George's Sound. The comparison was wholly in favour of those living
within the influence of their civilized fellow-men: a fact which may
surprise some of my readers, but for which, notwithstanding, I am quite
prepared to vouch. A better quality, and more certain supply of food, are
the causes to which this superiority ought to be attributed: they are
indeed exceedingly fond of wheaten bread, and work hard for the settlers,
in cutting wood and carrying water, in order to obtain it. Individually
they appear peaceable, inoffensive, and well-disposed, and, under proper
management, make very good servants; but when they congregate together
for any length of time, they are too apt to relapse into the vices of
savage life. Among the many useful hints, for which we were indebted to
Mr. Roe, was that of taking a native with us to the northward; and,
accordingly, after some trouble, we shipped an intelligent young man,
named Miago; he proved, in some respects, exceedingly useful, and made an
excellent gun-room waiter. We noticed that, like most of the natives, he
was deeply scarred, and I learned from him that this is done to recommend
them to the notice of the ladies. Like all savages, they are
treacherous--for uncivilized man has no abstract respect for truth, and
consequently deceit, whether spoken or acted, seems no baseness in his
eyes.

ANECDOTES OF THE NATIVES.

I heard an anecdote at Perth that bears upon this subject: A native of
the name of Tonquin asked a settler, who lived some distance in the
interior, permission to spend the night in his kitchen, of which that
evening another native was also an inmate. It seems that some hate,
either personal, or the consequences of a quarrel between their different
tribes, existed in the mind of Tonquin towards his hapless fellow lodger;
and in the night he speared him through the heart, AND THEN VERY QUIETLY