Captain Cook's Journal During His First Voyage Round the World
Beards, which are generally black, they likewise crop short, or Singe
off. There features are far from being disagreeable, and their Voices are
soft and Tunable. They go quite Naked, both Men and Women, without any
manner of Cloathing whatever; even the Women do not so much as cover
their privities, altho' None of us was ever very near any of their Women,
one Gentleman excepted, yet we are all of us as well satisfied of this as
if we had lived among them. Notwithstanding we had several interviews
with the Men while we lay in Endeavour River, yet, wether through
Jealousy or disregard, they never brought any of their women along with
them to the Ship, but always left them on the Opposite side of the River,
where we had frequent Opportunities viewing them thro' our Glasses. They
wear as Ornaments, Necklaces made of Shells, Bracelets, or Hoops, about
their Arms, made mostly of Hair Twisted and made like a Cord Hoop; these
they wear tight about the upper parts of their Arms, and some have
Girdles made in the same manner. The Men wear a bone, about 3 or 4 Inches
long and a finger's thick, run thro' the Bridge* (* The cartilage of the
nostril. Banks mentions that the bluejackets called this queer ornament
the "spritsail yard.") of their Nose; they likewise have holes in their
Ears for Ear Rings, but we never saw them wear any; neither are all the
other Ornaments wore in Common, for we have seen as many without as with
them. Some of these we saw on Possession Island wore breast plates, which
we supposed were made of Mother of Pearl Shells. Many of them paint their
Bodies and faces with a Sort of White paste or Pigment; this they apply
different ways, each according to his fancy.
Their offensive weapons are Darts; some are only pointed at one end,
others are barb'd, some with wood, others with Stings of rays, and some
with Sharks' Teeth, etc.; these last are stuck fast on with Gum. They
throw the Darts with only one hand, in the doing of which they make use
of a piece of wood about 3 feet long, made thin like the blade of a
Cutlass, with a little hook at one End to take hold of the End of the
dart, and at the other end is fix'd a thin piece of bone about 3 or 4
Inches long; the use of this is, I believe, to keep the dart steady, and
to make it quit the hand in a proper direction. By the helps of these
throwing sticks, as we call them, they will hit a mark at the Distance of
40 or 50 yards, with almost, if not as much, Certainty as we can do with
a Musquet, and much more so than with a ball.* (* The invention of these
throwing sticks, and of the Boomerang, is sufficient to prove the
intelligence of the Australian aborigines.) These throwing sticks we at
first took for wooden swords, and perhaps on some occasions they may use
them as such; that is, when all their darts are expended. Be this as it
may, they never Travel without both them and their Darts, not for fear of
Enemies, but for killing of Game, etc., as I shall show hereafter. There
defensive weapons are Targets, made of wood; but these we never saw used
but once in Botany Bay.
I do not look upon them to be a warlike people; on the contrary, I think
them a Timerous and inoffensive race, no ways inclined to Cruelty, as
appear'd from their behaviour to one of our people in Endeavour River,
which I have before mentioned, neither are they very numerous. They live
in small parties along by the Sea Coast, the banks of Lakes, Rivers,
Creeks, etc. They seem to have no fixed habitation, but move about from
place to place like wild beasts in search of Food, and, I believe, depend
wholy upon the Success of the present day for their Subsistance. They
have wooden fish Gigs, with 2, 3, or 4 prongs, each very ingeniously
made, with which they strike fish. We have also seen them strike both
fish and birds with their Darts. With these they likewise kill other
Animals; they have also wooden Harpoons for striking Turtle, but of these
I believe they get but few, except at the seasons they come ashore to
lay. In short, these people live wholy by fishing and hunting, but mostly
by the former, for we never saw one Inch of Cultivated land in the whole
Country. They know, however, the use of Taara, and sometimes eat them; we
do not know that they Eat anything raw, but roast or broil all they eat
on slow small fires. Their Houses are mean, small Hovels, not much bigger
than an Oven, made of Peices of Sticks, Bark, Grass, etc., and even these
are seldom used but in the Wet seasons, for in the daytimes we know they
as often sleep in the Open Air as anywhere else. We have seen many of
their Sleeping places, where there has been only some branches or peices
of Bark, grass, etc., about a foot high on the Windward side.
[Australian Canoes.]
Their Canoes are as mean as can be conceived, especially to the
Southward, where all we saw were made of one peice of the Bark of Trees
about 12 or 14 feet long, drawn or Tied together at one end. As I have
before made mention, these Canoes will not Carry above 2 people, in
general there is never more than one in them; but, bad as they are, they
do very well for the purpose they apply them to, better than if they were
larger, for as they draw but little water they go in them upon the Mud
banks, and pick up Shell fish, etc., without going out of the Canoe. The
few Canoes we saw to the Northward were made out of a Log of wood
hollow'd out, about 14 feet long and very narrow, with outriggers; these
will carry 4 people. During our whole stay in Endeavour River we saw but
one Canoe, and had great reason to think that the few people that resided
about that place had no more; this one served them to cross the River and
to go a Fishing in, etc. They attend the Shoals, and flatts, one where or
another, every day at low water to gather Shell fish, or whatever they
can find to eat, and have each a little bag to put what they get in; this
bag is made of net work. They have not the least knowledge of Iron or any
other Metal that we know of; their working Tools must be made of Stone,
bone, and Shells; those made of the former are very bad, if I may judge
from one of their Adzes I have seen.
Bad and mean as their Canoes are, they at Certain seasons of the Year (so
far as we know) go in them to the most distant Islands which lay upon the
Coast, for we never landed upon one but what we saw signs of People
having been there before. We were surprized to find Houses, etc., upon
Lizard Island, which lies 5 Leagues from the nearest part of the Main; a
distance we before thought they could not have gone in their Canoes.
The Coast of this Country, at least so much of it as lays to the
Northward of 25 degrees of Latitude, abounds with a great Number of fine
bays and Harbours, which are Shelter'd from all winds; but the Country
itself, so far as we know, doth not produce any one thing that can become
an Article in Trade to invite Europeans to fix a settlement upon it.
However, this Eastern side is not that barren and miserable country that
Dampier and others have described the Western side to be. We are to
consider that we see this country in the pure state of nature; the
Industry of Man has had nothing to do with any part of it, and yet we
find all such things as nature hath bestow'd upon it in a flourishing
state. In this Extensive Country it can never be doubted but what most
sorts of Grain, Fruit, roots, etc., of every kind would flourish here
were they once brought hither, planted and Cultivated by the hands of
Industry; and here are Provender for more Cattle, at all seasons of the
Year, than ever can be brought into the Country.* (* It says a good deal
for Cook's penetration that he wrote like this, for the coast of
Australia is not promising, especially in the dry season; and coming as
he did from the more apparently fertile countries of Tahiti and New
Zealand, Australia must have appeared but a barren land.) When one
considers the Proximity of this Country with New Guinea, New Britain, and
several other Islands which produce Cocoa Nutts and many other fruits
proper for the support of man, it seems strange that they should not long
ago be Transplanted here; by its not being done it should seem that the
Natives of this Country have no commerce with their Neighbours, the New
Guineans.* (* The climate is too dry for the cocoanut palm.) It is very
probable that they are a different people, and speak a different
Language. For the advantage of such as want to Clear up this point I
shall add a small Vocabulary of a few Words in the New Holland Language
which we learnt when in Endeavour River.* (* The languages of the
different tribes differ very much. This results from the continual state
of war in which they live, as they have no communication the one with the
other.)
COLUMN 1: ENGLISH.
COLUMN 2: NEW HOLLAND.
The Head : Whageegee.
The Hair of the head : Morye or More.
The Eyes : Meul.
The Ears : Melea.
The Lips : Yembe or Jembi.
The Teeth : Mulere or Moile.
The Chinn : Jaeal.
The Beard : Waller.
The Tongue : Unjar.
The Nose : Bonjoo.
The Naval : Toolpoor or Julpur.
The Penis : Keveil or Kerrial.
The Scrotum : Coonal or Kunnol.
The Arms : Aw or Awl.
The Hand : Marigal.
The Thumb : Eboorbalga.
The Fore, Middle and Ring fingers : Egalbaiga.
Little Finger : Nakil or Eboonakil.
The Thighs : Coman.
The Knees : Ponga.
The Legs : Peegoorgo.
The Feet : Edamal.
The Nails : Kolke or Kulke.
A Stone : Walba.
Sand : Joo'wal, Yowall, or Joralba.
A Rope or Line : Goorgo or Gurka.
Fire : Maianang or Meanang.
The Sun : Galan or Gallan.
The Sky : Kere or Kearre.
A Father : Dunjo.
A Son : Jumurre.
A Man : Bamma or Ba ma.
A Dog : Cotta or Kota.
A Lorryquet : Perpere or Pier-pier.
A Cocatoo : Wanda.
Male Turtle : Poonja or Poinja.
Female : Mamingo.
A great Cockle : Moenjo or Moingo.
Cocos Yams : Maracotu (?).
A Canoe : Maragan.
[Australian Natives.]
From what I have said of the Natives of New Holland they may appear to
some to be the most wretched People upon Earth; but in reality they are
far more happier than we Europeans, being wholy unacquainted not only
with the Superfluous, but with the necessary Conveniences so much sought
after in Europe; they are happy in not knowing the use of them. They live
in a Tranquility which is not disturbed by the Inequality of Condition.
The earth and Sea of their own accord furnishes them with all things
necessary for Life. They covet not Magnificient Houses, Household-stuff,
etc.; they live in a Warm and fine Climate, and enjoy every wholesome
Air, so that they have very little need of Cloathing; and this they seem
to be fully sencible of, for many to whom we gave Cloth, etc., left it
carelessly upon the Sea beach and in the Woods, as a thing they had no
manner of use for; in short, they seem'd to set no Value upon anything we
gave them, nor would they ever part with anything of their own for any
one Article we could offer them. This, in my opinion, Argues that they
think themselves provided with all the necessarys of Life, and that they
have no Superfluities.* (* The native Australians may be happy in their
condition, but they are without doubt among the lowest of mankind.
Confirmed cannibals, they lose no opportunity of gratifying their love of
human flesh. Mothers will kill and eat their own children, and the women
again are often mercilessly illtreated by their lords and masters. There
are no chiefs, and the land is divided into sections, occupied by
families, who consider everything in their district as their own.
Internecine war exists between the different tribes, which are very
small. Their treachery, which is unsurpassed, is simply an outcome of
their savage ideas, and in their eyes is a form of independence which
resents any intrusion on THEIR land, THEIR wild animals, and THEIR rights