h for a more
eligible site.

In Captain Cook's chart of the coast, another opening had been laid
down, a few miles to the northward of Botany Bay, on the authority of a
seaman of the name of Jackson, who had seen it from the
foretop-mast-head; and Captain Cook, conceiving it to be nothing more
than a harbour for boats, which it was not worth his while to examine,
called it Port Jackson.

It is no wonder that Captain Cook came to this conclusion; for no
opening of any kind can be perceived till you come close in with the
land.

This opening Captain Phillip examined, and the result of that
examination was the splendid discovery of Port Jackson,--one of the
finest harbours, whether for extent or security, in the world.

To this harbour the fleet was immediately removed, and the settlement
was ultimately formed at the head of Sydney Cove, one of the numerous
and romantic inlets of Port Jackson.

The labour and patience required, and the difficulties which the first
settlers must have had to encounter, are incalculable; but their
success has been complete.

The forest has been cleared away, the corn-field and the orchard have
supplanted the wild grass and the bush, and towns and villages have
arisen as if by magic. You may hear the lowing of herds where, a few
years before, you would have trembled at the wild whoop of the savage,
and the stillness of that once solitary shore is broken by the sound of
wheels and the busy hum of commerce.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XVII.

PARLEY DESCRIBES THE INHABITANTS, VEGETABLES, AND ANIMALS OF AUSTRALIA.

The natives of this part of Australia are, beyond comparison, the most
barbarous on the surface of the globe.

They are hideously ugly, with flat noses, wide nostrils, eyes sunk in
the head, and overshadowed with thick eyebrows. The mouth very wide,
lips thick and prominent, hair black, but not woolly; the colour of the
skin varies from dark bronze to jet black. Their stature is below the
middle size, and they are remarkably thin and ill-made.

To add to their natural deformity, they thrust a bone through the
cartilage of the nose, and stick with gum to their hair matted moss, the
teeth of men, sharks, and kangaroos, the tails of dogs, and jaw-bones
of fish.

On particular occasions they ornament themselves with red and white
clay, using the former when preparing to fight, and the latter for the
more peaceful amusement of dancing. The fashion of these ornaments wa