soup is said to be a savoury dish. THE EMU. This bird is peculiar to Australasia. It attains a height of more than seven feet, and in form closely resembles the ostrich, only it is shorter in the legs and neck, and more clumsy in the shape of its body. Its plumage, like that of the cassowary-whence it has been called the Australian cassowary has at a distance the appearance of hair, and its general colour is a dull brown, mottled with grey, except on the neck, where the skin being distinctly seen gives it a purple hue. The wings are so small that they afford no assistance in running, and are altogether undistinguishable when clapped close to the body. Its food is wholly vegetable,-fruits, roots, and herbage. Its manners are inoffensive, and it is extremely shy, which, combined with its speed in running, renders it difficult to be overtaken or brought within reach of gunshot. The Emus are therefore hunted with dogs, as hares are coursed in England. The flesh is said to be truly exquisite, and intermediate between that of a turkey and a sucking-pig. The eggs, six or seven in number, are as large as those of the ostrich, and as thick shelled. They are of a beautiful dark-green colour, and are much relished by the natives. These birds in captivity become easily domesticated, and have been kept and bred in European collections without difficulty. VISIT OF CAPT. COOK TO VAN DIEMEN'S ON the 24th of January, in the morning, we discovered the coast of Van Diemen's Land. Captain Cook gave the name of Eddystone to a rock that lies to the eastward of Swilley Isle, on account of its striking resemblance to Eddystone lighthouse. On the 26th, at noon, a breeze sprung up at S.E., which afforded Captain Cook an opportunity of executing his design of carrying the ships into Adventure Bay, where we anchored at four o'clock in the afternoon, in twelve fathoms' water, about three quarters of a mile from the shore. The two captains then went in separate boats in search of convenient spots for obtaining wood, water, and hay. They found plenty of wood and water, but very little grass. The next morning, Captain Cook despatched two parties to cut wood and grass, some marines attending them as a guard, though none of the natives had yet appeared. He also sent the launch to provide water for the ships, and afterwards paid a visit to the parties thus employed. In the evening, we drew the seine, and caught a great quantity of fish, with which this bay abounds; and we should have procured more if the net had not broken. Every one now came on board with the supplies they had obtained; but next morning, the wind not being fair for sailing, they were again sent ashore on the same duty; and Mr Roberts, one of the mates, was despatched in a boat to examine the bay. We had observed columns of smoke in different parts, from the time of our approaching the coast; but we saw none of the natives till the afternoon of the 28th, when eight men and a boy surprised us with a visit, at the place where we were cutting wood. They approached us with the greatest confidence, and none of them had any weapons, except one, who carried a short stick, pointed at one end. They were of a middling stature, and somewhat slender: their hair was black and woolly, as was also their skin. They were entirely naked, with large punctures or ridges, some in curved, and others in straight lines, on different parts of their bodies. Their lips were not remarkably thick, nor their noses very flat; and their features, on the whole, were not unpleasing, their eyes pretty good, and their teeth tolerably even and regular, though exceedingly dirty. The faces of some of them were painted with a red pigment, and most of them had their hair and beards smeared with the same composition. When we offered them presents, they received them without any apparent satisfaction. They either returned, or threw away, some bread that was given them, without even tasting it; they likewise refused some elephant-fish; but when we gave them some birds, they kept them. Two pigs, having been brought on shore to be left in the woods, they seized by the ears, and seemed inclined to carry off, with an intention, as we supposed, of killing them. Captain Cook, wishing to know what they did with the stick which one of the natives held in his hand, made signs to them to show him how they used it; upon which, one of them, placing a piece of wood as a mark, at the distance of about twenty yards, began to aim at it, but after several attempts, came far short of hitting it. Omai, to show the great superiority of our weapons, immediately discharged at it his musket, the unexpected noise of which so alarmed them, that they instantly made off, at the top of their speed, for the woods; and one of them was so terrified that he let fall two knives and an axe which he had received from us. Immediately after they had retired, Captain Cook ordered the two pigs-one a male, and the other a female-to be carried about a mile within the woods, and he himself saw them left there, taking care that none of the natives should observe what was passing. He also intended to have left a young bull and a cow, besides some goats and sheep; but he soon relinquished that design, being of opinion that the natives would destroy them, which, he felt sure, would be the fate of the pigs, if they should chance to come upon them. But as swine soon become wild, and are content to live in the woods, it is probable that they were preserved. The other cattle could not have remained long concealed from the natives, as they must have an open country to pasture in. We were prevented from sailing on the 29th by a dead calm, which continued the whole day. Captain Cook, therefore, sent parties on shore to cut wood and grass, as usual; and he accompanied the wooding party himself. Soon after our landing, about twenty of the natives joined us, one of whom was distinguished from the rest, not only by his deformity, but the drollery of his gesticulations, and the seeming humour of his speeches, of which, however, we could not understand a syllable. Those whom we now saw differed in some respects, particularly in the texture of the hair, from the natives of the more northern parts of Australia, whom Captain Cook met with in his first voyage. Some of our present visitors had slips of kangaroo skin round their ankles ; and others wore round their necks pieces of small cord made of fur. They seemed not to value iron, but were apparently pleased with the medals and beads that were given to them. They did not even appear to know the use of fish-hooks, though it is more than probable that they were acquainted with some method of catching fish. Their habitations were small hovels, or sheds, built of sticks, and covered with the bark of trees. We had also good reason to suppose that they sometimes took up their residence in the trunks of large trees, hollowed out by fire. Captain Cook, on leaving the wooding party, visited the grass-cutters, and having seen the boat loaded with hay, returned on board. He had just quitted the shore when several women and children appeared, and were introduced to Lieutenant King by the men who accompanied them. These females wore only a kangaroo skin, and this was fastened over their shoulders, the only use of which seemed to be to support their children on their backs. Their bodies were black, and marked with scars like those of the men; from whom, however, they differed in having their heads shaved, some having them completely shorn, others only on one side, while the rest had only the upper parts shaved, so as to leave a very narrow circlet of hair all round. B |