us reason to conclude that they were not only naturally courageous, but that they had acquired a familiarity with the dangers of hostility, and were, by habit as well as nature, a daring and warlike people; but their precipitate flight from every other place that we approached, without even a menace, while they were out of our reach, was an indication of uncommon tameness and timidity, such as those who had only been occasionally warriors must be supposed to have shaken off, whatever might have been their natural disposition.  I have faithfully related facts, the reader must judge of the people for himself.[96]

[Footnote 95:  Some remarks on this very interesting subject will be given hereafter.—­E.]

[Footnote 96:  The reader may wait a little till he has received some information destined to his use.  What has been now given is too scanty evidence to justify a final decision in the matter.—­E.]

From the account that has been given of our commerce with them, it cannot be supposed that we should know much of their language; yet as this is an object of great curiosity, especially to the learned, and of great importance in their researches into the origin of the various nations that have been discovered, we took some pains to bring away such a specimen of it as might, in a certain degree, answer the purpose, and I shall now give an account how it was procured.  If we wanted to know the name of a stone, we took a stone up into our hands, and, as well as we could, intimated by signs that we wished they should name it:  The word that they pronounced upon the occasion, we immediately wrote down.  This method, though it was the best we could contrive, might certainly lead us into many mistakes; for if an Indian was to take up a stone, and ask us the name of it, we might answer a pebble or a flint; so when we took up a stone and asked an Indian the name of it, he might pronounce a word that distinguished the species, and not the genus, or that instead of signifying stone simply, might signify a rough stone, or a smooth stone:  However, as much as possible to avoid mistakes of this kind, several of us contrived, at different times, to get from them as many words as we could, and having noted them down, compared our lists; those which were the same in all, and which, according to every one’s account, signified the same thing, we ventured to record, with a very few others, which, from the simplicity of the subject, and the ease of expressing our question with plainness and precision by a sign, have acquired equal authority.

    English.  New Holland.