toiled (in the times of distress) on the
public service, from four o'clock in the afternoon until eight o'clock next
morning, hauling the seine in every part of the harbour of Port Jackson:
and after a circuit of many miles and between twenty and thirty hauls,
seldom more than a hundred pounds of fish were taken. However, it
sometimes happens that a glut enters the harbour, and for a few days they
sufficiently abound. But the universal voice of all professed fishermen
is that they never fished in a country where success was so precarious and
uncertain.

I shall not pretend to enumerate the variety of fish which are found. They
are seen from a whale to a gudgeon. In the intermediate classes may be
reckoned sharks of a monstrous size, skait, rock-cod, grey-mullet, bream,
horse-mackarel, now and then a sole and john dory, and innumerable others
unknown in Europe, many of which are extremely delicious, and many highly
beautiful. At the top of the list, as an article of food, stands a fish,
which we named light-horseman. The relish of this excellent fish was
increased by our natives, who pointed out to us its delicacies. No epicure
in England could pick a head with more glee and dexterity than they do that
of a light-horseman.

Reptiles in the swamps and covers are numerous. Of snakes there are two
or three sorts: but whether the bite of any of them be mortal, or even
venomous, is somewhat doubtful. I know but of one well attested instance
of a bite being received from a snake. A soldier was bitten so as to draw
blood, and the wound healed as a simple incision usually does without
shewing any symptom of malignity. A dog was reported to be bitten by a
snake, and the animal swelled and died in great agony. But I will by no
means affirm that the cause of his death was fairly ascertained. It is,
however, certain that the natives show, on all occasions, the utmost horror
of the snake, and will not eat it, although they esteem lizards, goannas,
and many other reptiles delicious fare. On this occasion they always
observe that if the snake bites them, they become lame, but whether by this
they mean temporary or lasting lameness I do not pretend to determine.
I have often eaten snakes and always found them palatable and nutritive,
though it was difficult to stew them to a tender state.

Summer here, as in all other countries, brings with it a long list of
insects. In the neighborhood of rivers and morasses, mosquitoes and
sandflie