"What continent is nearest us?"
"We cannot be very far off the south coast of New Holland, or, as it is named in some charts, Australia. You know that the Nelson hailed from Botany Bay, or Sydney, as the convict colony which the English Government has just founded there is called."
"How far do you suppose we are from Sydney?"
"Well, I should say, with a fair wind and a smart craft, Sydney is not above two months' sail, if so much."
"Is the coast inhabited?"
"Yes."
"What character do the inhabitants bear?"
"According to the Dutch sailors, who have been on the coast, they are the most plundering and lubberly set of rascals to be met with anywhere."
"They are not acquainted with the use of fire-arms, are they?"
"No not of fire-arms; but they have a machine of their own that they call a waddy, or something of that sort, which they throw like a harpoon; but the thing takes a twist in the air, and strikes behind them."