On the 29th of December, Bannelong made his appearance at Governor Phillip’s house, after an absence of ten days, and brought his wife with him:  he said he had been with a great number of the Cameragals, and they had drawn the front tooth from several young men, and had raised those scars which the natives regard as ornaments.  The largest of these scars are made by cutting two lines through the skin, parallel to each other, with a sharp shell, and afterwards stripping off the intermediate skin:  this operation is repeated till the wound rises considerably above the flesh, after which, it is suffered to heal over.  These scars, or ornaments, are not very common among the women, yet some have them on the arms, back, and breasts.

Bannelong had a throwing-stick, which he took pains to show had been cut for the purpose of knocking out the front tooth, and there was some reason to think he had performed that office:  it seems, he was now on good terms with the Cameragals, as he said they were all good men; and being asked if he had seen the man who threw the spear at Governor Phillip, he said yes, and had slept with him; nor was there any reason to suppose he had ever beat, or even quarreled with him on that account.

Bannelong’s wife, who had been with him on this excursion, was painted in a different manner to what she had been seen before, and it appeared to have been done with a good deal of attention:  her cheeks, nose, and upper lip, were rubbed over with red ochre, on which, and under the eyes, some white clay was laid in spots; the small of her back was likewise rubbed with red ochre, and she seemed to be sensible that she was finer than common.

After dinner, this couple went away, and the girl who had been desirous of living with the governor’s servants, wanted to go along with them, which she was permitted to do.  This girl, who might be about eighteen years old, stripped herself before she went away, but kept her night-cap to sleep in, as her head had been shaved when she was first taken into the governor’s family:  she never had been under any kind of restraint, so that her going away could only proceed from a preference to the manner of life in which she had been brought up, and which is rather surprising, as the women are certainly treated with great cruelty; this, however, the custom of the country seems to have perfectly reconciled them to.

Two colonists, who had been in a boat fishing, returned with a piece of intelligence very little to the credit of Bannelong, who had robbed them of what fish they had caught; and, as they had no arms, and he had several spears in his canoe, along with his wife and sister, they were deterred from making any resistance.  In consequence of the fishing-boat being robbed, orders were given that no boat in future should go out of the cove unarmed, and the natives were forbid ever going to the western point of the cove, where they stole the potatoes and threw the fiz-gig.