taking place
before his eyes,--an increasing taste for many of the useful or
agreeable articles which are to be procured only from the hands of the
strangers,--these and other similar feelings alternately sway the mind,
and prompt the actions, of the native of the bush in Australia, so as to
give an appearance of inconsistency, not merely to the varying conduct
of different persons, but frequently to the behaviour of the very same
person at different times. Sometimes the perplexed savage decidedly
prefers his piece of whale to all the luxuries of English fare;[57] at
another time he despises the common food of the bush--kangaroo flesh,
or fish,--and presuming upon his usefulness as a guide, nothing but
_wheaten flour_, at the rate of two pounds and a half a day, will
satisfy his desires.[58] One day, fired with a wish to emulate his
betters, the black man assumes the costume of an European, likes to be
close-shaved, wears a white neck-cloth, and means to become entirely "a
white fellow." Another day, wearied with the heat and thraldom of dress,
and tempted by the cool appearance, or stung by the severe taunts of his
brethren in the bush, off he flings his encumbrances and civilisation,
and gladly returns to a state of nature again.

[57] See p. 99.

[58] See Mitchell's Three Expeditions, vol. i. p. 39.

The barber's art appears, in several cases, to have caught the attention
of these savages. The following ridiculous account of an operation of
this kind, performed upon some natives of the country a little southward
of Port Jackson, is given by Flinders. "A new employment arose up on our
hands. We had clipped the hair and beards of the two Botany Bay natives,
at Red Point; and they were showing themselves to the others, and
persuading them to follow their example. While, therefore, the powder
was drying, I began with a large pair of scissors to execute my new
office upon the eldest of four or five chins presented to me; and as
great nicety was not required, the shearing of a dozen of them did not
occupy me long. Some of the more timid were alarmed at a formidable
instrument coming so near to their noses, and would scarcely be
persuaded by their shaven friends to allow the operation to be finished.
But when their chins were held up a second time, their fear of the
instrument, the wild stare of their eyes, and the smile which they
_forced_, formed a compound upon the rough savage countenance, not
unworthy the penci