he readily imitates all the actions and gestures of every person in the governor’s family; he sits at table with the governor, whom he calls “-Beanga_,” or Father; and the governor calls him “-Dooroow_,” or Son:  he is under no restraint, nor is he the least aukward in eating; indeed, considering the state of nature which he has been brought up in, he may be called a polite man, as he performs every action of bowing, drinking healths, returning thanks, etc. with the most scrupulous attention.  He is very fond of wine, but cannot bear the smell of spirits, although they have often tried to deceive him, by mixing very weak rum or brandy and water, instead of wine and water; but he would instantly find out the deception, and on these occasions he was angry:  his appetite is very good, for he soon began to perceive the difference between a full and a short allowance.

He walks about constantly with the governor, who, to make him sensible of the confidence he placed in him, always took off a small sword which he usually wore, and gave it to Wolle-warre, who put it on, and was not a little pleased at this mark of confidence.  His dress is a jacket, made of the coarsest red kersey, and a pair of trowsers; but on Sundays, he is drest in nankeen.  The governor’s reason for making him wear the thick kersey is, that he may be so sensible of the cold as not to be able to go without cloaths.

Wolle-warre has had a wife, who, it seems, died a short time before he was taken:  he sometimes mentions this circumstance, and it occasions a momentary gloom; but this his natural gaiety soon dissipates:  he sings, when asked, but in general his songs are in a mournful strain, and he keeps time by swinging his arms:  whenever asked to dance, he does it with great readiness; his motions at first are very slow, and are regulated by a dismal tune, which grows quicker as the dance advances, till at length he throws himself into the most violent posture, shaking his arms, and striking the ground with great force, which gives him the appearance of madness.  It is very probable that this part of the dance is used as a sort of defiance, as all the natives which were seen when we first arrived at Port Jackson, always joined this sort of dance to their vociferations of “-woroo, woroo_,” go away.

To what I have already said, respecting this man, a few more particulars will be added in the following vocabulary, which Mr. Collins permitted me to copy.

The native boy lived with Mr. White, the surgeon, who, with that humanity for which he is distinguished, cured both the boy and girl of a confluent small-pox, which swept off hundreds of the natives in the winter of 1788.  This dreadful disorder, which, there is no doubt, is a distemper natural to the country, together with the difficulty of procuring a subsistance, renders the situtation of these poor wretches truly miserable.

The girl lived with the chaplain’s wife, and both she and the boy were very tractable; but the girl at times would be out of temper, and could not bear to be thwarted.