But there are many other kinds of food which custom, and perhaps necessity, have rendered palatable to the people of New Holland, but which we can regard only with disgust and aversion. Among these it may be scarcely just to reckon _frogs_, since they are an article of food in one of the most polished nations of Europe, and those who have tasted them properly dressed have usually no fault to find with their flavour. The season in Australia for catching frogs and fresh-water shell-fish, is when the swamps are nearly dried up by the heat; these animals then bury themselves in holes in the mud, and the native women, with their long sticks, and taper arms, which they plunge up to the shoulder in the slime, manage to drag them out. In summer a whole troop of females may be seen paddling about in a swamp, slapping themselves to kill the mosquitoes and sandflies, and every now and then plunging their arms down into the mud, and dragging forth their prey. Sometimes one of these women may be seen with ten or twelve pounds' weight of frogs in her bag. Frogs are cooked on a slow fire of wood-ashes, and being held in one hand by the hind legs, a dexterous pinch with the finger and thumb of the other at once removes the lower portion of the intestines, and the remainder of the little animal is then taken at a mouthful. Muscles are also abundant in the rivers, and in the north-western parts of New Holland they form a principal article of food; but in the south-western districts the inhabitants will not touch them, for there is a tradition that some persons long ago ate them and died by means of sorcerers, who considered that fish to be their peculiar property. Grubs are a favourite food with some of the Australian natives, and, in order to procure them, they are at the pains of breaking off the top of the trees frequented by these grubs, since, until its top is dead, the trees do not afford a proper abode for them. Grubs are eaten either raw, or else roasted in much the same manner as the fish are. But taste is proverbially a subject concerning which there is no accounting by reason, as we must confess when we find _snakes_, _lizards_, _rats_, _mice_, and _weasels_ among Australian dainties. The smaller quadrupeds are not skinned before they are cooked, but are dressed with the skin, the fur being only singed off; and hunger renders these not only palatable but digestible. Salt is rarely or never used by the natives, until they have been taught its use by Europeans; and even then they do not relish it at first, any more than other sauces or condiments; indeed, it is quite laughable to see their grimaces the first time that they taste _mustard_ upon a piece of meat.