ncordia bearing south a quarter
of a mile.

SWAN RIVER NATIVE.

Our Swan River native came up to me after we had anchored, dressed in his
best, shoes polished, and buttoned up to the chin in an old uniform
jacket. "Look," said he, pointing to some Malay lads alongside in a
canoe, "trousers no got 'um." A toss of the head supplied what was
wanting to the completeness of this speech, and said as plainly as words
could have done, "poor wretches!" I tried in vain to point out their
superiority, by saying, "Malay boy, work, have house; Swan River boy, no
work, bush walk." I then drew his attention to the country, the delicious
fruits and other good things to eat (knowing that the surest road to an
Australian's heart is through his mouth) but all was in vain! my simple
friend shook his head, saying, "No good, stone, rock big fella, too much,
can't walk." Home, after all, is home all the world over, and the dull
arid shores of Australia were more beautiful in the eyes of this savage
than the romantic scenery of Timor, which excited in him wonder not
delight. It was amusing to see how frightened he was on going ashore the
first time. With difficulty could he be kept from treading on our heels,
always, I suppose, being in the habit, in his own country, of finding
strangers to be enemies. He was instantly recognised by the Malays, who
had occasionally seen natives of Australia returning with the Macassar
proas from the north coast, as a marega,* much to his annoyance.

(*Footnote. I have never been able to learn the meaning of this word.
They told us at Coepang it signified man-eater; which explains the
native's annoyance; and may serve as a clue to the discovery that the
aborigines of the northern part of the continent occasionally eat human
bodies as they do in the south.)

LAND AT COEPANG.

Being anxious to make the acquaintance of the Resident, who bore the
reputation of being a most intelligent person, a party of us paid him a
visit the second day after our arrival. The narrow streets, lined with
Chinese shops and pedlars of every description, from the long-tailed
Chinaman to the thick, crisp-haired, athletic Timoree, were soon passed.
We then entered a rich green valley, with some fine houses on the left:
the sight was strange and new to us in every way. What we most enjoyed
was the vegetation--a feast for our eyes, after the dull arid shores of
North-western Australia: and we gazed with intense pleasure on the rich
g