; sometimes
leaping from one rock to another, spearing the fish that lie in the
quiet pools between, in the next moment dashing into the surf to fight
with a seal or turn a turtle; these are to them agreeable and joyous
occupations. And when we remember that their steps are followed by a
wife and children, as dear to them, probably, as ours are to us, who are
witnesses of their skill and activity; and who, when the game is killed,
will help to light the fire with which it is to be cooked, and to drag
it to the resting-place, where the father romps with his little ones
until the meal is made ready; when we recollect, likewise, that all
this takes place in a climate so mild and genial, that a house is not
necessary, we shall feel less surprise at the difficulty of persuading
an inhabitant of the Bush to fall into European customs, and submit to
the trammels of civilised life.

The turtle, must by no means be forgotten, in an account of the
different articles of provision upon which an Australian has to depend
for his supply. These useful creatures are to be found chiefly on the
coast in the warmer portions of New Holland, and are in high season
about December and January, the height of summer in Australia. The green
turtles are surprised upon the beach when they come to lay their eggs;
but the fresh-water turtle is found (as its name implies,) in fresh
lakes and ponds, at the season when these are most dried up, and their
margin is overgrown with reeds and rushes. Among these the natives wade
with stealthy pace, so quietly indeed, that they even creep upon wild
fowl and spear them. The turtles swim lazily along the surface of the
water, biting and smelling the various aquatic plants they meet with,
but as soon as they are alarmed, they sink to the bottom instantly. The
pursuer puts out his foot, (the toes of which he uses to seize anything,
almost as we use our fingers,) and gropes about with it among the weeds
at the bottom of the water until he feels the turtle; and then, holding
it to the ground, he plunges his hands and arms in and seizes his prey.
In this manner two or three men have been known to take fourteen turtles
in a very short time; but these are small, weighing from one to two
or three pounds each. The fresh-water turtle is cooked, after the
Australian fashion, by being baked, shell and all, in hot ashes; and
when it is sufficiently dressed, the bottom shell is removed with ease,
and the whole animal remains