Gaining every day some further knowledge of the inhuman habits and customs of these people, their being so thinly scattered through the country ceased to be a matter of surprise. It was almost daily seen, that from some trifling cause or other they were continually living in a state of warfare; to this must be added their brutal treatment of their women, who are themselves equally destructive to the measure of population, by the horrid and cruel custom of endeavouring to cause a miscarriage, which their female acquaintance effect by pressing the body in such a way, as to destroy the infant in the womb; which violence not infrequently occasions the death of the unnatural mother also. To this they have recourse, to avoid the trouble of carrying the infant about when born, which, when it is very young, or at the breast, is the duty of the woman. The operation for this destructive purpose is termed Mee-bra. The burying an infant (when at the breast) with the mother*, if she should die, is another shocking cause of the thinness of population among them. The fact that such an operation as the Mee-bra was practised by these wretched people was communicated by one of the natives to the principal surgeon of the settlement. [* See Vol. I Appendix XI, viz: 'When the body was placed in the grave, the bye-standers were amazed to see the father himself place the living child in it with the mother. Having laid the child down, he threw upon it a large stone, and the grave was instantly filled in by the other natives. The whole business was so momentary, that our people had not time or presence of mind sufficient to prevent it; and on speaking about it to Cole-be, be, so far from thinking it inhuman, justified the extraordinary act by assuring us that as no woman could be found to nurse the child it must die a much worse death than that to which he had put it. As a similar circumstance occurred a short time after, we have every reason to suppose the custom always prevails among them; and this may in some degree account for the thinness of population which has been observed among the natives of the country.'] The death of the young man who was slain by Cole-be was to be revenged, and a body of the southern or Tag-a-ry natives gave battle to those of Sydney for that purpose several days after. The contest was carried on with much desperation on both sides; three natives were killed, and several others wounded, among whom was Bennillong, who, having perfectly recovered of his late dangerous wound, appeared and fought on this occasion as the friend of Cole-be. The weather in the last month was remarked to be uncommonly cold. In the latter part of this it was excessively sultry, and the wind high, which set many parts of the country on fire, and destroyed some property. The surveyor-general's house, and every article in it, was consumed by one of these conflagrations.