A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson | Page 8

at the governor's; and ate heartily of fish and
ducks, which he first cooled. Bread and salt meat he smelled at, but
would not taste: all our liquors he treated in the same manner, and
could drink nothing but water. On being shown that he was not to wipe
his hands on the chair which he sat upon, he used a towel which was
gave to him, with great cleanliness and decency.
In the afternoon his hair was closely cut, his head combed, and his
beard shaved; but he would not submit to these operations until he had
seen them performed on another person, when he readily acquiesced.
His hair, as might be supposed, was filled with vermin, whose
destruction seemed to afford him great triumph; nay, either revenge, or
pleasure, prompted him to eat them! but on our expressing disgust and
abhorrence he left it off.
To this succeeded his immersion in a tub of water and soap, where he
was completely washed and scrubbed from head to foot; after which a
shirt, a jacket, and a pair of trousers, were put upon him. Some part of

this ablution I had the honour to perform, in order that I might ascertain
the real colour of the skin of these people. My observation then was
(and it has since been confirmed in a thousand other instances) that
they are as black as the lighter cast of the African negroes.
Many unsuccessful attempts were made to learn his name; the governor
therefore called him Manly, from the cove in which he was captured:
this cove had received its name from the manly undaunted behaviour of
a party of natives seen there, on our taking possession of the country.
To prevent his escape, a handcuff with a rope attached to it, was
fastened around his left wrist, which at first highly delighted him; he
called it 'bengadee' (or ornament), but his delight changed to rage and
hatred when he discovered its use. His supper he cooked himself: some
fish were given to him for this purpose, which, without any previous
preparation whatever, he threw carelessly on the fire, and when they
became warm took them up, and first rubbed off the scales, peeled the
outside with his teeth, and ate it; afterwards he gutted them, and laying
them again on the fire, completed the dressing, and ate them.
A convict was selected to sleep with him, and to attend him wherever
he might go. When he went with his keeper into his apartment he
appeared very restless and uneasy while a light was kept in; but on its
extinction, he immediately lay down and composed himself.
Sullenness and dejection strongly marked his countenance on the
following morning; to amuse him, he was taken around the camp, and
to the observatory: casting his eyes to the opposite shore from the point
where he stood, and seeing the smoke of fire lighted by his countrymen,
he looked earnestly at it, and sighing deeply two or three times, uttered
the word 'gweeun' (fire).
His loss of spirits had not, however, the effect of impairing his appetite;
eight fish, each weighing about a pound, constituted his breakfast,
which he dressed as before. When he had finished his repast, he turned
his back to the fire in a musing posture, and crept so close to it, that his
shirt was caught by the flame; luckily his keeper soon extinguished it;
but he was so terrified at the accident, that he was with difficulty
persuaded to put on a second.
1st. January, 1789. To-day being new-year's-day, most of the officers
were invited to the governor's table: Manly dined heartily on fish and
roasted pork; he was seated on a chest near a window, out of which,

when he had done eating, he would have thrown his plate, had he not
been prevented: during dinner-time a band of music played in an
adjoining apartment; and after the cloth was removed, one of the
company sang in a very soft and superior style; but the powers of
melody were lost on Manly, which disappointed our expectations, as he
had before shown pleasure and readiness in imitating our tunes.
Stretched out on his chest, and putting his hat under his head, he fell
asleep.
To convince his countrymen that he had received no injury from us, the
governor took him in a boat down the harbour, that they might see and
converse with him: when the boat arrived, and lay at a little distance
from the beach, several Indians who had retired at her approach, on
seeing Manly, returned: he was greatly affected, and shed tears. At
length they began to converse. Our ignorance of the language prevented
us from knowing much of what passed; it was, however, easily
understood that his friends